[morphie]

Hello,

Quick question, if I hook up floorstanding speakers to the DAC to test em out for 5 mins at low volume, is it dangerous for the DAC at all?

Someone told me that the speakers would suck out too much power and eventually damage the DAC - however since I control the strength of the signal using the volume knob how can the speakers suck out more than im allowing them to take??

Thx

 

[breez]

I don't have any info regarding the possibility of damage, but I wouldn't risk it =) And besides neither the speakers or the DAC will perform at its best in this kind of test.

 

[jpr703]

Not sure what you're testing, but I wouldn't risk it either....

 

[Nak Man]

Might be ok if the volume is very very low which make very little sound.

Of course I wouldn't risk it either, esp with good dac and or speakers. It's like asking pushing your woofer's cone with a knife ... you control the force, but by the time you realised the force was a wee bit too much, woofer will already be in cones heaven.

 

[morphie]

Hmm i just want to know if its dangerous or if it will just give me low volume and crappy sound. IMO as far as i can see since the speakers are 160w each and the DAC's amp cannot give that much, as long as the volume knob on the DAC is, lets say, at 1/2, there is nothing to fear. I know this is a dumb question but if someone knows for sure I'd like to know if im correct, would help me understand things ^^

 

[Alu]

Don't destroy the bench for it will destroy you back!

 

[gerG]

Connecting the signal outputs would be very dangerous to the DAC. The speakers are pretty much a dead short, relative to the intended load. You will not be able to control finely enough to overcome the effect. There should be short protection on the outputs, but why risk it.

The headphone output is another matter. The headphone amp was designed to provide some amount of current. Speakers are similar to headphones, but are much lower impedance. If you have an adapter to go from the headphone out to the speaker terminals, it should work. I have tried this with a couple of different headphone amps. This is still a bit risky because you will hit a current limit long before a voltage limit (clipping). Realize that you are relying on the internal protection circuit, and proceed with caution.


gerG

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gerG Connecting the signal outputs would be very dangerous to the DAC. The speakers are pretty much a dead short, relative to the intended load.

I was thinking on this same line but wondered if that's the case, wouldn't shortening the output (signal to ground) supposed to be a normal thing to do to mute or turn the signal off ?

 

[morphie]

I see what youre getting at, I think I understand how it works now, sort of.

Thanks for the help, things work out as I thought they would.

UPDATE: rofl. Ok i've tried it with quite low volume for 2 minutes. Result: Benchmark DAC-1 burnt in, and boy does it sound great.... I dont know if its completely burnt in or just a little but the sound difference is huge...

I wasnt sure of it at first - I noticed a big change in the sound right away but I was unsure if it was better or worse than before, and thinking I had damaged the dac didnt help either. So... I did some tests. It took some time to find the right song to test, but I finally decided on Red Hot Chili Peppers - Aeroplane for the HUGE bassist's interpretation. I was blown away, by everything that the DAC first blew me away with. Everything is the same but better, thats the best way I can describe it ^^

Hope it was fun to laugh at a newbie doing stupid tests

 

[Alu]

So you were actually risking a 1000€ DAC to be damaged? ^^;

Or were you finally told that it was safe nevertheless?

 

[morphie]

Yep, actually an engineer did it with me and confirmed that if the volume starts at 0 and is very slowly raised it would be fine, but not for a long time, and keeping an eye on the DAC's temperature. Did some good

 

[Alu]

So basically the higher charge that the speakers demand from the dac made it burn in faster?
You deserve the nobel price for that discovery.

 

[morphie]

rofl, yep thats exactly it. It just made the burn it faster. btw i just got my amp setup is done, ill show u pics when i catch u online on DC ^_^

 

[JeffL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphie rofl, yep thats exactly it. It just made the burn it faster. btw i just got my amp setup is done, ill show u pics when i catch u online on DC ^_^

LOL, I don't know where you got the idea that this makes the DAC burn in faster, but I think you are mistaken.

 

[morphie]

I got the idea by hvaing a DAC and listening to it before and after rofl... if you think I am mistaken, then thats just fine with me, all I know is my DAC sounds better than when I first got it and thats all that matters to me ^_^

and i dont see how someone who doesnt have a DAC can tell me if my own dac is burnt in or not btw...