argustimewas
pfm Member
I think the DAC in the DACXP Sig is meant to be superior to the QXR card.
SMSL 400 AKM 4499 DAC, new toy.
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Disarmamant
Certified foo free
I have one on home demo at the moment from Keith at Purite Audio. It’s extremely good, low noise floor revealing previously unheard low level detail. Fantastic value for money IMO.
Mine arrives on Tuesday.
I’m using the Soncoz to drive a pair of EL34 push pull mono block valve amplifiers I constructed to take advantage of the fully balanced outputs and the digital volume control from the DAC.
The 4 volts RMS output from the balanced XLR’s is sufficient to drive the amplifiers with just two amplification stages.
clivem2
pfm Member
Sorry that it's off-topic...
Have you dispensed with the phase splitter? I've always thought this was a horrible stage to have in a P-P valve amp.
Disarmamant
Certified foo free
Yes. XLR balanced inputs to the grids of the 6SN7GT driver, 47K grid leak resistor in each phase to ground.
Sounds superb with the Soncoz.
bernardhepworth
pfm Member
Darran and Mand
It would be good to hear your thoughts, I'm looking to replace my Mdac and the Soncoz fits the bill for me.
It would be good to hear your thoughts, I'm looking to replace my Mdac and the Soncoz fits the bill for me.
Darren
So gentle when he tries to understand.
Really busy at work right now Bernard.... but will attempt to jot a few things down tonight for you.
In a nutshell.... its a nice, clearly audible upgrade - especially with cd quality and above.... But I'll try to clarify what I mean later.
Moppit
pfm Member
I've taken my 2Qute out of circuit and am in no rush to put it back. The Soncoz is easier to use, has volume and remote input switching. Most importantly it sounds better. I think partly this is down to removal of my passive preamp which tends to flatten dynamics. The pre on the Soncoz gives more detail and my Harbeths sound fantastic. The grain free top end means you can turn up the volume without listening fatigue.
Disarmamant
Certified foo free
I have been very impressed with the sound quality of the Soncoz, for some reason especially with some Hi Res material. What particularly stands out for me is the bass resolution.
However I’ve found that there is a very marked difference between the USB and the AES inputs With the volume setting on the DAC at the same level setting the output level is markedly lower with the USB input compared to the AES. I found I need to increase the output from the DAC substantially if I’m using the USB input.
I’ve noticed that there is also a very slight loss of dynamics with the USB input compared to the AES, this could be down to just the fact it’s not easy for me to do a proper level matching between the two sources.
Having said that I should also make it clear that I am am using two different digital signal paths to the DAC.
1. Roon Core server > Ethernet > Raspberry Pi4 > USB cable to DAC.
2. Roon Core server > Ethernet > Logitech Transporter > AES/EBU cable to DAC.
I have both devices set up at fixed volume in the Roon settings. With Roon controlling both devices I’m puzzled why there should be such a marked difference in the output levels from the Soncoz DAC. Maybe one of our resident digital audio experts can comment.
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
The inputs should be the same, there is a difference in output between XLR and RCA.
Keith
Keith
Disarmamant
Certified foo free
Keith, I’m not talking about the outputs, RCA versus XLR, these are 2V rms and 4V rms respectively.
If the inputs are the same then there’s something not quite right with my setup. The difference in level between the USB and the AES inputs is quite substantial.
Moppit
pfm Member
i agree, bass also tighter and more tuneful.
s1h1
performing within expectations
If you have a spare card, then try something other than Ropieee?
Disarmamant
Certified foo free
Yes, I’m suspecting that it could be something to do with Ropieee. I posted a question about this last night on the Roon Ropieee forum, but no responses yet. However Ropieee is a certified Roon endpoint and I would not have expected there to be any issue with it.
The other difference is that there are different standards, Roon uses its own RAAT standard for file transmission over Ethernet to a certified Roon endpoint, but it does not use RAAT to send files to other devices, such as my Logitech Transporter.
I already have PiCore player set up on another card, I will give it a try later today.
Amber Audio
This is the Day
Volumio has a ROON Plugin for a 3rd option.
Darren
So gentle when he tries to understand.
Yes! Obviously so.
mand
pfm Member
Sorry, forgot about this. Firstly thanks to Keith for ...... taking the Soncoz back.
It is a good Dac and exceptional value for money, many have written about how it sounds and it’s all true.
For me it was not quite what I’m after, it didn’t wow me.
I was also slightly disappointed by the build quality, especially the rotary knob.
One thing I noted was that when any lights or sockets were switched on or off, there was a very brief interruption of the music being played. Never had this with any other Dac.
