Quote:
Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan
Thanks for your comments. What preamp were you bypassing when you made the determination that the Ref DAC sounded superior running directly to the amps? What are the rest of the components in your system?
I own the ARC Ref 10 preamp and it would be a major negative if I found this to be the case in my system (Vandersteen 7 mono amps and speakers). I would question the redundancy and sonic degradation caused by the Ref DAC's volume control, which cannot be defeated, used in conjunction with a top notch preamp. I would probably purchase the Ref CD-9 instead of the Ref DAC if I found this to be the case with the Ref 10 preamp in my system.
Best,
Ken
|
I think Ref DAC is best suited for digital only front ends directly to amp. I say this primarily due to ergonomics- the ref DAC will not allow bypassing of preamp section and each time you turn on....I would need to turn volume up to 70 (which is about where ARC recommended for unity gain). Adding another preamp is redundant and would somewhat be like going from a DAC to a ref5se to the ref10
In my case I had a a moon 850p with ASRBasis phono and used the Woo WES amp for Stax headphones. I found the ref DAC sounded best directly into woo Wes rather than through the 850. For both SQ and ease of use. I disagree that the SQ of this unit is not high quality...the user interface is poor but sound is really good. I do prefer the dCS Rossini and Vivaldi units I now own to the ref DAC
Personal opinion is ref DAC was a product that just was not perfect for many applications and they no longer support the iPad app or the SW