Correct me if I am wrong . DAC = ( Digital to Analog Converter ) if you connect your DAC to AV Receiver via digital optical/coaxial you are not gonna use your DAC chip , you just passing through a digital signal . When you are use RCA analog connection from your DAC to AV Receiver , then the DAC doing its transcoding job .
That is 100% correct. Most DACs do not have an optical out, instead they have an optional in. optical and digital coax have limited sampling rates capability and do not accept DSD. USB in is preferred because it will allow for DSD and can pass sampling rates up to 768 khz at 32 bits. As long as you connect the DAC via analog outputs and set the AVR to PURE DIRECT or ANALOG DIRECT you will be listening to the DAC sound.
I'm so glad I persevered carried on saving for the purchase of the arcam AVR. The audiophile grade 9028+ pro sabre dac is wonderful. Still give thumbs up and subscribe! Not just for future reference (one never knows) more for the quality and of course the Deliverance of the video. Splendid job
I just brought a arcam avr 30 and love it does run warm though so I purchased a ac infinity aircon t10 have it set to 87 and she pretty much stays there. Only use it for two channel though vinyl and reel to reel, cd sound horrible on it though have not been able to get Dirac live setup yet to much noise in home right now. But my question is I have like 200 albums on my external hard drive and want to listen to them from my Mac is this the way to connect it ? And how does that dac stack up to say a SMSL vmw d1. Have a fluance 85n turntable a teac x 1000r vintage dcm time frame 5 speakers, have a set of klipsch r 26f but I'm not impressed with them on the Arcam they sound good with my dennon and my onkyo avr but way to bright on arcam. Also have a vintage onkyo m 504 and p305 that I am using for a pre amp for the fluance until I settle on a preamp, and thinking about using the m504 to power the system and use the Arcam as a processor I know I'm all over the place but I'm just tired of the surround sound and just want to close my eyes and two channel myself to death right now
@buddiec41 Thanks for the question. I couldn’t help but smile at your last statement. Amir at AudioScience reviewed the SMSL VMW D1. I am including a link to that review below. As long as you use Balanced output I believe you will be happy with its performance. The Arcam AVR 30 doesn’t have balanced inputs and therefore you will need to use RCA connections. On your other question about the external drive, you would connect the external drive via USB to your Mac. Connect your DAC to the Mac via USB and then output from the DAC into the Arcam via RCA. Follow the directions in the video to setup your audio out correctly on the Mac and then on the audio player that you use. Happy listening! audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-smsl-vmv-d1-dac.4375/
Thanks for the informative video! In another video you showed connecting to the Media Player input. Any difference between CD versus Media Player as input? Thanks again!
I believe you need to make sure your two channel setting have the speakers set to large without a crossover. My previous SR8015 would send the bass after the crossover point to the subwoofer even in pure direct.
On Pioneer AVR there are 2 mode: Direct Mode and Pure Direct Mode. Direct Mode still have subwoofer, Pure Direct Mode only use 2 front speakers. Now i think that Direct Mode still use internal DAC to process Analog to Digital again, right? So i have to use Pure Direct Mode to have the best audio signal from my SMSL DAC? I ask too much in many places but only make sure that you could see my comment... sorry for that. Tks so much!!!
@@haivu-ph6sv i saw all your comments lol. You are correct. Direct mode will apply minimal EQ like crossovers but you are dealing with analog to digital and back to analog conversion in direct mode. Use the Pure Direct Mode and connect your sub to the left and right preout channels of the AVR as I mentioned in my other replies to you.
Thank you so much for this useful video. I just bought a new Home Theater system. Can I use Tifal at the highest resolution and connect to a DAC and my Tidal will be playing from my iPad
Yes as long as you have iOS 14.5 or above you should be able to connect the iPad to your DAC via USB to achieve the highest resolution. Make sure Tidal is set to output max resolution.
@@magnoliamo Thank u for your quick response. Researching some more, I found that my amplifier - Arcam AVR 10 has a WiFi setup…So, I can connect my iPad (with Tidal) through WiFi. ANy thoughts on that?
Thanks for the video! For my own setup I am building, in what order should I connect my laptop, DAC, pre-amp and power amp? (Note: the DAC and power amp both have XLR connections so would like to able to connect these if possible)
Hi. Laptop to DAC via USB, DAC to preamp via XLR or RCA if your preamp has XLR that’s preferred, preamp to amp via RCA or XLR. You can also go direct from DAC to amp via XLR but you need to be cautious with that and make sure the DAC has enough voltage for the amp and MUST make sure the volume on the DAC is set to zero and not max. I used to have the Oppo DAC which I would connect to an amp directly because the Oppo DAC had a digital volume control. Having the preamp in the mix makes it easier and simpler.
I am assuming you have a preamp, equalizer, and an external amp. That’s the only way to hookup an equalizer. It would go between the preamp and amp. The DAC connects to the preamp.
Does the audio degrade at all going through the rca’s after the dac? Or will an RCA cable carry as much detail as its givin? Sorry if thats confusing but if you had a hdmi cable to the dac for UHD, would the rca’s carry that same information to the receiver?
The audio going into the DAC is going to be via a USB in. Not via RCA and therefore it will have all the bits that are needed for the DAC to decode. The output from the DAC is via RCA and yes RCA output to your preamp or directly into your amp will have all the detail. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the question. If your DAC has HDMI in than you can use that as well. Typically HDMI in from a PC into an outboard DAC will add jitter to the signal and can degrade the signal. Thanks for the question.
@@427Stroker all new receivers and processors employ some sort of jitter reduction technology these days. This article provides all you need to know about HDMI jitter. Audioscience Review also has UA-cam channel. audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/a-deep-dive-into-hdmi-audio-performance.56/
Thanks for the question. I recommend the Project Pre Box S2. It’s an excellent DAC and is on sale right now. I have had it in my system since 2021 and it sounds great. You can buy it on Amazon using my Affiliate link. I earn commission if you use this Amazon link: amzn.to/3MBmlBy
Great question. There are multichannel DACs available but those are Uber expensive. Exasound makes a multichannel DAC. You can try to setup multiple 2-channel DACs of the same kind for each of the channels in parallel. The best way and most effective way in my opinion is to connect your PC via HDMI to a reviver for multichannel.
CAN YOU PLZ TELL I AM USING DAC WITH MY COMPUTER USING USB CABLE THEN RCA OUT GOES INTO MY MICRO HIFI SYSTEM IS IT GOING TO PLAY BETTER QUALITY OF FLAC SONGS OR NOT BECAUSE I THING MICRO HIFI SYSTEMS ALSO HAVE SOME KIND OF CHEAP DAC IN THEM...WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWER THANK YOU 🙏🏻
Hi. What kind of USB DAC are planning on using. If that DAC is better than the micro hifi system then yes you will get better audio than with what’s built in to the micro hifi system. Once you connect the analog RCA into your hifi system and play is direct mode the sound from the DAC will not go through built in DACs in the hifi system.
@@magnoliamo i am using fx audio x6 dac and my micro hifi system dont have any option to chose direct mode you can google micro hifi system SONY NAS-M70HD if that helps you to better understand n i would really appriciate if you could help me listning to flac or wav files...!!
@aLiRazA-sc7tv RCA input is pass though since there is no eq or other processing going on in the unit. The DAC you are using will produce better audio. I prefer flac because it takes up less space compared to WAV files. I don’t hear a difference between WAV and FLAC files in my system. FLAC uses lossless compression. WAV is uncompressed.
@@magnoliamo so you mean my sony amp is not converting my dac signals again?? if yes then why cant i hear clear difference btw 320kbps mp3 and flac file is it because of my micro hifi system is not so good...??
A high end car Android headunit (from Joying) output hi res audio (usb audio player) via USB to Fiio bta30 DAC which outputs via coaxial cable to a DSP (Sennuopu X14) Is this the best audio signal connection for DSP to process the audio signal and will the DSP resample the the signal in the DSP? The headunit has RCA and Coaxial output. The DAC has USB input and RCA, Coaxial and Optical output The DSP has RCA, Optical and Coaxial inputs Which type of input and outputs methods between these three components will ensure the best hi res sound? If connecting the Dac with USB and output via Coaxial to DSP, will this method bypass the DAC function and use the DAC from DSP instead? I prefer some clarity, much appreciated, thnx
From the DSP it will output via RCA to 3 amplifiers (2 four channel and a monoblock powering an active 3way front, rear fill and subwoofers for a HQ sound set up
That’s a hell of a car audio setup! I am not an expert in car audio but I do know signal processing. The Sennuopu X14 is a signal processor in of itself. I’m not sure what DACs it has. But the Fiio bta30 has ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC which is awesome. The signal from the Fiio bta30 would have already passed through digital to analog conversion via the ESS Sabre DACs. It’s best to use analog RCA out from Fiio bta30 for audio signal. That analog signal can then pass through the Sennuopu x14 but you are defeating the purpose of having the Sennuopu signal processor because you are converting the analog back to digital in order to process the signal through Sennuopu. The Sennuopu already has digital to signal processing as far as I understand. So, I guess try and see if you hear a difference headunit->fiio->sennuopu->amps or headunit->sennuopu->amps
Thanks for the response I'm 62 and considered to be a "cheap" audiophile in that sense. At home I have Denon 7.2 with diy 12" subs and Mission 5.1 towers with in-ceiling speakers, BenQ projector, 4 meter wide screen. In bedroom I have BRZHIFI X21 Chinese amps with diy 6.5 two way and 8" subs. Also have a Maverick headphone amp with Sennheiser HD 650 for private listening. I'm 62 all my years was also into car audio multiple amp systems in my car but this time around want to fit a decent SQ hi end sound that will out perform everything I have at home. I already have all the components and currently busy with the active front stage fabrication and installation (Mid/tweeter in custom pods in a- pillars, 8"midbass in kick panels (free air) and front 10" sub. So my question was just about the components interconnect as I need only to purchase the right cabling be it optical / coaxial and quality RCA? Thanks for your response if possible when project completed can share some pics if interested
Good question. No it’s not. You will have to engage pure direct/analog direct on the receiver and then you are good to go. But, depending on your receiver it still may not be “Pure”, i.e., the receiver could still be doing analog to digital conversion. So, check the manual to be absolutely sure. I know Marantz, Denon, Pioneer, and Yamaha will not do any Analog to digital conversion in pure direct or analog direct mode.
Excellent exactly what I needed to know and in a simple way that I understand. Perfect.
Thank you!
Correct me if I am wrong . DAC = ( Digital to Analog Converter ) if you connect your DAC to AV Receiver via digital optical/coaxial you are not gonna use your DAC chip , you just passing through a digital signal . When you are use RCA analog connection from your DAC to AV Receiver , then the DAC doing its transcoding job .
That is 100% correct. Most DACs do not have an optical out, instead they have an optional in. optical and digital coax have limited sampling rates capability and do not accept DSD. USB in is preferred because it will allow for DSD and can pass sampling rates up to 768 khz at 32 bits. As long as you connect the DAC via analog outputs and set the AVR to PURE DIRECT or ANALOG DIRECT you will be listening to the DAC sound.
I'm so glad I persevered carried on saving for the purchase of the arcam AVR. The audiophile grade 9028+ pro sabre dac is wonderful.
Still give thumbs up and subscribe! Not just for future reference (one never knows) more for the quality and of course the Deliverance of the video. Splendid job
Thank you!
I just brought a arcam avr 30 and love it does run warm though so I purchased a ac infinity aircon t10 have it set to 87 and she pretty much stays there. Only use it for two channel though vinyl and reel to reel, cd sound horrible on it though have not been able to get Dirac live setup yet to much noise in home right now. But my question is I have like 200 albums on my external hard drive and want to listen to them from my Mac is this the way to connect it ? And how does that dac stack up to say a SMSL vmw d1. Have a fluance 85n turntable a teac x 1000r vintage dcm time frame 5 speakers, have a set of klipsch r 26f but I'm not impressed with them on the Arcam they sound good with my dennon and my onkyo avr but way to bright on arcam. Also have a vintage onkyo m 504 and p305 that I am using for a pre amp for the fluance until I settle on a preamp, and thinking about using the m504 to power the system and use the Arcam as a processor I know I'm all over the place but I'm just tired of the surround sound and just want to close my eyes and two channel myself to death right now
@buddiec41 Thanks for the question. I couldn’t help but smile at your last statement. Amir at AudioScience reviewed the SMSL VMW D1. I am including a link to that review below. As long as you use Balanced output I believe you will be happy with its performance. The Arcam AVR 30 doesn’t have balanced inputs and therefore you will need to use RCA connections. On your other question about the external drive, you would connect the external drive via USB to your Mac. Connect your DAC to the Mac via USB and then output from the DAC into the Arcam via RCA. Follow the directions in the video to setup your audio out correctly on the Mac and then on the audio player that you use. Happy listening!
audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-smsl-vmv-d1-dac.4375/
Great video. Thanks!,
Thanks for the informative video! In another video you showed connecting to the Media Player input. Any difference between CD versus Media Player as input? Thanks again!
Thanks. No difference. On the Marantz that input has HDMI connectivity and that’s why I chose that.
I believe you need to make sure your two channel setting have the speakers set to large without a crossover. My previous SR8015 would send the bass after the crossover point to the subwoofer even in pure direct.
Yes 100%. There is a separate setting on the Marantz and Denon receiver for 2-channel where you need to make that configuration. Great point!
very good
On Pioneer AVR there are 2 mode: Direct Mode and Pure Direct Mode.
Direct Mode still have subwoofer, Pure Direct Mode only use 2 front speakers.
Now i think that Direct Mode still use internal DAC to process Analog to Digital again, right?
So i have to use Pure Direct Mode to have the best audio signal from my SMSL DAC?
I ask too much in many places but only make sure that you could see my comment... sorry for that. Tks so much!!!
@@haivu-ph6sv i saw all your comments lol. You are correct. Direct mode will apply minimal EQ like crossovers but you are dealing with analog to digital and back to analog conversion in direct mode. Use the Pure Direct Mode and connect your sub to the left and right preout channels of the AVR as I mentioned in my other replies to you.
Thank you so much for this useful video. I just bought a new Home Theater system. Can I use Tifal at the highest resolution and connect to a DAC and my Tidal will be playing from my iPad
Yes as long as you have iOS 14.5 or above you should be able to connect the iPad to your DAC via USB to achieve the highest resolution. Make sure Tidal is set to output max resolution.
@@magnoliamo Thank u for your quick response. Researching some more, I found that my amplifier - Arcam AVR 10 has a WiFi setup…So, I can connect my iPad (with Tidal) through WiFi. ANy thoughts on that?
Thanks for the video!
For my own setup I am building, in what order should I connect my laptop, DAC, pre-amp and power amp?
(Note: the DAC and power amp both have XLR connections so would like to able to connect these if possible)
Hi. Laptop to DAC via USB, DAC to preamp via XLR or RCA if your preamp has XLR that’s preferred, preamp to amp via RCA or XLR. You can also go direct from DAC to amp via XLR but you need to be cautious with that and make sure the DAC has enough voltage for the amp and MUST make sure the volume on the DAC is set to zero and not max. I used to have the Oppo DAC which I would connect to an amp directly because the Oppo DAC had a digital volume control. Having the preamp in the mix makes it easier and simpler.
@@magnoliamo great, thank you good sir :)
@@Gibonz My pleasure!
Thank you
Can I connect two computer to this, using maybe USB and Digital inputs?
Yes you can. Thanks for the question.
Thank you for this very informative video. If I have a graphic equalizer, where should I place it? thanks
I am assuming you have a preamp, equalizer, and an external amp. That’s the only way to hookup an equalizer. It would go between the preamp and amp. The DAC connects to the preamp.
Thank you ❤
Does the audio degrade at all going through the rca’s after the dac? Or will an RCA cable carry as much detail as its givin? Sorry if thats confusing but if you had a hdmi cable to the dac for UHD, would the rca’s carry that same information to the receiver?
The audio going into the DAC is going to be via a USB in. Not via RCA and therefore it will have all the bits that are needed for the DAC to decode. The output from the DAC is via RCA and yes RCA output to your preamp or directly into your amp will have all the detail. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the question. If your DAC has HDMI in than you can use that as well. Typically HDMI in from a PC into an outboard DAC will add jitter to the signal and can degrade the signal. Thanks for the question.
So would i get jitter going hdmi from my pc to my yamaha avr?
@@427Stroker all new receivers and processors employ some sort of jitter reduction technology these days. This article provides all you need to know about HDMI jitter. Audioscience Review also has UA-cam channel.
audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/a-deep-dive-into-hdmi-audio-performance.56/
I have 14yo onkyo sr608 with jamo 626 speakers, what DAC can you recommend?
Thanks for the question. I recommend the Project Pre Box S2. It’s an excellent DAC and is on sale right now. I have had it in my system since 2021 and it sounds great. You can buy it on Amazon using my Affiliate link. I earn commission if you use this Amazon link: amzn.to/3MBmlBy
is it possible to run 5.1 through DAC ? to my PC ? or is there a DAC supports that ?
Great question. There are multichannel DACs available but those are Uber expensive. Exasound makes a multichannel DAC. You can try to setup multiple 2-channel DACs of the same kind for each of the channels in parallel. The best way and most effective way in my opinion is to connect your PC via HDMI to a reviver for multichannel.
CAN YOU PLZ TELL I AM USING DAC WITH MY COMPUTER USING USB CABLE THEN RCA OUT GOES INTO MY MICRO HIFI SYSTEM IS IT GOING TO PLAY BETTER QUALITY OF FLAC SONGS OR NOT BECAUSE I THING MICRO HIFI SYSTEMS ALSO HAVE SOME KIND OF CHEAP DAC IN THEM...WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWER THANK YOU 🙏🏻
Hi. What kind of USB DAC are planning on using. If that DAC is better than the micro hifi system then yes you will get better audio than with what’s built in to the micro hifi system. Once you connect the analog RCA into your hifi system and play is direct mode the sound from the DAC will not go through built in DACs in the hifi system.
@@magnoliamo i am using fx audio x6 dac and my micro hifi system dont have any option to chose direct mode you can google micro hifi system SONY NAS-M70HD if that helps you to better understand n i would really appriciate if you could help me listning to flac or wav files...!!
@aLiRazA-sc7tv RCA input is pass though since there is no eq or other processing going on in the unit. The DAC you are using will produce better audio. I prefer flac because it takes up less space compared to WAV files. I don’t hear a difference between WAV and FLAC files in my system. FLAC uses lossless compression. WAV is uncompressed.
@@magnoliamo so you mean my sony amp is not converting my dac signals again?? if yes then why cant i hear clear difference btw 320kbps mp3 and flac file is it because of my micro hifi system is not so good...??
A high end car Android headunit (from Joying) output hi res audio (usb audio player) via USB to Fiio bta30 DAC which outputs via coaxial cable to a DSP (Sennuopu X14) Is this the best audio signal connection for DSP to process the audio signal and will the DSP resample the the signal in the DSP?
The headunit has RCA and Coaxial output.
The DAC has USB input and RCA, Coaxial and Optical output
The DSP has RCA, Optical and Coaxial inputs
Which type of input and outputs methods between these three components will ensure the best hi res sound?
If connecting the Dac with USB and output via Coaxial to DSP, will this method bypass the DAC function and use the DAC from DSP instead?
I prefer some clarity, much appreciated, thnx
From the DSP it will output via RCA to 3 amplifiers (2 four channel and a monoblock powering an active 3way front, rear fill and subwoofers for a HQ sound set up
That’s a hell of a car audio setup! I am not an expert in car audio but I do know signal processing. The Sennuopu X14 is a signal processor in of itself. I’m not sure what DACs it has. But the Fiio bta30 has ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M DAC which is awesome. The signal from the Fiio bta30 would have already passed through digital to analog conversion via the ESS Sabre DACs. It’s best to use analog RCA out from Fiio bta30 for audio signal. That analog signal can then pass through the Sennuopu x14 but you are defeating the purpose of having the Sennuopu signal processor because you are converting the analog back to digital in order to process the signal through Sennuopu. The Sennuopu already has digital to signal processing as far as I understand. So, I guess try and see if you hear a difference headunit->fiio->sennuopu->amps or headunit->sennuopu->amps
Thanks for the response
I'm 62 and considered to be a "cheap" audiophile in that sense.
At home I have Denon 7.2 with diy 12" subs and Mission 5.1 towers with in-ceiling speakers, BenQ projector, 4 meter wide screen. In bedroom I have BRZHIFI X21 Chinese amps with diy 6.5 two way and 8" subs.
Also have a Maverick headphone amp with Sennheiser HD 650 for private listening.
I'm 62 all my years was also into car audio multiple amp systems in my car but this time around want to fit a decent SQ hi end sound that will out perform everything I have at home. I already have all the components and currently busy with the active front stage fabrication and installation
(Mid/tweeter in custom pods in a- pillars, 8"midbass in kick panels (free air) and front 10" sub.
So my question was just about the components interconnect as I need only to purchase the right cabling be it optical / coaxial and quality RCA?
Thanks for your response if possible when project completed can share some pics if interested
I will also as you suggested try out different interface connections and see what gives me the best possible audio signal/satisfaction to my ears
If I connect the DAC into the CD input of the receiver, is that pure direct ?
Good question. No it’s not. You will have to engage pure direct/analog direct on the receiver and then you are good to go. But, depending on your receiver it still may not be “Pure”, i.e., the receiver could still be doing analog to digital conversion. So, check the manual to be absolutely sure. I know Marantz, Denon, Pioneer, and Yamaha will not do any Analog to digital conversion in pure direct or analog direct mode.