[Yukster]

I have been having some problems, and wondering if all of you can shed some light some of the problems I have been experiencing. 
 
Over the last few years, I have switched from a Mini Disc - Pimeta amp setup to a iPod - DAC/Amp setup, specifically the Dr. Dac 2 DX and a iPod Classic through a Onkyo ND-S1 through HD650 headphones.  The Dr. Dac isn't that well known on the Head-Fi, but its a DAC that accepts optical, coax and USB digital inputs, and outputs it to either a line out or via a headphone out.  Its quite popular in Japan, since you can replace the opamp, and you can buy it in most of the large electronic shops. 
 
The problem that I am having is that the sound out of the ND-1S is very different between the optical and coax, and both the optical and coax sound horrible.  Through the optical connection, everything sounds dull and flat with average soundstage.  Out of the coax, the treble and bass sounds quite lively, but there is no instrument separation, and the sound seems like everything is pushed together.  The soundstage is nonexistent, the music that is coming out of it sounds like everything is running into each other. 
 
I also tested the Dr. Dac with optical cables and an older Sony Discman, and the sound was pretty dull sounding.
 
The weird thing is that when I connect the Dac to my PC via USB, and using Foobar and WASAPI the music sounds perfect.  It can't be the music files, since I am playing FLAC files in Foobar, and for the iPod, I take the FLAC files and re-encode them to Apple Lossless, through dbPowerAMP. 
 
The cables that I use are not exotic by any means, but they are not freebie cables either.  Both cost between 2000 to 3000 yen ($20 to $30).
 
I am not sure how to solve this issue, except to replace the Dr. Dac with something else. I really don't want to do that since, I have some nice opamps in the Dac (Muses01 and Muses02).  Could it be my power source?  Could it be that I need better cables?  Is my DAC and ND-S1 messed up?
 
Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Yukster]

I just purchased another  cable, and will see if that improves the sound.

 

[SoulSyde]

Well.... updates?

 

[Lenni]

no you're not.
 
I doubt any cable upgrade will resolve the issues. depending on the system a better cable might give better highs and/or lows extension, vocals etc.. and I'm talking a cable in the $$$. $20 to $30 is no freebie but I doubt is any better.
 
seems more like something wrong with the dac

 

[joe_cool]

Your post is very detailed but not very coherent.
 
"when I connect the Dac to my PC via USB, and using Foobar and WASAPI the music sounds perfect"
 
How are you listening to the music in this setup, are you using the HD-600 via the DR DAC2 headphone amp?
 
How are you connecting the ipod to the DR DAC2?
Does the Onkyo ND-S1 have a headphone jack?
 
I have a DR DAC2 DX and the DAC is excellent. The USB input is slightly less than coax or optical but very good. The headphone output is very good but not the best for AKG K701 headphones. I would expect the headphone amp to be excellent for HD600 (using the high-gain jack) since the sensitivity is good and the impedance is 300 (AGK 701 sensitivity is less and the impedance is 62 ohms, a much heavier load).
 
If the DR DAC2 sounds good from your PC then I doubt this is the source of your problem.
I doubt the ipod has much jitter in and of itself (source files may contribute however).
I can speculate that the problem may be the headphone jack on the Onkyo but that is just a guess.

 

[Yukster]

Quote:

Your post is very detailed but not very coherent.
 
"when I connect the Dac to my PC via USB, and using Foobar and WASAPI the music sounds perfect"
 
How are you listening to the music in this setup, are you using the HD-600 via the DR DAC2 headphone amp?
 
How are you connecting the ipod to the DR DAC2?
Does the Onkyo ND-S1 have a headphone jack?
 
I have a DR DAC2 DX and the DAC is excellent. The USB input is slightly less than coax or optical but very good. The headphone output is very good but not the best for AKG K701 headphones. I would expect the headphone amp to be excellent for HD600 (using the high-gain jack) since the sensitivity is good and the impedance is 300 (AGK 701 sensitivity is less and the impedance is 62 ohms, a much heavier load).
 
If the DR DAC2 sounds good from your PC then I doubt this is the source of your problem.
I doubt the ipod has much jitter in and of itself (source files may contribute however).
I can speculate that the problem may be the headphone jack on the Onkyo but that is just a guess.

Sorry, I guess i should have made things clearer. 
 
The Onkyo ND-S1 (http://www.uk.onkyo.com/en/products/nd-s1-34533.html) is iPod dock that takes a digital signal from the iPod and outputs either a coaxial or optical digital signal.  There are no analog audio outs on the Onkyo.  When I tested the Dr.Dac2 DX from the laptop connected via USB, I was using FLAC files, through Foobar.  I am not sure how to explain it more clearly. 
 
Flac -> Foobar->Laptop->USB->Dr.Dac2 DX->HD650
 
My other setup is the following:
 
Apple Lossless -> iPod Classic -> ND-S1-> Either Coaxial or Optical digital -> Dr.DAC 2 DX -> HD650
 
I rip my CDs twice, once in FLAC for archiving, and another time for my iPod. 
 
I am not sure where the difference in sound comes in.