[Esprit]

My USB cable used with DA8 has the pins 1 & 4 (power & ground) covered by tape (both connectors: A & B)

 

[Esprit]

  Really open to suggestions!
 

All friends of mine told to me to use an "audio buffer" (I own powered speakers).
I'll try it compared to an active and a passive preamp.

 

[combat fighter]

  All friends of mine told to me to use an "audio buffer" (I own powered speakers).
I'll try it compared to an active and a passive preamp.

 
What 'audio buffer'/pre-amp do you use?

 

[teiki arii]

 
Would a SPL 2Control be a good choice?
 

Hello,
I have a SPL 2Control, it's very good for the price but I prefer Pass Labs X0.2 or an Audio Analogue VB Bellini preamp...

 

 

[combat fighter]

Hello,
I have a SPL 2Control, it's very good for the price but I prefer Pass Labs X0.2 or an Audio Analogue VB Bellini preamp...:wink_face:  

SPL Phonitor 2 looks a good choice as well for my needs.

That looks a lovely bit of kit and in my price range.

I think that would work very nicely with powered speakers and headphones.

Quite tempted by that.

 

[Esprit]

  What 'audio buffer'/pre-amp do you use?

I'll try to test, in my system, a "simil" Nelson B1 (in this case with valves): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.668435926538296.1073741845.492197340828823&type=1
 
I own a Bryston BP25 and now I'm using a ProPassion: http://www.audiosynthesis.co.uk/propassion.htm

 

[blueangel2323]

I'm having trouble getting the DA8 to "plug & play." The first time I plugged it into the computer I got a message saying failed to install driver, but afterwards the computer doesn't recognize it even after turning it on and off, restarting the computer, plugging the USB cable into a different port, etc. It's a work computer so I don't have the administrative privileges to install software. My D100 MKII worked perfectly with no drivers. Help!

 

[blueangel2323]

It won't work when connected to my Samsung Galaxy S4 through OTG either. The D100 worked but with the DA8 I get no sound.

 

[teiki arii]

SPL Phonitor 2 looks a good choice as well for my needs.

I have no experience with SPL Phonitor 2, so I can't tell you anything about it, I'm sorry.
But concerning SS preamp, I like very much UGS preamp which sounds like a twin to Pass Labs X0.2 preamp...  One of my friend told me he doesn't like XP Line Levels which are less good by a large margin. But I don't know about Xs preamps..
Best regards.

 

[Elder]

  I'm having trouble getting the DA8 to "plug & play." The first time I plugged it into the computer I got a message saying failed to install driver, but afterwards the computer doesn't recognize it even after turning it on and off, restarting the computer, plugging the USB cable into a different port, etc. It's a work computer so I don't have the administrative privileges to install software. My D100 MKII worked perfectly with no drivers. Help!

DA8 uses USB audio class 2. Windows requires the installation of the proper driver downloaded from Yulong support site. Sorry I cannot put the link here. The Yulong site seems to be offline right now. Try accessing it later and look for the download area of the support pages. Download the JRiver version. Whether you use JRiver MC or not, this is the best driver.
You must have administrator privileges to install any driver.
Please look for the installation and configuration instructions at the Yulong support web pages.

 

[blueangel2323]

  DA8 uses USB audio class 2. Windows requires the installation of the proper driver downloaded from Yulong support site. Sorry I cannot put the link here. The Yulong site seems to be offline right now. Try accessing it later and look for the download area of the support pages. Download the JRiver version. Whether you use JRiver MC or not, this is the best driver.
You must have administrator privileges to install any driver.
Please look for the installation and configuration instructions at the Yulong support web pages.

 Thanks for the info. I don't see why Microsoft can't get with the times and add native Class 2 support to Windows like Mac and Linux. Maybe I'll bring my MacBook Air to work for music purposes... except that it's in pieces because I took it apart after the screen broke, and I don't have time to put it back together.

 

[blueangel2323]

Brief impressions with my Galaxy S4 running USB Audio Player Pro, compared to the D100 MKII:
- The first word that comes to mind is "crisp." The increase in resolution in the treble is very apparent but treble quantity seems increased too.
- Moderately more dynamic and exciting, compared to the laid back D100, which makes it a great match for the laid back HD600. I can see how it can push already aggressive headphones over the top though.
- Extension on both ends is slightly improved. Bass quantity per se doesn't seem to be increased over the D100 but impact is better.
- Soundstage and spatial cues seem better defined too.
- The built-in amp sounds more powerful than that of the D100, probably due to the increased dynamics, but with the DA8 there is a lot more usable volume control range, and it takes a higher volume setting to reach the same loudness. This is a plus in my books but if you have very low sensitivity headphones it might be a problem?
 
This is comparing the DA8 as an all-in-one unit compared to the D100 also as an all-in-one unit. I haven't had a chance to compare them as pure DACs yet.

 

[solblack]

Just got my DA8 up from MKII
Next on list HD 800 or LCD-x
Thank you, Yulong
DA8 + A28 + Alpha Dogs = Beautiful

 

[foxadn]

Hello all,
 
First of all thanks to the OP and participants for all the in-depth details covered in this thread.
This DAC looks really great for the price so I am considering buying it right now.
 
If I get it I would be interested in doing A/B listenings to compare PCM vs DSD.
To those of you guys who own the DA8, do you experiment any kind of lag from playing a PCM track to playing DSD?
 
From what I understand there is some low-level configuration that needs to be done in the IC's that should introduce a minimum delay switching from one format to the other, but in practical is it more like 1s, 5s, more, less?
 
Thank you for your help.

 

[foxadn]

I forgot to mention that I only have a mac so I my question above applies to setups with a mac (and which plugin do you use to play DSD?)
 
Thanks!