IDA-8 ($995) features and spec

mresseguie · « **Reply #160 on:** 4 Sep 2015, 11:25 pm »

Sounds to me as though sales have picked up a bit. Good!

I can almost taste mine....just a few more days and I'll be in Taoyuan City.

RWJR · « **Reply #161 on:** 5 Sep 2015, 09:29 pm »

Hello, I am a new member of AC but have followed this thread closely. I am about to pull the trigger on the IDA 8 but I have a few questions:

The onboard dac, does it provide for selecting the sampling rate or is it automatic? Or does it not upsample at all? My last dac allowed you to upsample the different inputs separately.
I have been reading about the sub output level-3x versus 1x. What is the disadvantage of the 3x level? I currently do not use a sub but if I do in the future, I'd like to know that I am using the "better" level.

Thanks in advance for your responses to these questions.

John Casler · « **Reply #162 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 06:49 pm »

Quote from: RWJR on 5 Sep 2015, 09:29 pm

Hello, I am a new member of AC but have followed this thread closely. I am about to pull the trigger on the IDA 8 but I have a few questions:

The onboard dac, does it provide for selecting the sampling rate or is it automatic? Or does it not upsample at all? My last dac allowed you to upsample the different inputs separately.
I have been reading about the sub output level-3x versus 1x. What is the disadvantage of the 3x level? I currently do not use a sub but if I do in the future, I'd like to know that I am using the "better" level.

Thanks in advance for your responses to these questions.

The sub output will depend on the sensitivity of your subs input, and whether or not you used single of multiple subs. If it is highly sensitive then the 1x would be preferable, which is now the default.

RWJR · « **Reply #163 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 10:02 pm »

Thanks, John, for your responses.

rustydoglim · « **Reply #164 on:** 7 Sep 2015, 09:07 pm »

Quote from: RWJR on 6 Sep 2015, 10:02 pm

Thanks, John, for your responses.

That's incorrect. IDA-8 internal DAC does perform automatic up sampling to an undisclosed rate which we determined to sound "the best".

RWJR · « **Reply #165 on:** 7 Sep 2015, 10:05 pm »

Quote from: rustydoglim on 7 Sep 2015, 09:07 pm

That's incorrect. IDA-8 internal DAC does perform automatic up sampling to an undisclosed rate which we determined to sound "the best".

OK, so it does automatic up sampling. That is fine, I just wanted clarification on that. I am guessing that the unit does not tell you the rate while playing, so there is no way of knowing the up sampling rate?

John Casler · « **Reply #166 on:** 7 Sep 2015, 10:09 pm »

Quote from: rustydoglim on 7 Sep 2015, 09:07 pm

That's incorrect. IDA-8 internal DAC does perform automatic up sampling to an undisclosed rate which we determined to sound "the best".

OOOOPS.

I stand corrected

srb · « **Reply #167 on:** 7 Sep 2015, 10:44 pm »

Quote from: rustydoglim on 7 Sep 2015, 09:07 pm

IDA-8 internal DAC does perform automatic up sampling to an undisclosed rate which we determined to sound "the best".

Uhhh ..... I'm having a bit of difficulty understanding why non-proprietary information cannot be disclosed. Although you may have determined which upsampling rate sounds best given a wide variety of source material, I have done a lot of comparative listening with my library and several quality DACs, and I have determined that even integer upsampling seems to sound the best to me. Since the majority of my library is 44.1KHz (and likely to remain that way for many years), that would be 176.4KHz or 352.8KHz instead of 192KHz or 384KHz.

mrvco · « **Reply #168 on:** 8 Sep 2015, 04:02 am »

Does the "it's a secret" upsampling rate mean the it upsamples to something less than supported PCM 384 or DSD 256 decode rates listed on the NuPrime website?

mv · « **Reply #169 on:** 8 Sep 2015, 11:55 am »

Quote from: rustydoglim on 7 Sep 2015, 09:07 pm

That's incorrect. IDA-8 internal DAC does perform automatic up sampling to an undisclosed rate which we determined to sound "the best".

Is that how the DAC-10 also works?

avta · « **Reply #170 on:** 8 Sep 2015, 02:09 pm »

RWJR you can see the sampling rate at any time by using the mute button. As the unit comes back up to the previously set volume the rate is displayed on the screen. There may be other ways of finding it but that's what I've noticed.

RWJR · « **Reply #171 on:** 8 Sep 2015, 06:24 pm »

Quote from: avta on 8 Sep 2015, 02:09 pm

RWJR you can see the sampling rate at any time by using the mute button. As the unit comes back up to the previously set volume the rate is displayed on the screen. There may be other ways of finding it but that's what I've noticed.

Ok, that is good to know. Thanks!

rustydoglim · « **Reply #172 on:** 9 Sep 2015, 01:18 pm »

Quote from: mrvco on 8 Sep 2015, 04:02 am

Does the "it's a secret" upsampling rate mean the it upsamples to something less than supported PCM 384 or DSD 256 decode rates listed on the NuPrime website?

We don't down sample it obviously but we never said that it will be up sample to 384. We find that if the input sample rate is 44.1K, up sampling it to different higher sample rates have some slight differences and a particular sample rate sounded the best. We have to fix the up sample rate anyway, so we must well pick one that we think sounded the best.

RWJR · « **Reply #173 on:** 11 Sep 2015, 10:41 pm »

OK, so I took the plunge and placed an order today. I hope it is as good as I have read....

mresseguie · « **Reply #174 on:** 12 Sep 2015, 12:26 am »

Hello, Jason.

I'm going to give your (my) IDA-8 a run for the money. My new speakers will arrive in Taoyuan at about the same time as my amplifier. The speakers are Fritz Speakers' LS/5-R two-way monitors which are 8 Ohm and 83.5 dB sensitivity. Don't worry, I won't expect concert hall SPL. I do expect really great sound quality from the combination though.

I'll report my findings once everything has broken in nicely.

Michael

John Casler · « **Reply #175 on:** 12 Sep 2015, 12:45 am »

Quote from: mresseguie on 12 Sep 2015, 12:26 am

Hello, Jason.

I'm going to give your (my) IDA-8 a run for the money. My new speakers will arrive in Taoyuan at about the same time as my amplifier. The speakers are Fritz Speakers' LS/5 two-way monitors which are 8 Ohm and 83.5 dB sensitivity. Don't worry, I won't expect concert hall SPL. I do expect really great sound quality from the combination though.

I'll report my findings once everything has broken in nicely.

Michael

Getting exciting.

Fritz makes some GREAT Boxes.

When should Rachel ship these?

Early next week?

mresseguie · « **Reply #176 on:** 12 Sep 2015, 01:17 am »

Hi, John.

I was just about to email you, but I'll notify you here. I'll bet it takes only 48 hours max from the warehouse to my building, so how about shipping on Monday or Tuesday? I'll arrive early in the morning of the 15th.

I think my speakers will arrive by Friday or Saturday. Man am I getting excited!

Michael

agdev01 · « **Reply #177 on:** 13 Sep 2015, 11:53 pm »

As John stated not only does Fritz make some great speakers but he is also a great person to deal with. I would expect you to be very happy with those and the IDA-8

Jason - Are you able to provide any updates on the status of the DAC-8?

rustydoglim · « **Reply #178 on:** 19 Sep 2015, 03:46 am »

DAC-8 probably sometime late October or early November.

agdev01 · « **Reply #179 on:** 19 Sep 2015, 06:30 am »

Great. Looking forward to ordering once it's available.