[B-Dawk20]

Quote:

 
 
Your mom's poorly executed... So anyways, my sisters refuse to use stock buds now and always steal my CW31's and SP51's. They're slowly getting the bug.
 
 

 
 
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h305/DJ-High_Kid-v1/Reaction%20Pics/1319332699640.jpg

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Any thoughts on the Arcam rDAC?
I like it's feature set.
I've always liked the sound of any Arcam equipment I've heard.
 

I just recently traded mine in for an Audiophilleo 2 USB to SPDIF converter after upgrading to the Rega DAC ~
good little unit depending on how much you pay for it.
 
I preferred it to the DacMagic, the Cambridge has a slight 'digital' presentation to it that does make itself apparent
~ all depends on what is important to you but for me, it's always been the pursuit of finding a DAC that sounds musical and
analogue as possible to my ears over sheer detail retrieval.
 
The Arcam's personality is laid back and quite rich sounding especially in the bass region ~ I found myself swapping in
and out of DAC's 5 or 6 times in an afternoon just to confirm, there is no doubt that for any given track, it adds something
extra for bass impact and slam. A good thing in some books, an absolute no-no for others. The other plus point is that it's a true
'USB-DAC' ~ it sounds best from a direct USB to USB connection, I briefly hooked it up to the Audiophilleo2
via SPDIF input and the sound did not become more open, detailed or natural.
 
It's a pleasant overall and I think for anyone who can score it for under $550AUD (sorry that's what they cost out here new)
then it's a contender in the price bracket along with the HRT Streamer II, Cambridge Dacmagic, and Peachtree DAC*IT ~
have not heard the new Calyx Coffee which has also been getting good reviews, another possibility there for you.
 
Quite small and well built ~ one point to consider, Arcam do not ship it with a Type A to B USB cable which I think is
annoying.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

I just recently traded mine in for an Audiophilleo 2 USB to SPDIF converter after upgrading to the Rega DAC ~
good little unit depending on how much you pay for it.
 
I preferred it to the DacMagic, the Cambridge has a slight 'digital' presentation to it that does make itself apparent
~ all depends on what is important to you but for me, it's always been the pursuit of finding a DAC that sounds musical and
analogue as possible to my ears over sheer detail retrieval.
 
The Arcam's personality is laid back and quite rich sounding especially in the bass region ~ I found myself swapping in
and out of DAC's 5 or 6 times in an afternoon just to confirm, there is no doubt that for any given track, it adds something
extra for bass impact and slam. A good thing in some books, an absolute no-no for others. The other plus point is that it's a true
'USB-DAC' ~ it sounds best from a direct USB to USB connection, I briefly hooked it up to the Audiophilleo2
via SPDIF input and the sound did not become more open, detailed or natural.
 
It's a pleasant overall and I think for anyone who can score it for under $550AUD (sorry that's what they cost out here new)
then it's a contender in the price bracket along with the HRT Streamer II, Cambridge Dacmagic, and Peachtree DAC*IT ~
have not heard the new Calyx Coffee which has also been getting good reviews, another possibility there for you.
 
Quite small and well built ~ one point to consider, Arcam do not ship it with a Type A to B USB cable which I think is
annoying.

Thanks for the impressions.
I was looking for neutral but prefer musical and warm over an overly analytical sound. 
Like I said, I've liked all the Arcam stuff I've heard.
If it is optimized for USB then great!
It's about $500 Canadian here, or $650 Canadian for the Wireless (and Apple ready) version.
I have a few el cheapo USB cables in the house but I don't have a Type A to B cable........naturally!
Do you think a good USB cable makes any difference?
I'm a big fan of Nordost speaker and interconnect cables. 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Thanks for the impressions.
I was looking for neutral but prefer musical and warm over an overly analytical sound. 
Like I said, I've liked all the Arcam stuff I've heard.
If it is optimized for USB then great!
It's about $500 Canadian here, or $650 Canadian for the Wireless (and Apple ready) version.
I have a few el cheapo USB cables in the house but I don't have a Type A to B cable........naturally!
Do you think a good USB cable makes any difference?
I'm a big fan of Nordost speaker and interconnect cables. 
 

I've got a Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable that I managed to get for a price that was beyond reasonable, an ex-demo
that made itself available for less than half price so I nabbed it. The real issue I had with my 'general store' Type A to B
cable was that the square end was slightly under sized can you believe it ~ it was a loose fit into the back of the rDAC
so every now and then I'd get a pop. Sure enough when I replaced it with the Nordost Blue Heaven, the fit was much better
and the popping was gone.
 
It's a contentious area, USB cables ~ I've heard 3 extensively ~ the Nordost Blue Heaven (mine), Wireworld Ultraviolet
and Furutech Formula 2 ~ differences are very hard to pick, and if anything many will tell you it's all just placebo.
 
I tend to put USB cables in the same box as power conditioning, if you get a placebo effect from it then go for it,
if not and you believe it's all just mystical hog wash then that's good too 

 
My suggestion? Get a Nuforce USB cable ~ $25-$30USD ~ can't go wrong. It's $10 if that over a general use one.
 
I'm a definite believer in RCA cables though, especially when comparing silver to copper.

 

[tme110]

No one I know even knows I have this hobby but I had a friend from college visit who seemed very interested in my 'strange' looking stereo system.  I gave a demo and his response was an excited 'wow, I feel like I'm there'.

 

[googleli]

Is it just me or does anyone else find DACs in general still can't compare with high-end CD players? Of the DACs I have heard, only the dCS products, Weiss, Berkeley and Antelope can be said to be pretty much up to par with mid-high end CD players. For the general DACs, I always find that even if they are playing 192 and the CDs are just redbook CDs, the sound is better on the mid-high end CD players.  
 

 

[clifwst]

It's according to what you consider high end.
 
I own the Cambridge audio 840C their TOTL player, I also own the Anedio D1 and Rega DACs which both cost less then the CA 840C.
 
I think the stand alone DACs sound better then the CA 840C,  not by a large amount, however enough so they are currently the choice for my main rig.
 
I listened to both the Rega Saturn and Rega DAC in the exact same set up, with the Saturn serving as the transport for the Rega DAC.
 
I went home with the DAC because I liked the Rega DAC better then the Saturn.  Not a huge difference, but one where the Rega DAC was what I wanted.

 

[c61746961]

You can find out doing a volume matched A/B comparison, or better yet, assuming you have access to a decent quality line input for your computer:

Playback track A from your CD player and record the analog output.
Playback track A from your DAC and record the analog output.
Use Audio DiffMaker to subtract the recorded tracks from the original and then listen to the resulting tracks at your normal playback level, see if you can hear anything. You may even go as far as to subtract one recorded track from the other, worst case.

 

[Gwarmi]

 
Yes it does help though Googeli when the high end CD player you're referring to is your $22,000USD Esoteric K-01 

 
 

Esoteric K-01

By Jon Iverson • Posted: Jan 7, 2011

New products from Esoteric this year include the flagship K-01 "Digital Source Device" (pictured above) available now and retailing for $22,000.
The K-01 features an asynchronous USB input that Esoteric claims will handle 24bit/192kHz sources due to a proprietary software driver the company has developed.

 

 

[googleli]

I wish my K-01 had that glass top

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

 
Yes it does help though Googeli when the high end CD player you're referring to is your $22,000USD Esoteric K-01 

 
 

Esoteric K-01

By Jon Iverson • Posted: Jan 7, 2011

New products from Esoteric this year include the flagship K-01 "Digital Source Device" (pictured above) available now and retailing for $22,000.
The K-01 features an asynchronous USB input that Esoteric claims will handle 24bit/192kHz sources due to a proprietary software driver the company has developed.

 

Holy Mother Fudging sandwich. Thats way to much for a cd player. I will stick with $100 ones thank you very much.

 

[ac500]

Haha. 22 THOUSAND dollars for a CD player!?!?! No thanks. I'll just rip my CDs with my $10 computer CD player to lossless FLAC played through at most a modern high end DAC and amp chain. Costs 1/10th and most certainly won't sound any worse (unless the CD player has some magically good DAC/amp not available elsewhere).
 
Then again, I could probably make a lot of money marketing snake oil "audiophile" products too. You don't even need to be very well technically educated to come up with convincing enough technobabble to get some people to purchase it.

 

[googleli]

Quote:

Haha. 22 THOUSAND dollars for a CD player!?!?! No thanks. I'll just rip my CDs with my $10 computer CD player to lossless FLAC played through at most a modern high end DAC and amp chain. Costs 1/10th and most certainly won't sound any worse (unless the CD player has some magically good DAC/amp not available elsewhere).
 
Then again, I could probably make a lot of money marketing snake oil "audiophile" products too. You don't even need to be very well technically educated to come up with convincing enough technobabble to get some people to purchase it.

Now let's take a look at the topic of this thread again. Is that the same kind of reaction as "Non-audiophile reactions to high-end headphones"? 

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 
@ac500
 
All about perception, I don't think you'd have to go far to find people with 96kbps Mp3's and run down apple buds
who think your rig is just that ~ a waste of money ~ you know better though,
 
Question is, where do you draw the line?

 

[ac500]

There's a difference between drawing a line somewhere on a gradual scale of increasing quality, and something that is no better or possibly worse than something 1/10th the price. In the case of the CD player, that $22,000 system will literally sound no better than what I described (computer ripped flac -> high end DAC -> high end amp). Does that unit really contain a DAC worth $10,000 and a amp worth $10,000? Because if not, I could easily buy a better quality DAC and Amp, buy a full featured computer with optical audio out, and get much better sound for much less money overall.