[audioqueso]

I wrote this comparison over at another forum that I usually post on, but because of my impression with the quality of the headphone output of the RME 9632 soundcard, I figured you guys might like this information. So here is my comparison.

Test Setup:
Speakers: B&W Nautilus 805
Integrated Amp: McIntosh MA6800
Source 1: HTPC w/ RME Hammerfall 9632 Soundcard
Source 2: HTPC w/ Musical Fidelity V-Dac (via USB)
Source 3: Marantz DV6001 DVD player w/ MF V-Dac (via digital coax)

* All sources switched by matrix switch to prevent less than a second of a gap in the music
** All CDs played on DV6001 were compared against the CD ripped to FLAC on the HTPC
*** CD and FLAC files were time-matched.

Background:
For the past few years, I've been using my HTPC as my source to my stereo. All my music is ripped as FLAC. After the purchase of a McIntosh MA6800, I found out that my source is my bottleneck. I started looking for ways to upgrade my HTPC to really make it sound as good as the Esoteric CD player that I had borrowed from my dealer.

The Candidates:
So after some research, I came down to the RME and Lynx soundcard being two of the top top-notch soundcards. Some said the RME wasn't far off from the Lynx at half the price. Then, I heard from those that oppose soundcards, stating that an external DAC will always be superior to internal soundcards because of a PC internal components. So I bought a RME Hammerfall 9632 soundcard. I also bought a Musical Fidelity V-Dac. Why MF's V-Dac? Because a few professional reviews (magazines) state that this little $300 DAC can best so many above its price stating the V-DAC is the new reference. So I gave them both a try.

Testing:
I had planned to write out an in-depth comparison between the two so that future buyers can be as well informed as possible. I wanted to mention every detail in bass, mids, highs, clarity, etc. But the fact is that there was no comparison. The RME soundcard was just superior in every way. It wasn't that the MF V-Dac sounded bad, but it sounded almost identical to the sound coming out of my Marantz DV6001 DVD player. So I will just try to wrap up a summary about both cards.

Musical Fidelity V-Dac:
I tried to give this DAC a fair chance. I tried several configurations with MF's V-Dac. Marantz DV6001 vs DV6001+V-Dac via digital coax. Then DV6001 vs DV6001+V-Dac via optical. DV6001 vs HTPC+V-Dac via USB. The difference was so marginal. I had to listen VERY carefully to hear any difference. And if one has to listen that carefully to notice the difference, it's not even worth it. As I found out before, if I send a digital source to a Marantz SR7002 AV receiver, it sounds the same as the Marantz DV6001's analog output sounds. The Musical Fidelity V-Dac pretty much falls in the same category. The receiver, the DVD player, and the DAC all sound identical. So I will say that if you already have a good AV receiver, it's not worth buying the Musical Fidelity V-Dac.

RME Hammerfall 9632:
The RME really made a very big impression to me. The difference between the RME and everything else I threw at it was definition, clarity, and soundstage. I could pop in a CD, play it on the DV6001, and think to myself "this sounds good". I switch over to the song playing on the HTPC, and it was like a veil was removed. Voices and instrument seemed confined to a limited space or "bandwidth" on the V-Dac compared to the 9632. Bass and tremble also seemed a bit over-emphasized on the V-Dac (..and the DV6001 DVD player... and the SR7002 AV receiver's digital input). The soundstage also stood out too. I switch back to the V-Dac, and the music sounded a bit 2D compared to the music that I heard with the RME. The V-Dac's soundstage was bad at all. It's just that the RME soundstage seemed so real.

The RME is also crucial in revealing every single detail. It is not an analyical sound. It was very neutral sounding, but it brought out every single detail. There was a comment I read somewhere that someone said the card will reveal so much detail, that one could hear the kind of studio the music was recorded in. Yeah... I would agree. Not in an exaggerated way, but you could hear the if the the singer was in a booth, or an open room, etc. It's not literal, but still very impressive. As you could tell, I'm very happy with this soundcard and will be keeping it for my HTPC.

Short Headphone Note:
For me, the RME 9632 soundcard is worth the money. On top of the sound quality, the card is really something. You can pretty much do anything you can think of for music and recording. Configure it to bi-amp properly, you could hook up my turntable and have it go straight to output in case you have no phono connection on your pre-amp/receiver, have music files play to one output and input signals (like the turntable) play to another output, and more. The headphone out from the soundcard also sounds really transparent and has adjustable dB output. I used a pair of Audio Technica A900's and Sennheiser HD555 to listen to some music and compare it to the way it sounds with anything else in my house. No comparison. Not too long ago, I tried out a iBasso D2 Boa and didn't really hear much of a difference. For me, THIS is what I was expecting out of an amp. The way the RME made my A900's sound was just so clean and pure.

Results:
The RME 9632 is the clear winner. I paid $300 for the V-Dac. $500 for the RME. The RME is worth WELL over the $200 difference. Are there better DACs out there? Sure, no doubt. As previously stated, I gave this DAC a chance because of professional reviewers stating this was a killer deal. That combined with comments that DACs are superior to soundcards... I wanted to try both and see what works best for me. This is just a really nice soundcard. Maybe more expensive than one would consider for a soundcard, but if you really want to give your HTPC a big boast, I highly recommend the RME Hammerfall 9632 soundcard.

 

[roker]

Would it have made a difference to go optical out from the RME card to the V-Dac?

After all, the optical connection is supposed to be superior and the RME would more or less be passing 1s and 0s to it..

 

[audioqueso]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would it have made a difference to go optical out from the RME card to the V-Dac? After all, the optical connection is supposed to be superior and the RME would more or less be passing 1s and 0s to it..

No, it didn't make a difference. I did try that.
DV6001 vs V-Dac resulted in almost identical sounds.
DV6001 vs RME resulted in the RME sounding much better.
DV6001 vs RME+V-Dac resulted in almost identical sounds.
Regardless that the RME sounds better than the DV6001, using the RME to output optical only and into the V-Dac just gave it the same sound as the V-Dac did alone... and thus, same as the DV6001.

As I noted in another thread, I compared the optical out of the RME+V-Dac vs a Chaintech AV710+V-Dac just for ****s and giggles. The V-Dac was feeding a McIntosh MA6800 and on to a pair of B&W 805's. RME+V-Dac vs AV710+V-Dac... I couldn't hear a difference. Perhaps from a technical point of view, the AV710's optical output is inferior. Perhaps for recording purposes or something where jitter control and the microscopic accuracy of the data matters, the AV710's optical output is inferior. But for just listening to music... for what my ears heard, it didn't matter which optical output I used... both ended up sounding the same once going through the Musical Fidelity V-Dac.

I tried. I tried to give every component a fair chance to prove itself. I was evening thinking that the RME+V-Dac would surpass all... but no. Just by what my ears were hearing, the V-Dac sounded the same regardless of what optical out it was using. Perhaps a really crappy optical out would have showed its flaws. But for what I test... good vs great soundcard optical out... I didn't hear any difference.

 

[roker]

I believe that you gave you it a fair chance. It was just an immediate observation on my part I was inquiring about.

Would you take the RME vs most outboard Dacs at that price point?

I think that's the only thing that would stop me from buying this soundcard.

 

[audioqueso]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe that you gave you it a fair chance. It was just an immediate observation on my part I was inquiring about. Would you take the RME vs most outboard Dacs at that price point? I think that's the only thing that would stop me from buying this soundcard.

I wouldn't be able to say. Aside from the V-Dac, the only other DAC I've ever heard was the Benchmark DAC1 (and that wasn't even on the same setup). I've never compared the V-Dac against a $500 DAC. I choose the V-Dac simply off the reviews by magazines that stated that it can best DACs at a higher price range.

 

[audioqueso]

FYI (...in case someone is wondering),
all components went through 100+ hours burn-in before the review. I always burn-in every audio component for 100+ hours even if it doesn't do anything. It's just my normal practice.

 

[Telstar]

If anyone can do it, I'd like to hear the comparison vs the benchmark.

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telstar /img/forum/go_quote.gif If anyone can do it, I'd like to hear the comparison vs the benchmark.

I think it has been made before by Iron Dreamer,
but I dont remember what RME card was...

 

[sonci]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/re...u-1212m-77698/

 

[audioqueso]

Well... there you have it.

..and yes, the RME HDSP 9632 is the same card I have. (Now I'm interested to see about this mod he did. ha ha)

 

[neouser]

I had the chance to compare my 9632 with the Keces 131.1 I own.

In the beginning i thought that the dac was way too harsh. They sounded different, both detailed, but the dac just "seemed" more detailed cause it was emphatizing some frequencises (highs and mids), in a way they were more present, but surely not pleasant. Dac was fed with the spdif coax of rme.
In comparison, the rme sounded very smooth, neutral, still detailed, more pleasant.
This was what i thought in the beginning. After months the dac changed his sound signature, and the harshness mostly has gone away. Add that compared to the internal soundcard there's no emi noise, (on the rme however there was just a little). They still sound different, the dac more "hard", dynamic, very clear. I think in the end i can say it is better than the rme. But not by a wide margin.

To finish, do you want to know what i think about this difference? LME49710.
The sound signature of the dac is mostly depending on them. They are very good opamps, and they provide very good, ultra clean sound. I bet that if I'd apply them to rme, they would sound very similar.

Another important thing: the Keces has nothing to get rid of jitter in the digital input section. RMAA tests with it fed by motherboard coaxial are horrible. Instead fed by rme coaxial, the results are as expected by a good dac implementation using the NS LME49710.

Marco

 

[kytuphicanh]

I owned benchmark, stello DA100 sig, and zhaolu mod zapfilter......But I prefer RME 9632 above all. And when I swap old cap with rubycon ZL, panasonic FC, sanyo OS con and opamp to LME49720 ....oh, sound much better. I also read Iron dreamer review, but I don't beleive that review.
 
This is my topic about rme mod:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/440090/pic-guide-to-rme-hdsp-9632-mod-cap