What Hi-Fi? Verdict
No longer the default choice at the money, but a worthwhile contender nonetheless
Pros
- +
Compact and sturdy
- +
wireless convenience
- +
spacious, up-front sound
Cons
- -
Bass can be unruly
- -
sounds better hard-wired
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
For a brief moment, Arcam had the ‘affordable-DAC-by-a-venerable-hi-fi-brand’ sector all to itself with 2010’s Award-winning rDAC.
The rDAC is now under pressure from all directions, but it’s a measure of just how right Arcam got the original rDAC that this wireless variant is able to punch its weight against newer and more expensive alternatives.
Wireless connection requires either an rWave or rWand streaming dongle (currently around £60 each). Build quality is unquestionable, and the rDAC Wireless is finished impeccably.
Wireless convenience, hard-wired preference
The wireless aspect will appeal for all the obvious reasons, but there’s no denying the rDAC sounds its most effective when hard-wired to a source.
A 24/192 file of REM’s Country Feedback reveals everything that’s admirable about the rDAC. It’s a punchy, dynamic listen, with a definite emphasis on excitement.
That’s not to suggest it’s short on detail (it isn’t) but its real strengths concern scale, soundstaging and separation – what could, in lesser hands, be a congested recording has the space for individual instruments to stretch out.
Vocals, in particular, exist in their own well-defined space even as they’re smoothly integrated into the performance as a whole.
It's similarly approximate when describing the decay of those same bass notes, and so sounds less than fully in control of low-end information.
This is far from a fatal flaw, but in the company of others it's a definite shortcoming. If the wireless aspect particularly appeals, though, the rDAC remains pretty compelling.
