[paara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubes /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ealier post was wrong, who did they get their info from? The MFR is now making them with the 330 resistor. How often the dac clips is still not clear. There have been several requests to post the name of the tracks that clip but so far as I can tell there has been no mention of what music causes the clipping. Why these people continue to beat a dead horse is beyond me, there is a solution to the problem but not one of the winers has said they are going to replace resistors, they just continue to repeat the same old crap over and over again.

I understand your frustation

Sorry if my information, I dont kow any more about this product than I have gathered in this and other threads.

Any way I guess the clipping problem has been fixed, which is great!


Over to a new horse then. Has anyone any comments about spdif vs usb input. Since the usb has a reclocker, has this improved SQ?

 

[erin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paara /img/forum/go_quote.gif I understand your frustation Sorry if my information, I dont kow any more about this product than I have gathered in this and other threads. Any way I guess the clipping problem has been fixed, which is great! Over to a new horse then. Has anyone any comments about spdif vs usb input. Since the usb has a reclocker, has this improved SQ?

My answer to your question is, unfortunatly I find that the sound is much much better through the spdif, I have tried various drivers but USB is still not as good for me as the coaxial input. Frankly the main reason I bought this DAC was becasue so many people suggested that USB audio sounded better than spdif, so Im a bit sad that this has not been my experience.

Maybe my computer is no good? Oh well.....

 

[paara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by erin /img/forum/go_quote.gif My answer to your question is, unfortunatly I find that the sound is much much better through the spdif, I have tried various drivers but USB is still not as good for me as the coaxial input. Frankly the main reason I bought this DAC was becasue so many people suggested that USB audio sounded better than spdif, so Im a bit sad that this has not been my experience. Maybe my computer is no good? Oh well.....

hmmm.. That is not good news for me, since I am only using USB. I guess the quality of the USB signal can vary from PC to PC.

 

[TeraDak]

If we are available ,we might consider experimenting with the exact settings for the I/V resistor (330R ~ 390R) a little more and seek the best compromise between dynamic range and clipping. ^-^

 

[erin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubes /img/forum/go_quote.gif Honestly, I'm getting tired of this PC distortion discussion, this thread was not started to talk about Foobar and every other PC setting BS that comes to mind. This thread has veered so far off it's original intent I'm going to suggest you take it to the appropriate PC forum and do your wining there. Or is it whining?

Hang on. PC settings have a lot do do with getting the most out of this DAC,
Since it IS a USB DAC! I think its quite relevant. Also this seems to be the only forum on the internet to discus the Valab, so any information or suggestions seem relevant. Sorry you are bored. I find it interesting.....

 

[PatOMalley]

I remember distinctly asking for the tracks that clip.
I also remember one of the whiners being asked directly for the CD and tracks that clip. No reply. This is the internet.

I say until a track list of MUSIC that causes clipping is provided then their claims have no weight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubes /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ealier post was wrong, who did they get their info from? The MFR is now making them with the 330 resistor. How often the dac clips is still not clear. There have been several requests to post the name of the tracks that clip but so far as I can tell there has been no mention of what music causes the clipping. Why these people continue to beat a dead horse is beyond me, there is a solution to the problem but not one of the winers has said they are going to replace resistors, they just continue to repeat the same old crap over and over again.

 

[tubes]

Honestly, I'm getting tired of this PC distortion discussion, this thread was not started to talk about Foobar and every other PC setting BS that comes to mind. This thread has veered so far off it's original intent I'm going to suggest you take it to the appropriate PC forum and do your wining there. Or is it whining?

 

[MikeW]

hey erin, what soundcard are you using as a digital output? I think that makes a difference, also what kind of USB cable are you using, I think that can make a difference as well. I use an X-fi sound card, and it's digital out is actually a Mini to RCA, I had custom built from bluejeans, for me USB is clearly superior. This could be because my x-fi has bad spdif output, or is malfunctioning, I don't know. I use a belkin gold series usb cable.

I also have it hooked up to a pretty good power conditioner with a heavily shielded aftermarket power cable, perhaps this changes things.

I don't see any reason to start calling people whiners, I'll be honest and say that to my knowledge i've never heard clipping in music, but the theory is that some music will reach the necessary tones at the required DB levels, if the dac will clip under artificial test, it will clip during music. I actually really enjoy the sound of this dac, I do think it gets to hot, and I have been dissapointed with quality control, and im not sure at this point that I can honestly recommend it, with the above "quirks" in mind.

The facts are, this dac does have quality control problems, the dac does clip under certain situations, where it's competition does not, and this dac still manages to sound excellent and be a good value, assuming it works.

Edit: Some time has passed since I made this post, and I've rebuilt my PC, with a much better power supply, when I built this system I searched for a power supply with very good DC output, the best I could find at a resonable price. Long story short, with the new PC, and new power supply, the SPDIF COAX is clearly superior to the USB input.

 

[tubes]

We all know about the so called distortion complaint, the MFR has stated that a change of resistor fixes the problem yet it's the same old pissen and moanin from the same group of people. I haven't heard anything constructive from this group since the diagnosis of the problem, you find that interesting? You're right PC settings have a lot to do with getting the most out of this dac, do you guys really know what the hell you're doing or is this a learning process where you trash a dac while you learn.

This isn't the only place to discuss the Valab, take it to the "Computer Audio" forum where it belongs.

 

[erin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif hey erin, what soundcard are you using as a digital output? I think that makes a difference, also what kind of USB cable are you using, I think that can make a difference as well. I use an X-fi sound card, and it's digital out is actually a Mini to RCA, I had custom built from bluejeans, for me USB is clearly superior. This could be because my x-fi has bad spdif output, or is malfunctioning, I don't know. I use a belkin gold series usb cable. I also have it hooked up to a pretty good power conditioner with a heavily shielded aftermarket power cable, perhaps this changes things. I don't see any reason to start calling people whiners, I'll be honest and say that to my knowledge i've never heard clipping in music, but the theory is that some music will reach the necessary tones at the required DB levels, if the dac will clip under artificial test, it will clip during music. I actually really enjoy the sound of this dac, I do think it gets to hot, and I have been dissapointed with quality control, and im not sure at this point that I can honestly recommend it, with the above "quirks" in mind. The facts are, this dac does have quality control problems, the dac does clip under certain situations, where it's competition does not, and this dac still manages to sound excellent and be a good value, assuming it works.

Hey Mike, I dont have spdif off the computer, cause the motherboard is too old, the audio card is just the motherboard, so its no good for listening to analog off it. Its A P4 motherboard running XP. The USB cable is just a generic printer extention cable so maybe this has a lot to do with the SQ that im getting, but honestly as I do 99.5% listening off CD's Im not prepared to spend big dollars on an audiophile USB cable, no doubt it would probably improve things. Ive googled it and the Belden cable is about AU$35.

How much of a difference does this cable make vs. the standard generic cable please?

I Know a guy at work who has a Metric Halo ULN2 which uses an AK4393 DAC IC

ULN-2 Expanded

This uses just a normal firewire cable and sounds totally awesome.. but this is a PRO Audio I/O device for recording and playing back and costs over $2000 ?

Firewire I think was specially designed for audio, correct me if im wrong.

Anyway I use a shielded power cable on the Valab with ferrites as well as a ferrite on the computer, and power conditioning on the DAC, amps telly etc. and on the computer.

 

[erin]

.

 

[MikeW]

i found my belkin gold series usb 2.0 (NIB) on ebay for 5 usd. never pay retail for cables.

 

[erin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW /img/forum/go_quote.gif i found my belkin gold series usb 2.0 (NIB) on ebay for 5 usd. never pay retail for cables.

So Mike, have you ever compared this cable to a generic cable?

 

[adriaan243]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubes /img/forum/go_quote.gif We all know about the so called distortion complaint, the MFR has stated that a change of resistor fixes the problem yet it's the same old pissen and moanin from the same group of people. I haven't heard anything constructive from this group since the diagnosis of the problem, you find that interesting? You're right PC settings have a lot to do with getting the most out of this dac, do you guys really know what the hell you're doing or is this a learning process where you trash a dac while you learn. This isn't the only place to discuss the Valab, take it to the "Computer Audio" forum where it belongs.

I completely agree, it is not a PC or SPDIF problem, Valab made a change (the 390ohm resistor) that was the cause of this problem and in fact you can also solve the problem by putting the computer on minus 3db.
There is no reason to listen to certain tracks on certain CD's, the problem is there but can be solved by changing the resistor.

 

[dcolak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatOMalley /img/forum/go_quote.gif I remember distinctly asking for the tracks that clip. I also remember one of the whiners being asked directly for the CD and tracks that clip. No reply. This is the internet. I say until a track list of MUSIC that causes clipping is provided then their claims have no weight.

Here you are:

Album: Serbia Sounds Global
Artist: Boban Markovic Orkestar
Track 11: Momina Igra

Approx 1m 40sec into the track you'll experience clipping

The trumpets are something else on that track

Album: Skyshaper
Artist: Covenant
Track 3: Happy man
Track 8: 20Hz

The clipping comes and goes, it's a powerful album, hehehe

Stop telling people the DAC won't clip with music, it will, it depends on a music.

BUT! I stand corrected by the MFGR, they DID fix the DAC so, I'll be having me one on order

I DO love the sound of this DAC and I DO want it in my main system.

EDIT: I liked this DAC more than Cambridge Audio C840, both fed by Squeezebox.