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Warm DAC

fredster

pfm Member
Hi all

I have recently gone down the 4k cinema TV route playing sound through my hifi and Isobariks. Sounds great, but I am finding the sound bright when things get loud and lively. I have tried the output from my Panasonic DP9000, a Teddy Pardo DAC and a Chord Hugo. For my digital music playback I use a Wavelength Brick and I much prefer that warm, tube sound. But being a USB only DAC I cannot use it for 4K Blu ray sound. So I will have to look for an alternative DAC. Any suggestions for DACs that may have that warm sound, I am happy to use the second hand market and have a budget of £1k max.
I did spot an Eastern Electric Minimax and a RWA Isabellina, anyone heard those or have other suggestions ?
 
Rather than buying another DAC I'd suggest that you try something like this and use your existing DAC (as you like it's sound):

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=224043137028

Cheap and cheerful but with good components, no need for a PSU and can be tucked away.

Does it work in both directions?
I think that it is a USB to S/PDIF DCC and not the other way around...

But being a USB only DAC I cannot use it for 4K Blu ray sound.
 
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An HDMI to USB converter....... I had no idea that was possible. The Brick is Asynchronous, would that work ? Plus it seems to suggest the source would be a PC, mine would be the Blu ray player. so no OS as such.
 
For my digital music playback I use a Wavelength Brick and I much prefer that warm, tube sound. But being a USB only DAC I cannot use it for 4K Blu ray sound.

What connection are you using? I've found that they don't sound the same. Coax sounds best on my DAC, a Rega DAC.

I've also found that digital cables don't all sound the same, shock horror, with a lot of them sounding brittle.
 
What connection are you using? I've found that they don't sound the same. Coax sounds best on my DAC, a Rega DAC.

I've also found that digital cables don't all sound the same, shock horror, with a lot of them sounding brittle.
Strange!
I have found that I prefer toslink to coax, just the cheap plastic cables too.
 
Strange! I have found that I prefer toslink to coax, just the cheap plastic cables too.

I don't think it's strange, it'll just depend on which input is better on your particular DAC. USB might be the primary input on some DACs, an afterthought on others. I'll also depend on what's feeding the DAC I think.
 
I am using Coax at the moment, but I could try optical to see if there are any differences, at this stage I am only using basic cables, I have tried not to get too involved in cable battles. In the past I have found differences to be small. Once I have sorted the DAC I may invest in some better cables, but nothing too expensive, I prefer to keep funds for other gear.
 
Rega DAC-r? Warmer than a Hugo.

Apparently due to a "leaky" power supply:

I conjecture that the DAC-R's power supply has too high an impedance to fully isolate the DAC's voltage reference input when the DAC is reconstructing high-level analog signals.
How serious a problem is this?
Probably not very, though I did wonder, with the earlier Rega DAC, if this behavior correlated with both Sam Tellig and Jon Iverson finding the DAC to sound warm, even a touch heavy.


https://www.stereophile.com/content/rega-research-dac-r-da-processor-measurements
 
Apparently due to a "leaky" power supply:

Yes, that is an interesting hypothesis. On the back of that, as an experiment, I did try attenuating the SPDIF data by 20db before it got to the DAC but can't say that I noticed a change in the tonal balance. Not a rigorous test by any means and I'm not sure if we can conclude anything one way or the other.
 
I don't think it's strange, it'll just depend on which input is better on your particular DAC. USB might be the primary input on some DACs, an afterthought on others. I'll also depend on what's feeding the DAC I think.
Has the Rega dac got an optical in?
 
Out of interest have you compared the optical input to the coax input?

Yes. The coax sounded the best. I run optical from the Blueray player, as it's too long a run for coax, but if you can use it the coax sounds better. I have never used the USB input.

This is just with the kit I've tried though. Different machinery with different output stages might give different results. I'd always say try it yourself.
 


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