Arcam irDAC

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Diamond Joe said:
Does anyone know when the Arcam irDAC is going to be released? There's no mention of it on Arcam's website.
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I read somewhere that the IRdac will come out around may/june.
 
Cypher said:
I read somewhere that the IRdac will come out around may/june.
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Thanks Cypher, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled - or buy a Rega DAC!!

Ifor, I'm guessing that the airDAC is going to be available around the same time, I think they were introduced together at CES.
 
Diamond Joe said:
Ifor, I'm guessing that the airDAC is going to be available around the same time, I think they were introduced together at CES.
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Yes, I can see that now; I hadn't realised there are two new models coming. I can see that the irDAC is supposedely a better rDAC with more inputs, but what I can't work out is whether the AirDAC is an rDAC with ethernet input and AirPlay or whether it's an irDAC with fewer inputs plus ethernet input and AirPlay.
 
ifor said:
Diamond Joe said:
Ifor, I'm guessing that the airDAC is going to be available around the same time, I think they were introduced together at CES.
Click to expand...
Yes, I can see that now; I hadn't realised there are two new models coming. I can see that the irDAC is supposedely a better rDAC with more inputs, but what I can't work out is whether the AirDAC is an rDAC with ethernet input and AirPlay or whether it's an irDAC with fewer inputs plus ethernet input and AirPlay.
Click to expand...
I've been looking at the two products and have concluded that the product I want isn't either of them. What I really really want is an airirDAC. I think they're missing an opportunity.
 
Thanks for this, I've been keen for more information too! I was going to go for the irDAC and just run an Apple Airport Express into it over optical rather than buy the airDAC. That way you get loads of extra input options and a remote for just £79 more!
 
Furtone said:
Thanks for this, I've been keen for more information too! I was going to go for the irDAC and just run an Apple Airport Express into it over optical rather than buy the airDAC. That way you get loads of extra input options and a remote for just £79 more!
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Indeed you do, but you are constrained by what the AE will pass through to the DAC. I have the same issue using an ATV with an rDAC; everything is resampled to 48 kHz with no chance supposed benefits of high resolution audio. I think this would be overcome using an AirPlay Ethernet connection, but I could be wrong. I was once before.
 
ifor said:
Furtone said:
Thanks for this, I've been keen for more information too! I was going to go for the irDAC and just run an Apple Airport Express into it over optical rather than buy the airDAC. That way you get loads of extra input options and a remote for just £79 more!
Click to expand...
Indeed you do, but you are constrained by what the AE will pass through to the DAC. I have the same issue using an ATV with an rDAC; everything is resampled to 48 kHz with no chance supposed benefits of high resolution audio. I think this would be overcome using an AirPlay Ethernet connection, but I could be wrong. I was once before.
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The aiport express outputs at 44.1 kHz not 48. One thing to watch out for is high jitter on the digital out on the very latest AE. I tried using it with an rdac and it kept breaking up. This seems to be a known problem with the latest AE - the older versions (the ones that plug directly into the wall) are fine. This problem went away when I swapped my rdac for a MF M1-DAC which says something about how good that dac is at handling jitter.
 
msboon said:
One thing to watch out for is high jitter on the digital out on the very latest AE. I tried using it with an rdac and it kept breaking up. This seems to be a known problem with the latest AE - the older versions (the ones that plug directly into the wall) are fine. This problem went away when I swapped my rdac for a MF M1-DAC which says something about how good that dac is at handling jitter
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Arcam is making this claim for the irDAC.
[*]
"Jitter reduction is an obsession within our engineering team. They have learnt a huge amount about this technology from the D33 and have applied this experience in the irDAC to produce a signal that is almost jitter free".
 
Was about to buy a drdock when apple went and changed their connector and dissappointed that arcam in this latest round of products haven't provided a docking solution. Don't like wireless too much and happy with a docked solution and use remote to skip tracks so don't need the airdac, the rblink is for bluetooth and needs aptX to get quality of others so closest looking is ir dac which tantalisingly says direct ipod input but doesn't really provide any other details and certainly no way of neatly docking like the drdock. Not sure why arcam have split what could have been 1 or 2 products into 3. Would have loved an irdarc with a dock on top that also supported bluetooth/airplay thus covering all bases, failing that a updated drdock with new apple connector,
 
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The irDAC has been released for anyone who wishes to know!
 
Hi

Nice review on whf.

I have an SB classic (analog out) connected to C326BEE connected to DC6t se.
What could I expect soundwise if I'd put this irdac between the SB and the NAD?
 
Does anybody have any idea if I could attach my Synology NAS directly to the irDAC via USB thus allowing me to control the music via the DS Audio app?

If so it would make an amazing streaming system at low cost!

If nobody knows I suppose I might have to ask the nice people at Richer Sounds or Sevenoaks if a home demo is possible.
 
My thoughts too. The list of compatible USB DAC / speakers on the synology website is out of date and quite sparce so it would be a gamble. If I get a chance to do a home demo test I'll report back.

I'm hoping to get a serious bump in sound quality compared to my SB Touch but I've been disappointed before!
 
Xanderzdad said:
My thoughts too. The list of compatible USB DAC / speakers on the synology website is out of date and quite sparce so it would be a gamble. If I get a chance to do a home demo test I'll report back.

I'm hoping to get a serious bump in sound quality compared to my SB Touch but I've been disappointed before!
Click to expand...

I would be very interested to see if there was a £400 worth of improvement to the SB Touch, as £400 buys quite a lot of music 🙂
 
It does indeed (about 50 CD's at my rough reckonig!).

Mind you the DAC should also add something to my internet radio and Sky TV (if it can decode the stereo stream).

I will probbaly come to my senses and just enjoy what I've already got before too much time passes. It's the excitement of shopping half the time. :grin:
 
smbmetal said:
Xanderzdad said:
My thoughts too. The list of compatible USB DAC / speakers on the synology website is out of date and quite sparce so it would be a gamble. If I get a chance to do a home demo test I'll report back.

I'm hoping to get a serious bump in sound quality compared to my SB Touch but I've been disappointed before!
Click to expand...

I would be very interested to see if there was a £400 worth of improvement to the SB Touch, as £400 buys quite a lot of music 🙂
Click to expand...

I would be frankly shocked if it sounded *as good* as the SB Touch... If the terrible sounding rDac is anything to go by.

The Touch is VERY difficult to beat sound-wise, speaking from LOTS of experience.
 
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