NuForce DAC-80

[unsleepable]

Having recently added an Arcam P38 to my setup, now I am considering a preamp with DAC to replace my current A19 and irDac. I will still give bi-amping a try, but just of curiosity and I don't think that's something that will stay—as even if it did work good, the additional power is not something that I need.

I have been looking at different DAC options, and the NuForce DAC-80 is quite interesting. Good reviews, with digital volume control done at 32-bit. It doesn't add gain, but rather attenuates the standard line-level 2V, which won't get the maximum power from many power amps, but should be enough for me. Anyways, the Arcam 38 according to specifications has a maximum voltage of 2.6V on its preamp output, so the difference is not so large.

Before moving on on this, do you think it could work well?

Thanks

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004184553000]

Thought I'd "bump" this because I have the same question. "unsleepable" - did you find any more info about the DAC-80? A new DAC that has a volume control would be perfect for my all digital setup. There's not much to choose from but I stumbled across the DAC-80 and thought it looked interesting, but I haven't heard one.

 

[davedotco]

Thought I'd "bump" this because I have the same question. "unsleepable" - did you find any more info about the DAC-80? A new DAC that has a volume control would be perfect for my all digital setup. There's not much to choose from but I stumbled across the DAC-80 and thought it looked interesting, but I haven't heard one.

Looks nice but at £600+ looks a touch expensive. Not even a remote control.....*shok*

Rather go for this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-MATRIX-Mini-i-24bit-384kHz-Balanced-DAC-Headphone-Amp-AD1955-Remote-Control-/261510721062?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item3ce340ee26

Everything you could need, great performance. Available in the UK for £264 all in inc delivery.

 

[unsleepable]

Yes, I got to test the NuForce DAC-80 at home. And it sounded very good, but functionality-wise it wasn't so great.

For starters, the remote control—it does have one—is one of the cheapest kind. I don't mind plastic remote controls, but this was really sub-standard. Still, I could have tried to find a replacement if I had decided to keep the DAC. But there was also something really funny when using both the volume knob and the remote control to change the volume. The knob has fixed min and max positions, but it doesn't turn when you change the volume from the remote. So when you change the volume with the knob, what the DAC does is adjust its volume to the position of the knob. This leads to funny situations in which, for example, you reduce the volume with the remote at night, and later want to reduce it a bit more using the knob—and the DAC suddenly plays very loud unless you turn the knob down very quickly. Also, once you change the volume with the remote it's just not possible to make incremental changes with the knob.

There is also a minimum volume position from which the DAC goes entirely mute. And this position was a bit high for me, so at night I couldn't listen to music as low as I really wanted. This is with my power amp—maybe this wouldn't have been an issue with another device with less gain.

Finally, there were other things, like if you turned the DAC on while playing music, it would sound highly distorted for a few seconds. Quite disconcerting. And after playing music for a while, the lights of the DAC would turn off—some sort of "dimming"—and it wouldn't respond anymore to the remote control.

I am sure a few of these things will be, or may even already be, solved with a firmware update. But all in all, I got the impression that the product wasn't very well designed.

On the other hand, I thought that it sounded very good, without any apparent coloration. And even though the volume is attenuated digitally, the sound is very detailed even when playing very low.

 

[unsleepable]

Rather go for this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-MATRIX-Mini-i-24bit-384kHz-Balanced-DAC-Headphone-Amp-AD1955-Remote-Control-/261510721062?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item3ce340ee26

Everything you could need, great performance. Available in the UK for £264 all in inc delivery.

Specs-wise, this looks very good. Do you have hands-on experience with it? In my hunt for a digital pre-amp I am so often being reminded that "the devil is in the detail."