Anyone using Arcam irDAC & what do you think of it?

[sheldaze]

  As I  am looking at the ir Dac and see you sold yours, do you mind if I ask what you are using now and why?
 
Thanks!

Was this for me?
 
I'm using a Gungnir Multibit. To my ears, it sounds the best of both worlds - it has the same analog smoothness of the Bifrost (it should, it's the next model in their lineup) and the big stage and big dynamics of the irDAC. The problem is the expense, which is 3 times the irDAC ($1249). And depending on what equipment you have connected, you may or may not hear it as an upgrade.
 
It is simply what I love

 

[reihead]

  I had unsubscribed (sold both my Bifrost Multibit and Arcam irDAC), but just peeking back in to see how this thread was doing 

 
They are quite comparable! Both are excellent values, in my opinion! The irDAC still has the edge in terms of soundstage and dynamics. The Bifrost with Multibit upgrade has the edge in terms of sonic signature and realism - you feel as if you are truly listening to a violin, with realistic texture to the bowing and fingering sounds. Between the two, and assuming cost of Bifrost is $599 and cost of irDAC is $409, my pick is for the soundstage of the irDAC. I like its big soundstage, but without the harshness I've heard from other DAC implementations, such as the Oppo BDP-105.
 
If however they sold at the original MSRP, it's a tough call - is the irDAC worth $100 more than the Bifrost Multibit? And don't forget that the Bifrost is not a end of life DAC - it'll continue to get future upgrades. For the around the same cost, I'd have to side with the Bifrost, and its future upgrade option. Today though, I think you could be happy with either one 

 
Here in Europe, The Bifrost Multibit is 629eur or more! and the irDAC can be found for 499eur, so my desicion is an easy one.
 
Thanks for your input

 

[AlexF1]

Thanks for your insite. I will try irDac - more to my budget and see how it sounds.

 

[reihead]

Thanks for your insite. I will try irDac - more to my budget and see how it sounds.

Please share your thoughts when you get it.

 

[Vanquisher]

UPS just dropped off my irDAC. Time to put some hours on it before this weekends headfi meet! Crazy quick shipping from Italy, looks like they are all gone at the $409 price so feeling good about snatching one of these up while I had the chance.

 

[reihead]

^^ let me know your impressions!
Waiting for one myself

 

[reihead]

Got the irRAC this morning.
First impressions after 3 hours of listening... Soundstage is very good, indeed aggressive and upfront as a member previously stated.

Small beautiful box, shame that the usb for iPod doesn't work for Android phones.

Did a bit comparision with the Fiio X5 dac and the arcam is in a different league as expected.

 

[Vanquisher]

Got the irRAC this morning.
First impressions after 3 hours of listening... Soundstage is very good, indeed aggressive and upfront as a member previously stated.

Small beautiful box, shame that the usb for iPod doesn't work for Android phones.

Did a bit comparision with the Fiio X5 dac and the arcam is in a different league as expected.

 
Gets better around 20-24hrs into it. I haven't had much chance to put more time on it as all my stuff is packed up for the headfi meet tomorrow.

 

[reihead]

   
Gets better around 20-24hrs into it. I haven't had much chance to put more time on it as all my stuff is packed up for the headfi meet tomorrow.

 
Hope that's the case, I'm finding it too aggressive.
 
Have a great meet!

 

[Vanquisher]

   
Hope that's the case, I'm finding it too aggressive.
 
Have a great meet!

 
How've you been finding the dac?

 

[reihead]

^^ Enjoying it a lot, got better after a good 30 hours and more listening. It has a upfront nature thought. Very good and I would recommend it.
 
But today this happened
 

 

[gryffe]

Hi, I have just acquired this DAC. Could someone please help with a problem I have?  When I try to use USB class 11 switch it does not work, - the light does not change to green from red. The DAC works ok with class 1 playback however so I assume it is all connected properly. I reckon I have the correct type of usb cable (Audioquest pearl usb 2.0 a to b) and the port is also capable of taking USB 2.0. It seems to be a driver problem with ARCAM USB Audio 2.0, it has a yellow triangle with exclamation mark in Device Manager. It says it has the most up to date driver, but the properties tab reveals this error -
This device cannot start. (Code 10)
Indicates two revision levels are incompatible.
 
Is the driver possibly in the wrong location? After I downloaded the driver from Arcams website I copied it to "windows/system32/drivers" folder.
 
Any help gratefully received - thanks

 

[reihead]

^^
I don't own this DAC anymore but last week was using it without a problem.
 
Placing the files directly on the "windows/system32/drivers" folder won't work.
 
You need to install the drivers, when you unzip the files there must be a folder "ARCAMUSBAudio_v1.61" in which there is a setup.exe file, run it, follow the instructions and a restart might be requiered.

 

[Vanquisher]

  ^^
I don't own this DAC anymore but last week was using it without a problem.
 
Placing the files directly on the "windows/system32/drivers" folder won't work.
 
You need to install the drivers, when you unzip the files there must be a folder "ARCAMUSBAudio_v1.61" in which there is a setup.exe file, run it, follow the instructions and a restart might be requiered.

 
That was quick lol. What did you replace it with?

 

[reihead]

^^ Mojo
Don't get me wrong, the irDAC is a fine dac, a bit aggressive for my taste.