[OracleGuy]

My long-awaited silver DAC-1 finally arrived. I couldn't wait to get it hooked up to the Edirol UA-1EX I bought to go along with it.

I'm running optical from the Edirol to the DAC-1. The Edirol is producing analog out, no problem. Hooking the optical cable up, and I get laser light through the cable.

Alas, hooking the optical to the DAC-1 produces nothing. I cannot get any lights on the DAC to light except for the power light. I've switched switches and jumpered jumpers to no avail.

I tried another source with toslink out (a PS2), and no difference.

Am I missing something? What's the chance that the DAC-1 could be DOA? They have such a good reputation that I find it hard to believe.

This is major lunchbag letdown.

I'm doing all this at work, so will be trying at home with a DVD player as source, and another optical cable. Unfortunately I don't have a digital coax cable and don't really want to buy one that I don't need.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OracleGuy Unfortunately I don't have a digital coax cable and don't really want to buy one that I don't need.

You don't need one. A regular rca cable for video or audio cable will work.

 

[Beauregard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OracleGuy ... Hooking the optical cable up, and I get laser light through the cable. Alas, hooking the optical to the DAC-1 produces nothing. I cannot get any lights on the DAC to light except for the power light. I've switched switches and jumpered jumpers to no avail. ...

Major league bummer!

It doesn't sound good to me... The red error light on the front panel should be on if the input selection switch is on any setting that doesn't have an active connection. If it's not coming on at all then something's amiss with the unit.

Hmm, a thought... you said you've been fooling with the jumpers. Is it possible you've set the jumper that disables the input selection switch and limits input to a single connection? Or maybe it was shipped on the wrong setting or is missing altogether. Lemme look it up... it's P2, page 15 in my version of the manual. I've never messed with this and I don't know what the effect is on the error light. But if it's set to any other than "switch enabled" or "optical only" it might explain your problem.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in. It's bad enough when crap like this happens but it's even worse on a Friday night when you can't get to customer support until after the weekend!

Good luck... and please report back about how things are going.

Best,
Beau

 

[pne]

perhaps a fuse got jumbled loose? have you opened it up for a look inside?

 

[OracleGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX You don't need one. A regular rca cable for video or audio cable will work.

Thanks -- I didn't know that. It should work in a pinch anyway I guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauregard Hmm, a thought... you said you've been fooling with the jumpers. Is it possible you've set the jumper that disables the input selection switch and limits input to a single connection? Or maybe it was shipped on the wrong setting or is missing altogether. Lemme look it up... it's P2, page 15 in my version of the manual. I've never messed with this and I don't know what the effect is on the error light. But if it's set to any other than "switch enabled" or "optical only" it might explain your problem.

I had the same thought. The jumper was correctly set on the default to enable the input selection switch. I tried setting it to optical only, but it didn't help. I definitely don't see the error light no matter what, only the power light.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pne perhaps a fuse got jumbled loose? have you opened it up for a look inside?

I don't think it's the fuse--the power light is on for sure.

Thanks for your help everybody. One saving grace for this situation is that I bought the DAC locally instead of over the Internet. My local dealer ordered a few in at the same time, so I'm hoping they still have one left for an exchange!

I haven't had time to do any further testing yet. The dealer's open for a few hours today so I might just take it in.

 

[elmoe]

the DAC-1 isnt a very surdy dac imo. I had to send mine back to the US for faulty RCA outputs ad had to wait a month and a half to get it back in working order. What is your DAC hooked up to in your rig?

 

[Beauregard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OracleGuy ... I haven't had time to do any further testing yet. The dealer's open for a few hours today so I might just take it in.

There's probably not much point in spending any more time experimenting with the unit. Simply plugging it in should turn on the error light and since that ain't the case...

Hope your next post fills us in on how much you're enjoying the replacement.

Best,
Beau

 

[OracleGuy]

Sorry for the delay since my last post -- I've been too happy listening to this DAC!

The dealer had another silver DAC-1 in the display case; we plugged it in and sure enough the error light came on right away so we did the switch. I hooked it up the next day at work from the Edirol UA-1EX feeding it via toslink, and it worked perfectly.

My first test was with the front headphone outs, and then I quickly switched to my brand new Zu Mobius with the XLRs.

I've changed the attenuation jumpers from -20 dB to 0 dB -- Iron_Dreamer says this is the best impedance match, but *man* are these cans loud now! I can't turn the front volume knob past about 9 o'clock. I might try backing the jumpers off, to -10 dB, but I don't want to mess with a good thing at this point.

The sound is very, very clear. I really hear the bass impact too, for example on drum beats. People talk about this DAC being "lightning fast". I think I notice that playing Nickelback -- Chad Kroeger's vocals come through clearly.

One thing I'm really enjoying is how good even "old" music sounds. Boston's first album sounds great! I've been trying all sorts of different music, and like they say, hearing "new" things all the time.

I listen to a lot of Jazz vocals and they sound very clear and beautiful. I'm listening to Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" at this moment and it sounds really good.

I haven't listened to any other "high end" rigs so I don't know what else to say really, but I'm very much enjoying this setup!

Thanks everyone for your advice!

 

[Beauregard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OracleGuy ... I haven't listened to any other "high end" rigs so I don't know what else to say really, but I'm very much enjoying this setup!

Glad things worked out without too much hassle! Enjoy...

Beau

 

[Jon L]

"I haven't listened to any other "high end" rigs so I don't know what else to say really, but I'm very much enjoying this setup!"

I wouldn't worry about other "high end" DAC setups. I've heard many CDP/DAC's, and it is very difficult to name ones that sound obviously superior to Benchmark. Many that sound "different," but not necessarily better.

Unless you've got $8000+ to spend on a DAC to get an obvious improvement, I would enjoy the heck out of DAC1. You can improve it further by investigating good cables, power cords, maybe a digital source with BNC/coax output, etc...

 

[OracleGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L Unless you've got $8000+ to spend on a DAC to get an obvious improvement, I would enjoy the heck out of DAC1. You can improve it further by investigating good cables, power cords, maybe a digital source with BNC/coax output, etc...

Thanks for the reassurance. Alas, I definitely don't have $8000+ to spend on a DAC. My next "dream" upgrade would probably be a balanced headamp, but I don't think I'll be able to fit such a beast on my desk at work. The DAC-1 is perfectly sized.

Pretty darn good SQ for the size and money, I'd say. It's a killer work rig, that's for sure.

As far as upgrades to this setup, would for example, a coax digital input actually make an audible difference over Toslink? This little Edirol box seems to work pretty well -- it's only got optical digital out unfortunately.