New Upgrade?

[tomayresss]

Just got my hi-fi out of the box for the first time in over a year, as I've been here there and everywhere.

Connected up my AR EB101 turntable through a cheap phono pre-amp from Richersounds wow! It sounds pretty good - listening to the Borodin Quartet on vinyl the energy comes through fantastically - if anything it's a little to warm but I'm guessing this is the pre-amp?

Anyway, the vast majority of my listening atm is Spotfiy Premium - connected up the pc via a Behringer UCA202 DAC and wow - really not so great. Listening to the same recordings as I have on vinyl, nothing even comes close via Spotify. It just sounds like I'm listening to a recording.

The best comparison really I think is that via the Spotify/DAC it feels 'masked', like there's something in the way. When listening via vinyl the mask is removed and there's nothing between me and the sound.

I just want to check that this is the fault of the cheap DAC? I can't see the Spotify bit-rate making much of a difference really. Can I get this to sound like the playback from my vinyl with a DAC upgrade?

Rest of setup is NAD C352->Quad 11L

Thanks for the advice

Tom

 

[Overdose]

There could be several reasons for this.

Audio settings in the OS and other software being a good place to start, Spotify bitrate will not be the most likely cause of the problem.

 

[geordie777]

Have you set the stream rate to EXTREME in the spotty settings as this could help.

 

[tomayresss]

If you mean the "high quality streaming" tickbox in preferences that's already on.

I'm outputting to the DAC via USB so there aren't any many options on windows, everything is set to standard and there's no 3rd party software.

 

[Overdose]

If you mean the "high quality streaming" tickbox in preferences that's already on.

I'm outputting to the DAC via USB so there aren't any many options on windows, everything is set to standard and there's no 3rd party software.

I would now check the security of any connections and if all is well, try to get a listen of another DAC.

 

[tomayresss]

ok thanks, i guessed that would be a good plan!

I just realised actually, turning the volume up higher, theres a faint electrical whirring/beeping sound coming through....that probably doesn't bode well! tried switching usb ports, no luck and the cable is built into the dac.