New toy in the house

Jhayman

Well I'm a Turntable guy first and foremost.
I decided to buy a DAC-1 by Wyred4Sound..
It's my first DAC so I asked Dskip for some advice about this DAC and others he has tried, long story short Dskip does not like this DAC not musical enough for him..
He recommended I not get this, I suggested I should get my ears in a few DAC's so I can actually make comparisons, he agreed..
So I have hooked it up via, Toslink and USB, I can't use the coax as my preamp does not have a coax input..
First impressions with this DAC are first going from regular CD to Toslink yielded a kind of loudness as though a loudness button had been pressed.
But after listening for a last few hours it is louder but the music also gets served a healthy does of Fleshyness, everything is bigger and bolder, clearer, kids are far nicer..
So I have used the USB yet as I'm ripping CD's into JRiver, but from what I heard on a little test I liked a lot..
Also picked up a new TT level and weight for my TT..

tonyb

New toys are always a blast, congrats man. I might echo Skips thoughts on it but it doesn't matter what we like, as long as YOU like it, rock the house brotha. Love the TT btw.

machone

Jhayman have fun with your new toy. I think you are going to love it.

Most recommend that you do not use Toslink with an external DAC. USB is the preferred connection.

Below are the reasons:

"The problems are, 1) the speed limit there is 96K/24bit. 2) Toslink shares the very similar internal protocol of AES/EBU or SPDIF. The DAC needs to "re-discover" the clocks by PLL circuits and that creates more jitter than necessary. Asychronous USB transmission doesn't have this fall back becasue the master clock sits on DAC side. 3) Toslink use optical elements that is normally much slower than direct connected electronic components. So it further increases the jitter than SPDIF or AES/EBU."

You can Google "will Toslink support DSD" to get more info.

See attached article about DSD.

gce

Congrats on the new DAC and TT, now the fun begins. Yeah Skip doesn't care to much for wyred stuff but like Tony said, it matters what you like, we all have different tastes. I would like to hear what you think of the DAC-1 once you get some hours on it.

drumminman

Congrats! Digital is m-u-u- c-h more enjoyable with a high quality converter. Don't know that I could ever go back to a turntable with all spinning vinyl involves.

Jhayman

Well I lost out on the Essence DAC Dskip was selling, so I figured I would go with this even though it does have some negative press, but also has good press.
Besides I've owned a DAC before so I needed a reference point to start, lol
Using JRiver I've ripped about 200 CD's since yesterday, ( yes I leed a boring existence) kidding just excited to finally have one in my presence..
I actually think it sounds pretty good, but a few more days of locking myself in the house should do it..
Thanks for the TT compliment, she sure is spiffy, even with the hardware upgrade..lol

tonyb wrote: »

New toys are always a blast, congrats man. I might echo Skips thoughts on it but it doesn't matter what we like, as long as YOU like it, rock the house brotha. Love the TT btw.

Jhayman

Hi Machone..

I'm only using the Toslink to tun out of my DVD player, I'm using USB for all my CD and computer Rips.
Thanks for the read..

machone wrote: »

Jhayman have fun with your new toy. I think you are going to love it.

Most recommend that you do not use Toslink with an external DAC. USB is the preferred connection.

Below are the reasons:

"The problems are, 1) the speed limit there is 96K/24bit. 2) Toslink shares the very similar internal protocol of AES/EBU or SPDIF. The DAC needs to "re-discover" the clocks by PLL circuits and that creates more jitter than necessary. Asychronous USB transmission doesn't have this fall back becasue the master clock sits on DAC side. 3) Toslink use optical elements that is normally much slower than direct connected electronic components. So it further increases the jitter than SPDIF or AES/EBU."

You can Google "will Toslink support DSD" to get more info.

See attached article about DSD.

Jhayman

Thanks gce.
I'm putting her through the paces now, will post the results of my findings in a few weeks..
In the meantime still learning how everything works together..

gce wrote: »

Congrats on the new DAC and TT, now the fun begins. Yeah Skip doesn't care to much for wyred stuff but like Tony said, it matters what you like, we all have different tastes. I would like to hear what you think of the DAC-1 once you get some hours on it.

Jhayman

Thanks drumminman..

Well I have not touched my TT today, lol
Only because I'm using the DAC right now, but I miss my TT, I think tonight I will play a little with it, lol
I don't know if I could ever give up vinyl again, I've to much invested now, not like before it was all my parents gear..
It does sound pretty good to me though..


All HAIL the DAC, oop's I mean VINYL

drumminman wrote: »

Congrats! Digital is m-u-u- c-h more enjoyable with a high quality converter. Don't know that I could ever go back to a turntable with all spinning vinyl involves.

SCompRacer

Congrats on your first DAC! I have a great DAC but vinyl still gets the nod for favorite SQ.

Nice TT!

Jhayman wrote: »

erniejade

For the loudness mismatch, you can turn the internal volume down of the w4s on each input.
I am still using a w4s dac2. It is a solid sounding unit on its own. A lot of times I add in a tube buffer on the back end. On a lot of music it sounds good but some sounds better without it.
How many hours do you have on it? When it his around the 200 hour mark, it gets smoother.
Congrats.

[Deleted User]

jhayman

Trying different things with an open mind is the fun part. The emphasis is on the fun and the experimentation. I also spent some time with the Wyred DAC as a part of my journey. It is a nice feeling to notice the differences.

I will withhold my experiences with the Wyred and will enjoy your noted journey. Just don't fall the way I did. I became too involved analytically, beyond numbers, and for the longest time, forgot how to just unwind and enjoy. It became a sickness,

Rock on man.

Halen

tonyb

halenhoang wrote: »

I became too involved analytically, beyond numbers, and for the longest time, forgot how to just unwind and enjoy. It became a sickness,

Rock on man.

Halen

Amen Halen. There's a certain musicality I search for that goes beyond numbers and measurements. If a piece makes me forget about....the piece, and lets me just enjoy the music, that's a winner in my book.