[highstream]

Received a refurbed Dac-80 today, the idea being to drive a pair of Quad 12L powered speakers, either with a desktop computer (USB) or a 2.0 TV system (Toslink to dac).  Before hooking up, I read the manual and noticed something unexpected: it's not recommended to drive amps directly from the RCA outputs, but rather needs a preamp.  Does that eliminate use of powered speakers directly?  I did set it up and tried some music with foobar, but the audio was at about half speed and breaking up.  That's the first time anything like that has happened with the several dacs I've had through here, from, $14 to $4000, in the past 18 months.  Before getting an RMA, I figure it's worth double checking.  Thanks,

[John Casler]

The DAC-80 has a 4v output and should drive most amps just fine.  It was the DAC-100 that had a 2v output and wasn't suitable for all amps.

Your issues however sound puzzling, and may indicate a faulty unit.

First the DAC-80 would not and cannot cause a "speed change" of any type to a digital signal, so if you are hearing things half speed it is from something else.

Regarding the break-up in the sound, it might be that somehow the drivers didn't get downloaded properly or at all.

Check with Tech Support to see if that might be an issue.

Good luck.

[John Casler]

Regarding those Drivers;

LOOK HERE

[highstream]

I installed the Windows 32-bit driver twice and the dac shows in Sound, as well as in foobar (mine is an x64 machine, but normally it doesn't matter and I don't like to run foobar 64-bit).  There are two Windows 8 drivers showing, and although it's not clearly stated what they represent relative to each other, I assume they are different install type versions of the same thing.  At least, the second didn't want to install after the first.  I have a call into tech support.  I hope they are faster to respond than sales support was (something past 3 business days).  Thanks for clarifying about the amp issue. 

I should add that I run JPlay, but I tried in foobar with and without it, using both the ASIO:NuForce and the DS:NuForce drivers as output, and got the same result.  Right now, I'm trying again with the latter: it's alternating between going slow and faster than normal (for a moment), as if it were a phono with a problem motor, with static off and on along the way and nothing very clear.  I've tried flac and mp3 music files. Oh, and I did flip the power switch to 115v and am using the RCA outputs (R/L).

Update: Hooked it up to my TV (Toslink + powered speakers).  Sounded good for having not played in awhile (refurb)...until I changed media, reversed a video file and most anything else that involved a switch.  About five seconds passed w/o sound, then a click, then more no sound.  Tried mute and then again, sound returned.  Reminds me of Audioengine's Dac I, which worked great with my computer, but had similar serious switching problems with the TV.  Doesn't seem ready for the big leagues.  Even a $14 FiiO switched properly.  Too bad.

[nuforce-casey]

Hi,
I believe you need to install 64-bit driver.  Whether a 32-Bit Foobar can work properly or not, that I don't know, but I am sure the driver has to be specific for a 64-bit Windows 7/8 installation.

[highstream]

Thanks, but the 64-bit driver did even worse.  It would play with lots of breakup and seemingly slow for 5 seconds or so, then quit.  That was with the 64-bit driver option not clicked in foobar.  When I checked that, it didn't play at all, foobar returned an error message.  And when it quit, the dac's connection to the computer disappeared (no longer in devices).  Disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable at the computer got the process to repeat itself.  In addition, from the beginning, I noticed that dac's designation in Sound shows as SPDIF OUT, although the small text description shows an asynchronous USB dac.  Only time I've ever seen that.  Between this and the TV switching problem, I've either got a bad sample or it's not a good fit here.  Pay your money, take your chances.  In any case, I've got another dac on the way that I know from experience works just fine with both systems. 

Btw, 48 hours later and Support still hasn't called back.  Second time with slow support.  Can't abide that.

[hifijerry]

Please contact us via email at [email protected] so that we can work with you directly to help resolve your issue regarding this product.

Best Regards,

Nuforce Support
[email protected]