[Mr.Sneis]

I caught mention of this Dac recently, looks like ARC is using a different USB setup than adaptive or asynch at a modest $5k price tag.  Anyone have any impressions?
 
http://www.audioresearch.com/DAC8.html 

 

[DaveBSC]

Supposedly its much better than the DAC7, and very competitive with the Alpha DAC. I don't think the USB implementation is all that spectacular though. I would expect the Off-ramp 4 to sound much better.

 

[winzzz]

bump..has anyone heard this dac ?

 

[MikeLa]

Yes, I have it and like it a lot - very musical to my ears. I'm running it with a Weiss AFI1 firewire interface connecting to the spdif input on the DAC8. Running Pure Vinyl, Amarra or Fidelia, seamlessly switching from 44/16 up to 192/24.  
 
There is a fairly active DAC8 thread on ComputerAudiophile.com.
 
-michael

 

[winzzz]

thanks mikela..have you tried the usb input ? would you recommend this dac in the 5000 range ?

 

[MikeLa]

No I never tried the USB input.  Since I haven't heard all the Dac's in the $5K range I don't know, but it's the one I purchased and I don't plan on changing anytime soon... in fact, I've stopped looking.
 
-michael