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

[nephilim32]

This DAC unbelievable and probably the biggest steal in the audio world today due to its price point.


Also. Mine took about 2 weeks for me to experience that eureka moment!
It's a great DAC. I have no intention of ever selling it. It gives me pure vinyl like warmth minus the hiss! What could be better.

In glad some here love this DAC as much as I do. Everyday I'm at work I can't wait to get home and fire this thing up.

 

[SearchOfSub]

It is a great DAC. When I had it. I can only imagine how well it would pair with a tube amp. Dreams

 

[nephilim32]

It is a great DAC. When I had it. I can only imagine how well it would pair with a tube amp. Dreams

Yeah. I want a WOO audio Firefly with the extra PSU.
That would be top tier for me.

 

[tretneo]

It is a great DAC. When I had it. I can only imagine how well it would pair with a tube amp. Dreams

 
I'll be pairing mine w/ the Gustard H10 amp. While this is a solid state headphone amp it allows for Op-Amp rolling which is more cost effective than tube rolling and allows for some pretty great sound signature customization.

 

[hsuchunting]

I've been using irDAC since January 2014, paired with a second-hand C.E.C. HD53R, HD600, and since this March the Alpha Prime.
 
Since my previous DAC was a Spitfire MKII via optical input, irDAC using the asynchronous USB input brought really tremendous improvement in SQ. I currently use it for classical music, online TV programs and movies sourcing from my Macbook Pro. Along the frequency range, the sound is always full and juicy showing many different levels of dynamic impact and details. Ever since, I become motivated in purchasing and enlarging my HD audio file collection. But no matter for the purpose of pure music, for TV, or for movies, this DAC always brings very much enjoyment out of the source. I'll be happy with it alone until the day I want to upgrade to a fully balanced system.
 
Apart from the sound quality, its light weight and compact size caused me little trouble as I moved from Germany to UK earlier this year, despite the fact that the space-occupying remote control was redundent for me.
I'm somehow interested in upgrading the power, but don't know if it would be cost-effective. The Sbooster solution asks a whooping € 280,00.

That's about two third of what I've paied for irDAC...
https://www.sbooster.com/botw-pp-eco-12v-132v/irdac

 

[Guess?]

  I've been eyeing the Arcam irDAC for some time (currently using a Modi 2 Uber) but at $699 MSRP I just couldn't justify it. I just ordered it for $409 shipped (New, sealed) from a dealer in Italy via eBay. Ordered on Tuesday, scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.
 
Arcam irDAC - $409
 
I don't get why this DAC is so overlooked, maybe its price point+availability? Every review I've read leaves the reviewer singing its praises. One thing I'm looking forward to is the smoothness (without losing detail) that many reviewers have reported. It might be nice w/ the ever so slight brightness of the HE-560 paired w/ the Gustard H10. We shall see.
 
What Hi-Fi review
ToneAudio review

 
I have ordered the DAC via this exact Ebay offer about two weeks ago, and it is with me for three days now. I was not excited at first after opening the box and plugging it straight away.
After just 10 hours of burn in and driver installation I did notice a massive improvement. Will continue the burn in process for the next couple of days and will let you know my opinion.

 

[giant77]

   
I have ordered the DAC via this exact Ebay offer about two weeks ago, and it is with me for three days now. I was not excited at first after opening the box and plugging it straight away.
After just 10 hours of burn in and driver installation I did notice a massive improvement. Will continue the burn in process for the next couple of days and will let you know my opinion.

 
If you don't mind me asking, do you know if you have full 2 year warranty on those ?  Was the condition brand new ?
 
Thanks

 

[sheldaze]

   
I have ordered the DAC via this exact Ebay offer about two weeks ago, and it is with me for three days now. I was not excited at first after opening the box and plugging it straight away.
After just 10 hours of burn in and driver installation I did notice a massive improvement. Will continue the burn in process for the next couple of days and will let you know my opinion.

This box definitely needs to burn! It was gawd-awful cold, but sounded good 24 hours later. Even 1 hour on-time was an improvement.
I'm not clear if it is true of Arcam DACs, but it was recommended of another DAC company to simply leave it on. Turn off the amplifiers and warm-up the tubes prior to playing, but leave the DACs on.

 

[tretneo]

   
If you don't mind me asking, do you know if you have full 2 year warranty on those ?  Was the condition brand new ?
 
Thanks

 
I haven't checked with Arcam, I can't imagine it wouldn't carry the warranty though. Might need to look into this. Yes, condition was brand new. I was very careful to inspect the contents and all bags, wrappings, etc. were consistent with new, from the factory condition.

 

[tretneo]

   
I have ordered the DAC via this exact Ebay offer about two weeks ago, and it is with me for three days now. I was not excited at first after opening the box and plugging it straight away.
After just 10 hours of burn in and driver installation I did notice a massive improvement. Will continue the burn in process for the next couple of days and will let you know my opinion.

 
Excellent, looking forward to hearing your opinion. Glad you found this deal as well, totally a steal.

 

[Guess?]

  http://s19.postimg.org/shx5rfisj/arcam.jpg
 
 
Quote:

   
If you don't mind me asking, do you know if you have full 2 year warranty on those ?  Was the condition brand new ?
 
Thanks

 
Brand new condition, but not so sure about the warranty. In the user's manual it is said that it is covered and it appears that all the documentation is there too...
 

 
This box definitely needs to burn! It was gawd-awful cold, but sounded good 24 hours later. Even 1 hour on-time was an improvement.
I'm not clear if it is true of Arcam DACs, but it was recommended of another DAC company to simply leave it on. Turn off the amplifiers and warm-up the tubes prior to playing, but leave the DACs on.

 
Around 20 hours on the clock, will definitely leave it playing again tonight.
 

 

 

 
 

 
Are these the settings you are using? Do you recommend different settings? Also if you are using Foobar do you use the ASIO driver?
 
 

 

[sheldaze]

I have a Windows laptop, but I'm a Mac user by default.
I'm tempted to compare the standard USB input to the iDevice USB input.

 

[Guess?]

   
Excellent, looking forward to hearing your opinion. Glad you found this deal as well, totally a steal.

A great deal indeed! I had issues with the posting location (Europe is excluded), but contacted the seller and he set the listing accordingly.
 

  I have a Windows laptop, but I'm a Mac user by default.
I'm tempted to compare the standard USB input to the iDevice USB input.

I have connected it to my laptop via USB. 
 
At the moment the DAC is running at home while I am at work.
There is already a noticeable difference between my Matrix M-Stage AMP/DAC and the irDAC, but will post more impressions after further burn-in.

 

[nephilim32]

This box definitely needs to burn! It was gawd-awful cold, but sounded good 24 hours later. Even 1 hour on-time was an improvement.
I'm not clear if it is true of Arcam DACs, but it was recommended of another DAC company to simply leave it on. Turn off the amplifiers and warm-up the tubes prior to playing, but leave the DACs on.

Give it time. You'll have one of those eureka moments soon!! This is one of the best DACS with in planet audio. It's a steal for the money.
Paired with a resolving solid state amp you'll be laughing in no time.

 

[sheldaze]

Give it time. You'll have one of those eureka moments soon!! This is one of the best DACS with in planet audio. It's a steal for the money.
Paired with a resolving solid state amp you'll be laughing in no time.

Hmmm...
 
Basically I got this because of the wonderful deal on eBay, which everyone is talking about. And I had never heard a really good Delta-Sigma DAC. But in my opinion, it simply does not sound as good as my current best R2R DAC, and I wasn't expecting it to. That's okay! It sounds really wonderful, especially for the close to $400 price. Really good stuff indeed! My current best DAC is 3-times the cost (or twice the MSRP of the Arcam irDAC). I'd have a hard time recommending it to the normal listener - this I'd have not a problem to recommend.
 
I was just noting that on day one, the Arcam irDAC was awful. It wasn't worth comparing the two DAC. After 24-hours of burning in (not listening during the burn-in), and the sound, between the two DAC, it and my best, was very close. The Arcam irDAC has been compared favorably to DAC in the price range of $500 - $2000 and I agree. Good stuff, indeed!