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Computer audio - what am I missing??

The CD5i won't allow you to bypass its internal DAC so he can't play it through the rdac. Must be something else wrong. I have been using the usb out from a windows based laptop, wmp lossless files, into a dacmagic....result is every bit as good as the CD5i if not a bit better and way more convenient.
 
What you're missing is 17 pages of wibble and willy-waving about jitter and shit. But fear not, it'll be along soon :)
 
I'd put my money on two things, he likes the Naim sound and the rDAc is suffering because of the lack of power line isolation for the USb 5v feed.

If the Naim has no digital out then try optical in on the dac, if that doesn't change your mind, start buying Naim shares. ;-)
 
Given the description I expect something majorly wrong in the set-up, not just the subtle difference between CD player and DAC.
 
Judging from many responses thus far, am I right to assume that the current conventional wisdom is that lossless files through a decent DAC will compete with a cd player that sells for more than three times the price of the DAC? (This is a genuine question, btw.)
 
I don't think you can be that specific regarding ratio, but dacs are becoming better and cheaper, a few manufacturers have understood and implanted exactly what is required to get the most from 'computer audio.
Keith.
 
Try using the minijack optical out on your Mac. A toslink cable with an optical minijack converter on one end and into the optical input (usually Toslink on a DAC). I don't like USB digital links and the option above works excellently from my Mac into a DacMagic. Also check you haven't got any effects on in your iTunes equalizer settings (VIEW menu - equalizer). Set it to flat/effects off.
 
Afranta said:
Judging from many responses thus far, am I right to assume that the current conventional wisdom is that lossless files through a decent DAC will compete with a cd player that sells for more than three times the price of the DAC? (This is a genuine question, btw.)
Click to expand...

I'd say that depends who you ask, and never confuse 'wisdom' with subjective comments about sound quality on a forum from someone you don't know very well - that's most of them ;)

On the OPs question, I agree with Tenson that something has to be either broken or something is very adrift with some settings to produce such a dramatic effect.
 
True enough. Should have put wisdom in scare quotes! I've been thinking about replacing my CD5X with a Rega DAC and was struck by the idea that the Arcam rDAC should give the CD5i a run for its money (both DACs cost roughly 1/3 of the respective players).
 
am I right to assume that the current conventional wisdom is that lossless files through a decent DAC will compete with a cd player that sells for more than three times the price of the DAC?
Click to expand...

Last night I read a reply on a Dutch HiFi-forum, where a guy claimed he preferred his € 350,- costing dac over the Naim CDX2, he had before, for 1,5 years. (CD5x before that) :eek: :cool:

It was this dac btw: http://www.metrum-acoustics.nl/NOS_mini_DAC_English.html
 
Nobody seem to take into consideration that computer audio simply may not sound better than a good CDP's replay. Then, if gorwig has stated at the very beginning that it's purely for convenience only, why worry about the sound?
M.
 
Maxbertola - Ah yes convenience, but convenience with the same sound quality as my cdp - I want it all!!!!

I have checked all the settings in itunes and osx - itunes is set to no eq and midi is outputting 24/96.

I shal try ripping some wavs tonight, what should I do woth the 'error correction' tickbox??
 
Agree to a point there. It all depends on the quality of the DAC/system setup. It's the same as the difference between a crap CD player and a good one. I'd quite happily put my Mac/DAC up against any CD player on the market.

Moving on, some constructive help. To get the best out of your Mac which might eliminate the Mac being the culprit as opposed to the rDAC not being up to scratch.

Download a free trial of PureMusic or/and Amarra. Itunes SQ is crap and can easily be improved upon. Both are pretty decent bits of software and everyone's got a preference as to which one they like better so please no 'PM is better than Amarra' or vice versa as it's all down to personal preference. For me i like PM. Use memory play so the tracks are loaded into the RAM for playback and enable hog mode for usb playback.

http://www.channld.com/download.html

http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/amarrasupport.html

Disable Spotlight on the drive with your music. (Your internal from the sound of it?). Takes about a minute to do and stops it indexing in the background.

http://osxdaily.com/2009/09/20/disable-spotlight-in-mac-os-x-10-6-snow-leopard/

(the terminal is in applications-utilities-terminal)

Disable the Dashboard. Again easy to do. Another background task that you don't want running and can hog memory.

http://osxdaily.com/2007/03/14/how-to-completely-disable-dashboard/

(again through Terminal)

Go into energy saving preferences and put computer and display sleep to never. Also disable put hard disk(s) to sleep.

Turn screen saver off.

Turn off automatic software update.

Get iTunes set correctly as previously mentioned. Disable sound enhancer/soundcheck and stick the volume to 100%. Make sure the EQ is off as well.

Again as previously mentioned go into applications-utilities-audio MIDI setup and make sure your output is set correctly. If you use a mini-toslink - toslink cable download soundflower and use that to run your output.

Rip a cd in AIFF/FLAC. If you can and have access to a PC use dbPoweramp/EAC to rip the CD so you know its an accurate rip. PureMusic will play FLAC through itunes if required. Good guide for dbP can be found here:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Computer-Audiophile-CD-Ripping-Strategy-and-Methodology

Lastly try and not have any external storage devices connected through usb when your using usb to rDAC.. If you need to try and connect them with Firewire if possible.

Don't think there's much more to it on the computer side. If anyones got anything else to add feel free as i'm all ears.
 
The last thing you want to do is rip to WAV.(metadata=non existent) I'd suggest using either FLAC, AIFF or both. FLAC is good for backup as it can be re-written to any format you wish at a later date and stores all metadata quite well. You can make an AIFF copy at the same time (using dbP) for a 'working' copy for using in iTunes.

Enabling error correction is fine and recommended if you must use iTunes for ripping.

Read the last link i inserted. Outside all the jargon there's some quite good points in there.
 
No worries! Pretty sure others will pipe in with other suggestions, every days a school day. Shouldn't take long to get all that done. The Terminal commands are easy enough, just copy and paste and you can't go wrong. If you've not got a PC you can run windows under bootcamp for using dbP/EAC for ripping. An external drive like a TEAC DW-224SL is excellent for ripping and only costs about £10 for a refurb, add another £10 for a case. It'll give more accurate rips than the crap superdrive and if you've got a large collection won't put your internal through the stress of ripping it all. Any questions just send us a pm.
 
Hope you get it sorted out to your satisfaction.
I sold my CDX2/XPS2 & now use a mac-mini, itunes/Pure music & a Lavry dac, with an ipad as a remote control. It was a bit of a leap of faith, but I can say with 100% conviction that I do not miss my old cd player at all. And by that, I mean in terms of both sound quality and convenience.
Matt.
 
As an earlier poster had it - lifeless

I was dancing around the kitchen earlier to the Duckworth Lewis method streamed to the TEAC

Stream the same thing to my main rig and there's no fun at all

Still looking

Dave
 
There are many people on the forum (some of whom have posted on this thread) who think that computer audio was good enough for them to sell their CD player, and also there are a few, yourself included, who like the idea but are unable to get the sound you want, or which matches/exceeds your CD player

I believe the discrepancy comes from setup, as per my original list and Doug's excellent constructive list. Not only do you need to treat all the elements as you would a piece of hi-fi (including how you site, power and connect the PC/MAC) but also the playing software you use and also the PC/MAC internal settings

That said, I do feel that many of these things are "icing on the cake" and added together can make a noticeable difference but to me it sounds like you are not even getting close to your CD player, and so it may be a more fundamental issue - it is unlikely to be the DAC as you also tried the Chord, so is further back in the chain

Treat the computer components with parity to your hi-fi ones, from the wall socket thru the mains and interconnect cables, including what they sit on, set up your MAC as per Doug's post, borrow optical and coax cables from Audio Excellence (I used to work there - say "hi" to Nic for me) and compare to usb, use identical quality interconnects for the rDAC and CD player

I doubt that your rips are at fault, but try playing direct from the CD drive on the MAC and see how that sounds

It's unlikely there is anything wrong with the iMAC, but can you hook up a laptop and see how that sounds? just to confirm?

and don't give up - you should be able to get a sound comparable to the CD player (in quality but not presentation) so don't stop fiddling until you get there
 
doug2507 said:
No worries! Pretty sure others will pipe in with other suggestions, every days a school day. Shouldn't take long to get all that done. The Terminal commands are easy enough, just copy and paste and you can't go wrong. If you've not got a PC you can run windows under bootcamp for using dbP/EAC for ripping. An external drive like a TEAC DW-224SL is excellent for ripping and only costs about £10 for a refurb, add another £10 for a case. It'll give more accurate rips than the crap superdrive and if you've got a large collection won't put your internal through the stress of ripping it all. Any questions just send us a pm.
Click to expand...
Is there any hard evidence for the "more accurate rips" claim? Given that many, many people have been using computer audio for a few years now, there should be hundreds of examples of discrepancies between rips.

(I'm not arguing against using an external drive for other reasons, though, such as the cost of repairing/replacing a "SuperDrive").
 
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