wushuliu
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2009
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- 136
So, back on topic...
It looks like it is going to be easy to A/B the F-1 against my DAC's built-in input. Using JRMC, I have the F-1 and the internal USB set up as independent devices inside of a link. For anyone not familiar with JRMC, that will allow it to send the same data to both interfaces at the same time. I've confirmed already that timing differences if any are not audible (at least in my setup, ymmv). The DAC switches seamlessly between native USB and F1->SPDIF. Going back to USB incurs a brief mute, almost instant but not quite.
The native USB on this DAC is excellent (it is also XMOS based, older chipset), but I can already hear some subtle differences with the F-1. Very early initial impressions favor the F-1... I'll wait until the F-1 has 100 or so hours of playback on it before doing any critical listening.
One place where the F-1 already wins is stability. Despite them using the same version XMOS driver (which from what I can tell after dissecting the installer packages are only different in that they're hard coded to recognize only the device they are built for) the F-1 has not had a single hiccup over the past 24 hours where the built-in XMOS interface on the DAC loses sync once a day or so. Even if I wasn't able to hear differences, that alone would make it a keeper.
-Mike
Which DAC are using?