AudioEngine D1 DAC setup help:

[AlmostKilledMe]

Hi everyone,

I was seeing what everyone recommends for the best sound (if there is a difference) between running my D1 to my AudioEngine A5+.

Would it be better to have them RCA on the D1 to a 3.5mm jack and plug the jack into the aux port on the speakers?

or

D1 RCAs to the RCAs on the back of the A5+'s

Thanks!

 

[AlmostKilledMe]

I had the DAC hooked up RCA to 3.5mm for the longest time and now I am listening to some high-quality MP3s on RCA to RCA and the sound quality seems a bit lacking compared to the original setup.

Am I just experiencing a placebo effect or something? IS there a difference in audio quality you'd be able to here or am I going nuts? ha

 

[onevstheworld]

The front 3.5mm is an amped headphone jack and your speakers are powered... so you are double amping. The reason you probably feel that's better because a louder sound is interpreted as sounding better. Try volume matching the 2 setups and seeing if you notice any difference.

Nothing inherently wrong with double amping. But if you D1's amp introduces imperfections, these will be amplified by the A5+. In theory going through the RCA (a line output) gives you the cleanest signal.

 

[AlmostKilledMe]

Thanks for the reply, but I was using the rear RCA's on the D1 with a RCA to 3.5mm Jack cable, plugged into the BACK of my AE5+ speakers.

Not sure if this makes a difference with your response. The headphone jack on the front of the D1 was not in use.

Now I have RCA (back of the d1) to RCA on back of the AE5+s and it sounds more "flat" :/ I guess now.

I might go back to the RCA to 3.5mm setup I originally had I was just seeing if one was better than the other.

 

[onevstheworld]

Sorry, I misunderstood. A splitter shouldn't change the sound, so I can't explain what you're experiencing.