DAC-9

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left channel

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #280 on: 21 Jan 2019, 05:28 pm »
94 is 0dB for DAC-9, not 99.

Interesting. Then why does it go up to 99?

daniele_g

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #281 on: 21 Jan 2019, 05:38 pm »
Just turn the DAC-9 volume all the way up to 99. That was Jason's response to the same question earlier in this thread, and that is what I do now that I have mine connected to another preamp.

that's what I did first with the Spectral pre; nevertheless, to my ears sound got better (not "dramatically", but clearly) when the Spectral "went out" and the DAC was directly connected to the Marantz power amp.
as I assume the Spectral is a very good pre, may it be just a matter of impedance mismatch or something like that ? some sort of "electric conflict"* ?
or maybe my ears are defective....
*guess that may be hi-fiction....

@left channel: PS: have you tried connecting the DAC9 directly to your power amp ?

Samoyed

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #282 on: 21 Jan 2019, 05:58 pm »
I found that my DAC 10 and Evo DAC each sounded better directly driving an amp. Specifically, each had a superior soundstage.

left channel

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #283 on: 21 Jan 2019, 06:19 pm »

@left channel: PS: have you tried connecting the DAC9 directly to your power amp ?

I have and that sounded good too, but my Anthem AVM 60 is quite transparent and I have all processing turned off when the DAC-9 is selected. The DAC-9 is fed by a CDT-8 Pro via coax and a fanless mini PC with ISO REGEN via USB.

Still waiting for a reply from @zappan on why 94 would be 0 dB. That is not in the manual, which mentions only that there are 99 increments. I see 94 dB mentioned here and there on this forum, but only one person quotes a source which may have been preliminary marketing info only.

Samoyed

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #284 on: 21 Jan 2019, 06:29 pm »
According to Rusty, it varies from model to model.

daniele_g

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #285 on: 21 Jan 2019, 06:35 pm »
thanks, left channel.
sure due to my bad English, though, I did not understand if you made the comparison with all other "parameters" unchanged or not, i.e. if the conditions "with or without preamp" were same and thus really comparable.

dealing with the 94-99: I don't have a sure answer, but it would seem logical to me that 99 = 0dB, as I assume that means "no attenuation"; the retailer who demoed the CDT8-DAC9 combo for me, who is also the italian NuPrime distributor, agreed with that.

left channel

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #286 on: 21 Jan 2019, 06:46 pm »
@daniele_g I agree, 99 is likely 0 dB. For my comparison, I was simply saying that my preamp does not change the sound. Some preamps do change the sound.

zappan

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #287 on: 21 Jan 2019, 08:31 pm »
Still waiting for a reply from @zappan on why 94 would be 0 dB. That is not in the manual, which mentions only that there are 99 increments. I see 94 dB mentioned here and there on this forum, but only one person quotes a source which may have been preliminary marketing info only.

Haha, how the hell should I know why  :D :D

It’s just that it’s been said in this topic, a page before your initial comment on 99: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=138601.msg1707339;topicseen#msg1707339

left channel

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #288 on: 21 Jan 2019, 09:33 pm »
Haha, how the hell should I know why  :D :D

It’s just that it’s been said in this topic, a page before your initial comment on 99: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=138601.msg1707339;topicseen#msg1707339

THANK You. I used the search feature here but did not find that somehow. If Jason says so, it must be true, but I'm still mystified as to why the dial goes to 99 and why this is not mentioned in the manual.  Is this the same as "turning it up to 11"?  :-D
« Last Edit: 22 Jan 2019, 05:35 am by left channel »

RafaPolit

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #289 on: 22 Jan 2019, 04:24 am »
I believe it's not a 'by-pass', but unity gain.

At 94, if you input 2V, you get 2V at the output.  At 99, you will get more than 2V (no idea how much more).

Ideally, this holds true to every voltage, so an input of 0.4V would also yield 0.4V at 94, that would mean it's perfectly linear and, therefore, as much a by-pass as possible.

So, bottom line, these are not by-passes, they are just the value where the input matches the output.  So, for a perfectly linear PRE with a 2x gain, that value would be at half the travel, or 50 in this case.  I don't see why you would think that maximum should be unity gain? 

Samoyed

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #290 on: 22 Jan 2019, 05:01 am »
I think you are right. Rusty posted that zero dB varies with each model.

daniele_g

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #291 on: 22 Jan 2019, 08:04 am »
yes, 94 is 0dB, not 99 as I thought.
I should try DAC9 set at 94 with my integrated amp. I think I'll ask the dealer to have it at home for some days.

rustydoglim

Re: DAC-9
« Reply #292 on: 22 Jan 2019, 10:20 am »
The so called Bypass for inputs is an outdated concept. You still need a switch (which has resistance), so there is no such thing as mysterious bypass. If a DAC has good preamp (switch resistors), then it is as good as a switch.
That's what we did for DAC-10 and DAC-9. If the input is analog, it goes through the preamp. And the DAC output goes through the preamp switch as well, but we don't use the preamp to control the volume of the DAC, because the digital volume control within the DAC does a better job.  The analog part of the preamp volume control is only for the analog input.



daniele_g

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #293 on: 22 Jan 2019, 11:46 am »
sorry, rustydoglim,
I did not get it (I'm hardheaded).
assume I have CDT8+DAC9 (as I'm considering), plus a phono preamp which goes into the analog input.
the analog signal goes into the preamp section of DAC9, which attenuates (or anyway controls) it as any other preamp.
the digital signal volume is controlled by a digital volume control, then, after "regulated" by internal switch resistors (right ?), goes into the preamp section, which does... what does the preamp do in this case ? absolutely nothing, like some sort of cable with no gain, or what ?

rustydoglim

Re: DAC-9
« Reply #294 on: 22 Jan 2019, 11:58 am »
sorry, rustydoglim,
I did not get it (I'm hardheaded).
assume I have CDT8+DAC9 (as I'm considering), plus a phono preamp which goes into the analog input.
the analog signal goes into the preamp section of DAC9, which attenuates (or anyway controls) it as any other preamp.
the digital signal volume is controlled by a digital volume control, then, after "regulated" by internal switch resistors (right ?), goes into the preamp section, which does... what does the preamp do in this case ? absolutely nothing, like some sort of cable with no gain, or what ?

See this FAQ:  https://nuprimeaudio.com/ufaqs/what-kind-of-volume-control-and-preamp-do-you-use-for-your-dac/
If the input is digital, then the DAC's analog output goes through the preamp with minimal attenuation.

daniele_g

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #295 on: 22 Jan 2019, 01:16 pm »
thanks !  :wink:
now it is clear to me, and I see you provided what you consider the best solution for digital preamplification and the best for analog preamplificaion. chapeau.
I must admit I misunderstood your sentence "the digital volume control within the DAC does a better job": I thought you meant "the digital volume control is OK, the analog one... not same level" and that worried me, as I may need an analog preamp section to connect my RIAA preamp to.

himber

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #296 on: 22 Jan 2019, 08:01 pm »
Hello,
I've been testing my new DAC-9 for a week. I have a problem with digital inputs. When I connect the Pioneer PD 9300 CD player, the sound disappears from time to time. After a while the sound comes back. Both at the optical and coaxial input. There is no rule. Sometimes there is no problem for an hour. And sometimes the problem repeats every few seconds.
What is the reason for this?

I tried to connect the Pioneer PD S702 but the DAC-9 does not want to cooperate with it at all (optical).

Thank you for your help.


Hi,
can anyone help me? It's about the problem above.

rustydoglim

Re: DAC-9
« Reply #297 on: 22 Jan 2019, 11:10 pm »
I think the Pioneer CDP optical output has too much jitter.  Try using an optical to coaxial converter (it cost less than $30 on Amazon.com).

tudorbuda

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Re: DAC-9
« Reply #298 on: 1 Feb 2019, 01:35 pm »
Hello again

still having issues with my DAC 9 & 2x STA 9. The dac has a transformer buzzing noise, even with no other than power cable being connected. It has it either with a cheat cable or with a normal grounded one. Even with the dac turned off, as soon as i flip the power switch, it starts buzzing/humming. When i turn it on, he humming changes just a bit in frequence. I don't know if it just recently started buzzing, or just now i noticed, due to lowering of the ambient noise (i had central air ventilating)
not to mention that i never got rid of the speaker buzzing when the dac is connected by USB. it's connected by optical cable, even tho i lose a bit of detail and dynamics, but  at least there's no buzz.
it's starting to get on my nerves, like one of my Sunfire True Signature subs that has the same transformer issue and therefore i keep it unplugged. The other one doesn't.

rustydoglim

Re: DAC-9
« Reply #299 on: 1 Feb 2019, 10:11 pm »
The linear transformer inside could be loose.  Try opening the cover and see if there is a screw to tighten it. is not tightly secure, you can hear the hum.  This is the same AC hum that you hear went walking pass large transformer