Review: Yulong D100 DAC/amp - reference quality with a reasonable price
Aug 17, 2011 at 3:16 PM Post #632 of 1,182
Hey guys maybe some of you can help me out. I plan on getting some KRK RP6G2 Rokit G2 ( http://www.amazon.com/KRK-RP6G2-Powered-Monitor-Speaker/dp/B001A6IC7Q ) monitors and hooking it up to my Yulong D100. I really have no idea what I'm doing I'm guessing 3 pin xlr male to female ? Or do I go rca preamp to the KRK from my Schiit Lyr? Like I said this is my first time using a dac with something other than headphones so I really have no idea what I'm doing. Can anyone help me with the best way to connect this set up, and which plugs exactly do I need? Thanks
 
John
 
Aug 17, 2011 at 3:25 PM Post #633 of 1,182
You'll want something with a volume control since the line out (both of them) of the D100 are proper line outs and thus fixed level. I'm running my Logitech Z3 from the RCA lineout - you can see their volume control on top of the D100 in the video I posted :)
 
Quote:
Hey guys maybe some of you can help me out. I plan on getting some KRK RP6G2 Rokit G2 ( http://www.amazon.com/KRK-RP6G2-Powered-Monitor-Speaker/dp/B001A6IC7Q ) monitors and hooking it up to my Yulong D100. I really have no idea what I'm doing I'm guessing 3 pin xlr male to female ? Or do I go rca preamp to the KRK from my Schiit Lyr? Like I said this is my first time using a dac with something other than headphones so I really have no idea what I'm doing. Can anyone help me with the best way to connect this set up, and which plugs exactly do I need? Thanks
 
John



 
 
Aug 17, 2011 at 3:36 PM Post #634 of 1,182
If I hooked up the KRK's balanced wouldn't the volume control on the D100 control them?
 
Aug 17, 2011 at 8:30 PM Post #635 of 1,182
Connect two of these (one for each side): http://www.amazon.com/GSI-Premium-Female-3-Pin-Cable/dp/B0058UXBYO/ref=sr_1_10?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1313626526&sr=1-10 
 
to the TC Electronic Level Pilot female inputs (http://www.amazon.com/TC-Electronic-Level-Pilot-Computer-Independent/dp/B001PGMNRG).
 
Connect the male with the pins sticking out cables from the TC Level Pilot to the XLR input on the back of each of the monitors.
 
Turn the TC Level Pilot knob to max, and turn up the knobs on each of the monitors to the maximum volume you will need (make them as balanced with each other as possible). Leave the back knobs alone now. Use the TC Level Pilot ot turn the volume down to what you want, and turn it up, and now when you turn it all the way up it won't go much louder than you need to use.
 
I don't own this knob, but people say it is transparent and doesn't affect sound quality at all. Also, I don't know exactly how far it goes, like some knobs just turn forever both ways with no maximum or minimum. If it goes forever, just ignore the part where I say turn it to max and turn the knobs on the backs of the monitors halfway or so and use the TC Pilot knob for volume up and down. Now you don't have to balance it all the time and get behind the monitors!
 
If neither of these setups are working, or you need more help, PM me.
 
P.S. The XR cables I linked on Amazon are 5 feet long, and the TC Level Pilot input and output cords are all 6 feet long. There are longer cables than the one I linked in the first link (not the knob). There are some exactly the same but 10 and 15 feet long, just search for them. Also, if you want the knob closer to you and farther away from the monitors, get a third cable of the kind I mentioned and connect the female end with the holes to the cord on the TC knob with the pins sticking out and the male with pins sticking out into the back of the monitors.
 
Again, if you need more help, PM me.
 
Quote:
Hey guys maybe some of you can help me out. I plan on getting some KRK RP6G2 Rokit G2 ( http://www.amazon.com/KRK-RP6G2-Powered-Monitor-Speaker/dp/B001A6IC7Q ) monitors and hooking it up to my Yulong D100. I really have no idea what I'm doing I'm guessing 3 pin xlr male to female ? Or do I go rca preamp to the KRK from my Schiit Lyr? Like I said this is my first time using a dac with something other than headphones so I really have no idea what I'm doing. Can anyone help me with the best way to connect this set up, and which plugs exactly do I need? Thanks
 
John



 
 
Aug 17, 2011 at 9:57 PM Post #636 of 1,182


Quote:
Connect two of these (one for each side): http://www.amazon.com/GSI-Premium-Female-3-Pin-Cable/dp/B0058UXBYO/ref=sr_1_10?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1313626526&sr=1-10
 
to the TC Electronic Level Pilot female inputs (http://www.amazon.com/TC-Electronic-Level-Pilot-Computer-Independent/dp/B001PGMNRG).
 
Connect the male with the pins sticking out cables from the TC Level Pilot to the XLR input on the back of each of the monitors.
 
Turn the TC Level Pilot knob to max, and turn up the knobs on each of the monitors to the maximum volume you will need (make them as balanced with each other as possible). Leave the back knobs alone now. Use the TC Level Pilot ot turn the volume down to what you want, and turn it up, and now when you turn it all the way up it won't go much louder than you need to use.
 
I don't own this knob, but people say it is transparent and doesn't affect sound quality at all. Also, I don't know exactly how far it goes, like some knobs just turn forever both ways with no maximum or minimum. If it goes forever, just ignore the part where I say turn it to max and turn the knobs on the backs of the monitors halfway or so and use the TC Pilot knob for volume up and down. Now you don't have to balance it all the time and get behind the monitors!
 
If neither of these setups are working, or you need more help, PM me.
 
P.S. The XR cables I linked on Amazon are 5 feet long, and the TC Level Pilot input and output cords are all 6 feet long. There are longer cables than the one I linked in the first link (not the knob). There are some exactly the same but 10 and 15 feet long, just search for them. Also, if you want the knob closer to you and farther away from the monitors, get a third cable of the kind I mentioned and connect the female end with the holes to the cord on the TC knob with the pins sticking out and the male with pins sticking out into the back of the monitors.
 
Again, if you need more help, PM me.
 
Quote:


 


Can you explain why I would need this "Level Pilot"? Why wouldn't I be able to just use xlr 3 pin into the D100?
 
 
Aug 18, 2011 at 2:54 AM Post #637 of 1,182
Quote:
Can you explain why I would need this "Level Pilot"? Why wouldn't I be able to just use xlr 3 pin into the D100?
 



Like I just told you - The output levels on both RCA and XLR are fixed at full volume as they are purely line outs, intended for connecting to an external amplifier. Get some active speakers with a volume knob and you're all set :)
 
Aug 18, 2011 at 9:42 AM Post #638 of 1,182
Ok. The more I ask the more I seem to be getting confused I do apologize. Can anyone explain why this set up to the same exact speakers to a dac with basically the same outputs as the Yulong doesn't involve an additional volume control?
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/564898/audioengine-a5-vs-krk-rokit-rp6-g2-nice
 
Aug 18, 2011 at 9:56 AM Post #639 of 1,182

Quote:
Ok. The more I ask the more I seem to be getting confused I do apologize. Can anyone explain why this set up to the same exact speakers to a dac with basically the same outputs as the Yulong doesn't involve an additional volume control?
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/564898/audioengine-a5-vs-krk-rokit-rp6-g2-nice

On the Yulong D100, the line outs are seperate from the headphone amplifier section. They are fixed-level line outs. There is no connection between the volume control on the D100 and the line outs. Because the line outs are intended for further amplification and thus needs to be as pure as possible. 
 
On other DAC's, the "line out" is controlled by the volume pot, but not so on the D100. Whether this is a pro or a con depends on how you want to use it. It's like one car has permanent 4WD and one doesn't. Just because both cars use rubber tires to interface with the road, doesn't mean the cars are constructed the same way.
 
Aug 18, 2011 at 12:35 PM Post #640 of 1,182
Yeah I have the Level Pilot in between the XLR outputs of the D100 and the Focal monitors I have as it's much easier to control the volume that way, rather than reaching over and individually adjust the volume of each monitor.
 
Aug 18, 2011 at 1:04 PM Post #641 of 1,182
Thank you guys for the clarification. I'm kind of out of spending money this month so right now I'm just going to go with unbalanced from my Lyr. Do you guys think that balanced from my yulong to the level pilot would sound better than unbalanced from the Lyr? I would love a few opinions.
 
Aug 28, 2011 at 7:12 PM Post #642 of 1,182
hmm my D100 just randomly stopped working earlier today
 
It connects to my computer as it recognizes the unit, I've tried different usb cables, usb ports, power cables and it just doesn't play. It was fine until it randomly stopped playing so I thought it was the computer so I restart and it remained the same. I've also tried my netbook which is using a different OS and the same happens. I don't exactly have something to plug in to check if the other inputs like coaxial or optical but have no idea what is going on since it doesn't work as a dac or as a dac+amp which is quite odd since I wasn't doing anything out of the normal where I would be harming the unit.
 
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I'm going to wait a few hours and see if this remains the same but I think I'm going to have to be in the market for a new dac since I did buy this used although at a good price.
 
Aug 28, 2011 at 9:05 PM Post #643 of 1,182
Try  optical....before you start on that direction. I don't know whats the problem with yours but with mine the USB implementation was always an issue...and I worked out it was my motherboard that was not able to handle USB audio all that well - especially since for using a DAC with a computer you have have to rely on standard drivers not made by the DAC manufacturer. However, optical sounds identical and has worked always. Give it a shot. It may be that your unit is simply malfunctioning but test optical first.  
 
Aug 28, 2011 at 9:32 PM Post #644 of 1,182
I'm starting to think it's not the usb but something inside the unit like a opamp chip or something. The dac sees it as 96khz or 44.1khz when I tried earlier. I'll have to look and see if I can find a tool to open it since it's not a regular screw driver. I don't have anything to connect to the optical input however or I would try that.
 
It was working just fine with no issues until it suddenly stopped working while I was playing music earlier today.
 
Aug 29, 2011 at 10:54 AM Post #645 of 1,182
Sometimes when I plug in an headphone jack or unplug one it'll lose the USB connection...
 

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