Arcam rDAC

Help With Rdac and Mac Pro...

Hi there, sorry to barge in like this but i just bought one of these things and im havin a problem, when i connect it to my mac pro im getting a high pitched feedback noise from the speakers, I have no other issues with the mac through headphone jack. Ive tried the rdac on another laptop and its not there?? Can anyone have a guess what might be causing it? ive googled and nothing related comes up.... Any Help would be great.

Regards

Hello! Would anyone be so kind, as to help the virgin audiophile?  Both rDac and rPac are available at an excellent price in my country, and I struggle choosing...I have a very good HK amp, the 6550, the bookshelf speakers will be either Acoustic Energy Radiane 1 or Monitor Audio BX2, and I wonder if the price difference is worth it for my setup, which DAC should I go for? And do I need a good analogue interconnect between the DAC and amp, like the MIT TERMINATOR 4 ( I found it near mint for 32 GBP) ? Thanks...

does the rdac upsample then? in a similar way to the m1 dac?

It's rather strange to read so much praise on rDAc, because I tested it at home for one week and send it back in conclusion. Maybe my piece was faulty, but it was tonally unbalanced and lacking midrange/treble and supressing subtle sound parts, reverberations ... Strings, guitars sounded dull and without sparkle. Violin was more as cello. Bells on recording of church chorus sounded like strikes in the piece of rail ... I doubt it can be better after more burning in, because I felt no significant change during week of listening. As I said I think it probably was faulty one, but I have no courage to try another.

I have to say that I have been auditioning both the rDac and Dacmagic for a while now on systems comparable with my own (A fairly modest setup including Marantz PM6003, SB3 and Wharfedale 10.1s) and to my ears the Dacmagic does more for me than the rDac. The rDac, I am led to believe, is not an upsampling DAC. The Dacmagic is. This doesn't obviously automatically equate to a better sound, but it does appear to make a difference to me, and a pleasant one at that.

There is no dispute the rDac sounds good, especially in the bass department (There is a noticeable tightening of the bass when compared to the stock output from the Squeezebox). But I remain unconvinced of its performance when it comes to more dynamic music... it seems to hold things back a bit, especially when compared to the DM, where its presentation appears to be more true to the original source.

Both are good DACs, and for what I want it for (Connecting it to a Squeezebox via Coax) the Dacmagic gets the nod from me.

Not just Mac users, 6th - same applies to any computer without a coax output

Just wanted to clarify the signals the Arcam rDAC will accept.

USB input:      up to 24bit/96kHz

Optical input : up to 24bit/48kHz

Coax input :    up to 24bit/192kHz

Wireless :      24bit/44.1 kHz

I only use digital optical and sometimes coaxial. If it's true it only goes to 48 khz it's a shame to get only this from this brand. There are so many DAC's to choose from nowadays that a manufacturer just can't permite to stand still. I guess many brands have seen the light in a the new trend of succesful DAC's and everyone wants to jump the bandwagon for a quick cash in??

Excellent review, as usual.

Bought an rDAC to partner Arcam CDP (CD37) and amps (A38/P3. Initially very underwhelmed: sounded plodding with much low-end bloat.

But, a couple of savvy WHF.com forumites, Dan Turner and Superaintit, advised a week's/100-ish hrs run-in (which Arcam confirmed).

After 100 hrs: there's now more overall detail, especially mid-range and top-end, + more snap/attack. And the all-consuming, low-end bloat has simply gone, replaced by a much tighter and more focussed punch, which is also slightly deeper. (Did before/after A/Bs with CD37.)

IMHO, the rDAC makes a DACmagic sound crude.

Mac users beware: if you want to play 192/24 files, the rDAC requires Coax.

And that means the addition of a £100 M2Tech hiFace USB/Coax adaptor if you're a Mac user.

I must get to hear one.

I have seen one. It looks even better in the flesh than in the photographs.

5mm lower and only 2/3rds the width of my Beresford it really does look tiny.

I own the RDAC and am very happy with it. Soundwise I couldn't ask for anything more. The bass is slightly pronounced, like the review says, but not to the point that it bothers me. Might sort that out with a different interconnect.

@Fahsen. No worries. There's also a usb input and it's very, very good. In fact I think it's slightly better at uncovering details then the toslink.

I've been intrigued about Asynchronous USB transfer for  quite some time. I've owned a Macbook Pro since 2007 and to my ears, the optical out never sounding anything like music through my Beresford Caiman. Not the fault of the Caiman as that sounded excellent from my dedicated audio PC. The same difference could be heard over the standard USB connection.

Enter the rDac via asynchronous USB and the gaping divide in sound quality between the PC and the Mac has disappeared. Not only that, the USB is a massive improvement over even the SPDIF output from my audio PC. So now I get the best of all worlds - iTunes controlled via remote on an iPhone to control playback and a DAC which isn't compromised by the computer it's connected to.

The levels of detail on offer from the USB connection are quite stunning. Addictive and non-fatiguing are probably the best two descriptive words I can use, and in digital audio, that doesn't happen often.

both.of.me I couldn't agree more. If you have a SONOS get this little ARCAM. Everything is improved. Detail, mid, treble and bass. This was recommended to me by the guy at the SONOS stand at the Manchester Show. With a 12 and 1/2 % show discount this has to have been the bargain of all time. Superb and a good 5*

The rDAC is one of the few that allows better than CD quality over USB.

But to get this, you need a third party driver. Which is currently only available for Windows. With the built-in sound drivers in Windows or Mac, you'll only get 16 bits/48 kHz (= CD quality) over USB.

The main problem with USB though, is the metal connection between your computer and your hi-fi system. Computers are notoriously 'noisy', and you'll risk to ruin your music with ground-related hum. Therefore an optical connection, which won't, as it's non-metallic, create a ground-loop, is the ideal way to connect a computer.

What about the 48 kHz limit on the TOSlink?

As far as I know, only a few very cheap DACs have this nowadays.

For users with a noisy computer, this makes it impossible to play high quality FLACs.

I've had the Cambridge Audio DM hooked up to my iMac for a few months now and the sound is very good, so when I had a chance to have a play with the rDac I did a quick test to see which I preferred.

both Dacs were using the imac (lossless) for input. Going out via QED Qunex silver spirals to my Marantz PM60002. Connected via Qed Genesis Silver Spiral Bi-Wire Speaker Cable to a pair of KEF Q10's.

The rDac sounds brighter and with more soundstage compared to the DM when both use USB. However, when the DM is using the optical Toslink input the sound is almost identical from both dacs. Both can do 96/24 through optical and the rDac can also via USB.

You can check out the setup pics here.. http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/610415/1/Hi%20fi?h=476a70

looking for something to make sonos sound better?

this thing is awesome!!

just got back from a dealer haveing spent the best part of an hour listing to this thing it's stunning

cant believe i almost bought a dac magic!

full system was sonos zp90 coaxial into the rdac to a arcam p38 power amp and monitor audio silver rx6's

sounded great I'm very tempted to change my rega's out for them, although would p1's be much better??

or is a sonos zp90, arcam rdac, into 4x arcam p1's just being silly??

might see if i can get a demo?

I was looking to replace my Arcam Alpha 8 Cd player with the latest technology since the Alpha 8 was now moving on to 10 years old. My partnering equipment include the under rated epos m16i and the leema pulse.

I looked at the Cyrus 6Se initially..loved the sound but could not really part with the cash. I wasn't keen on going down the DAC path using my Arcam as transport as I had tried the Benchmark DAC 1 and it sounded absolutely awful..grating highs and made the system overly bright.

The sales guys at Carlton AV suggested I took the Musical Fidelity DAC and Arcam RDAC home for a trial. Within 5 minutes of listening to the MF DAC, I thought yuck...my bass is fat, the music is slower  but more detailed. Is this what they mean by Musical Fidelity Sound...super slow and undynamic.

Without much hope, I whacked in the Rdac...and I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard:

1. Very similar sound to the Alpha CD player but more defintion and detail without any added brightness.

2. The bass was stronger and deeper than the MF DAC and my Alpha 8.

3. Separation in instruments and voices were excellent. Overall very musical.

I think Arcam has basically destroyed the market with this product just because people who know what they are listening to can no longer justify spending more on stand alone CD players.

I also used Windows Media Player to output via USB but I thought the sound was significantly brighter than through my Alpha 8 as transport.

Had the DacMagic which was making sound very bright in my system and no bass definition for me.... Moved up to the rDac and what a difference!! Bass reappeared, tight and controlled, mid range opened up with a lot wider sound stage and the top end very crisp and clear. A wonder box!! For people not sure between this and the DacMagic for me there is no comparison...a bargain at a shade under �280 and only �80 more than the DacMagic. Performs way above its price with the added advantage that i can now use the full performance of my M2Tech HiFace at 192 compared to the limited 96 maximum input on the DacMagic. Highly recommended.