Arcam ir dac

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hi folks.......I've had my wee arcam for well over a year now but I've only been using it to stream Spotify from an aftv box and various stuff from the sky box...I'm just wondering what's the best way to hear it at it's best......I don't have any other streamers,just a hp pavilion all in one pc setup in my bedroom and a older Mac that my daughter uses...oh and an old laptop somewhere.lol.and no I'm not looking to buy anything...just curious.

 

[jjbomber]

Hi folks.......I've had my wee arcam for well over a year now but I've only been using it to stream Spotify from an aftv box and various stuff from the sky box...I'm just wondering what's the best way to hear it at it's best......I don't have any other streamers,just a hp pavilion all in one pc setup in my bedroom and a older Mac that my daughter uses...oh and an old laptop somewhere.lol.and no I'm not looking to buy anything...just curious.

Spotify premium app on the Amazon, HDMI to TV, digital output to Arcam ir DAC.

Sky box connects straight to the ir DAC.

HP Pavilion - ( buy a Turtle Beach Micro II for £20-ish) - optical to Arcam ir DAC.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Hay jj I know how to connect it to amazon and sky..that's not my question....it's how to achieve the best sound quality from it regarding utilising higher resolution files from a pc etc.and if my pc is in a different room to my system....how or what to use to get it there.

 

[burbster]

Hi,

I think you have half answered your question already, using the PC as a Hi Res source. I think the Arcam can go to 192/24 and I would use the asynchronous USB, thats how to get the best quality out of it. Your second question about if you keep the PC in another room how would you connect is a little more tricky. Ideally you will need some sort of PC nearby, you can still store the music centrally and remotely control the local PC for music selection etc. (various options and software for this, I use foobar and monkeymote)

I know you can get USB extenders that run over mains, a bit like the ethernet devices, but if you are trying to get the best sound quality this may defeat the point???

 

[BigH]

Probably best to ask on the Computer based media section.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

I don't think I'll bother..it's going to be a bit of a hassle . I'll just use it as is....was a bit bored earlier and just looking to mess around with something.lol.no room to add the pc to the rest of the clutter.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Hi mark thanks for the advice the other day it was a source that was the issue with my sound I took the audio lab dac back because I could not tell a difference in sound and the next day I remembered that I had the arcam ir dac in the attic so I thought I would try it well I got a shock I've got my setup sounded the best I've ever had it sounding the irdac has somehow filled the missing bit that I was after I can hear drum symbols as clear as day play some led Zeppelin I was blown away sound flying everywhere. So I did not have to buy anything in the end it was a dac problem so now I definitely happy now so now can move on to a TT so will need advice on that as well as a separate phono stage as the abrahamsen does not have one .

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Very good Sabbath.happy to hear you got that bit sorted.the ir dac is pretty good for it's price I believe..I did try it with my arcam cd82 as transport a while back,but was a bit disappointed and moved on to the naim cd5i,but as time has progressed the ir dac has just kept on sounding better and probably has the equal of my 5i now..just a bit different . Anyway re turntable and phono stage...you definitely need to set a budget and get it right first time as it can get very expensive quickly.I know you like a quality sound and you have to decide if you want to be restricted to moving magnet cartridges or would like to dip your toes into the moving coil units.Alears and bigfish are very good to get some useful information from and have much more experience than myself,I have went on the upgrade path for my turntable setup from around November....changing turntable,phono stage and two cartridges.The rega and project tables are the go to units sub £1000...the trichord dino mk3 is a great flexible stage with mm and mc cartidge capabilities but there's also great units from tom evans,Rothwell,njc audio and audiovectre to name but a few.as for cartridges...you pays your money and all that.You might think they can't change the sound of a turntable too much but they'll change it more than a change of turntable unless your talking pretty expensive turntables.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Very good Sabbath.happy to hear you got that bit sorted.the ir dac is pretty good for it's price I believe..I did try it with my arcam cd82 as transport a while back,but was a bit disappointed and moved on to the naim cd5i,but as time has progressed the ir dac has just kept on sounding better and probably has the equal of my 5i now..just a bit different . Anyway re turntable and phono stage...you definitely need to set a budget and get it right first time as it can get very expensive quickly.I know you like a quality sound and you have to decide if you want to be restricted to moving magnet cartridges or would like to dip your toes into the moving coil units.Alears and bigfish are very good to get some useful information from and have much more experience than myself,I have went on the upgrade path for my turntable setup from around November....changing turntable,phono stage and two cartridges.The rega and project tables are the go to units sub £1000...the trichord dino mk3 is a great flexible stage with mm and mc cartidge capabilities but there's also great units from tom evans,Rothwell,njc audio and audiovectre to name but a few.as for cartridges...you pays your money and all that.You might think they can't change the sound of a turntable too much but they'll change it more than a change of turntable unless your talking pretty expensive turntables.

I would probably go for a pro ject TT I do like old school look something with wood as a base but budget for my first TT £1500 but do not have a clue on which is best for sound but I do like an old sound . I did look on flee bay at the old TT from 1970s

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Remember the phono stage.whats the budget for that?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Remember the phono stage.whats the budget for that?

to be honest I am not sure what a good one costs what do you reckon ? Are they a lot of money

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I kind of liked the look of the thorns TT from the 1970s you can buy them reconditioned but not sure what they would sound like

 

[BigH]

I would do a new post on turntable section. Plenty of TTs around for £1,500 or less, off top of my head Clearaudio, Michell and Nottingham Analogue. There is an Inspire ex demo on ebay at the moment £1,400 thats got plenty of wood. Phono stage canbe cheap from about £30 but of course there are some much more, depends what cartridge you get as well.

You have a good dealer near you I believe.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

I think it's probably best to stick with something new if you don't really know what your looking for,things can be missing or slightly a skew and you would be none the wiser with an old well used turntable,although agreed that some of those old thorens decks look very nice . check out the project xperience sbdc..a nice modern wood look....and also the new kid on the block again from project THE CLASSIC is proper retro...looking like one of linns lp12's you can check out it's looks online.I believe audio affair has stock.the phono stage all depends on whether you go with moving magnet cartridges or moving coil cartridges,moving magnet carts have a higher output than moving coil cartridges making moving magnets less of an issue regarding phono stages as they're not as demanding,also moving magnet carts can have the stylus replaced whereas moving coils need to be totally changed over once worn out and moving coil only come into play at or around the £400 mark (as in competing with a good moving magnet cart)check out ortofon,audiotechnica,nagaoka,grado and goldring.If your looking for a sound to rival a good dac /cd player.....£600-£1000 turntable.£350-£800 stage and cart from £300-£600.It all depends on the route you take regarding cartridge selection.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I think it's probably best to stick with something new if you don't really know what your looking for,things can be missing or slightly a skew and you would be none the wiser with an old well used turntable,although agreed that some of those old thorens decks look very nice . check out the project xperience sbdc..a nice modern wood look....and also the new kid on the block again from project THE CLASSIC is proper retro...looking like one of linns lp12's you can check out it's looks online.I believe audio affair has stock.the phono stage all depends on whether you go with moving magnet cartridges or moving coil cartridges,moving magnet carts have a higher output than moving coil cartridges making moving magnets less of an issue regarding phono stages as they're not as demanding,also moving magnet carts can have the stylus replaced whereas moving coils need to be totally changed over once worn out and moving coil only come into play at or around the £400 mark (as in competing with a good moving magnet cart)check out ortofon,audiotechnica,nagaoka,grado and goldring.If your looking for a sound to rival a good dac /cd player.....£600-£1000 turntable.£350-£800 stage and cart from £300-£600.It all depends on the route you take regarding cartridge selection.

ok thanks mark it's a lot to take in I got to do my homework before buying anything first I do not mind buying secondhand if it keeps cost down but the quality has to be there .

in regards of the phono stage that would be something I would have to look into but not sure which is the best route to take because I am not sure what sound difference the 2 options make if any as well as the cartridge selection

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Yep.take your time do your homework and seek out Alears for some guidance...but I'll say that I've spent around 2k on my turntable setup from November and if I could do it again I'd probably change it to something like this....project's new the classic turntable with my current cartridge at33ptg2 and a rega aria phono stage or a Tom Evans microgroove +x.Just don't take the cart that comes with the turntable try and negotiate for something better as most turntables come with carts way below what they are capable of utilising.