I picked up the AP Thiyaga DAC a couple of months ago and I have been tumbling down the rabbit hole of digital audio since. Not for any fault of the DAC itself - which has been stellar - but more due to my existing computer setup and limitations. My PC sits on the other side of the room from my stereo rig. This necessitates transfer over wifi since I didn't want to bother with running a CAT cable through the power line ducts.
My first solution was via AppleTV which also meant using iTunes. This was of course a compromise but most would still be happy with the quality of the sound. The AppleTV connection to the AP DAC is via optical Toslink. While good, the sound didn't top my existing CD setup. The iTunes + AppleTV combo slightly smudged the sound a touch. Who would have thought that my humble CD player connected via RCA jacks was pretty good in the first place?
My next step was a two PC setup with my old laptop running WinXP + JRiver19 doing duty as the "Audio PC" - connected directly to the DAC via async USB. My PC (Win7 + JRiver19) now works as the "Control PC" with JRiver doing the work of Media Server and media network. Connection over wifi is seamless thanks to JRiver. The sound quality in this setup is simply much better - much more relaxed and easier on the ears. OS Upgrade is on the cards.
Through all this the AP DAC has been quite solid. It didn't gloss over or embellish the sound when I tried different combinations. It has simply rendered out what was coming in. The synergy with my existing AP gear was apparent from day one but it has been the DAC which has been telling me all along if anything didn't sound right. The coax inputs (SPDIF and TosLink) are limited to 24/96 while the USB port goes up to 24/192. Noticeable difference when you switch to the USB port. The DAC has an upsamplng switch on the rear to turn off/on upsampling for inputs via USB only. I have found this feature to be a matter of preference - I like to leave it on.
Its hard for me to describe more about the DAC because its the only DAC I have ever used. Will have more to comment on after perhaps later on down the road. I would be very interested to hear from others who have the AP DAC to chip in with anything that might help me along. All inputs will be appreciated.
For those who may be wondering what was the most significant change since adding the DAC to my setup:
1. Explosive convenience of computer storage and media handling. I have a rapidly growing collection of music that keeps getting better thanks to convenience of the internet (or the cloud as its called nowadays).
2. High Res matters - I was quite content with 320 Kbps mp3s until I heard the difference with lossless. Typically low res files are compressed and made loud to pop out at you. Lossless in comparison has more Dynamic Range. The sound is less loud but doesn't compress as you turn up the volume. Depending on the original source there's a lot of low level detail and clean transients. As a result I don't go near the volume control much.
All in all my journey into digital has not been as straight forward as I thought it would be. I still haven't got to the bottom of this thing yet as there are quite a few things left for me to tryout. OS upgrades, software upgrades and optimizers, etc are on the horizon. Depending on your point of view, this could either be daunting or extremely exciting.
Thanks for reading ... look forward to exchange views with everyone here.
My first solution was via AppleTV which also meant using iTunes. This was of course a compromise but most would still be happy with the quality of the sound. The AppleTV connection to the AP DAC is via optical Toslink. While good, the sound didn't top my existing CD setup. The iTunes + AppleTV combo slightly smudged the sound a touch. Who would have thought that my humble CD player connected via RCA jacks was pretty good in the first place?
My next step was a two PC setup with my old laptop running WinXP + JRiver19 doing duty as the "Audio PC" - connected directly to the DAC via async USB. My PC (Win7 + JRiver19) now works as the "Control PC" with JRiver doing the work of Media Server and media network. Connection over wifi is seamless thanks to JRiver. The sound quality in this setup is simply much better - much more relaxed and easier on the ears. OS Upgrade is on the cards.
Through all this the AP DAC has been quite solid. It didn't gloss over or embellish the sound when I tried different combinations. It has simply rendered out what was coming in. The synergy with my existing AP gear was apparent from day one but it has been the DAC which has been telling me all along if anything didn't sound right. The coax inputs (SPDIF and TosLink) are limited to 24/96 while the USB port goes up to 24/192. Noticeable difference when you switch to the USB port. The DAC has an upsamplng switch on the rear to turn off/on upsampling for inputs via USB only. I have found this feature to be a matter of preference - I like to leave it on.
Its hard for me to describe more about the DAC because its the only DAC I have ever used. Will have more to comment on after perhaps later on down the road. I would be very interested to hear from others who have the AP DAC to chip in with anything that might help me along. All inputs will be appreciated.
For those who may be wondering what was the most significant change since adding the DAC to my setup:
1. Explosive convenience of computer storage and media handling. I have a rapidly growing collection of music that keeps getting better thanks to convenience of the internet (or the cloud as its called nowadays).
2. High Res matters - I was quite content with 320 Kbps mp3s until I heard the difference with lossless. Typically low res files are compressed and made loud to pop out at you. Lossless in comparison has more Dynamic Range. The sound is less loud but doesn't compress as you turn up the volume. Depending on the original source there's a lot of low level detail and clean transients. As a result I don't go near the volume control much.
All in all my journey into digital has not been as straight forward as I thought it would be. I still haven't got to the bottom of this thing yet as there are quite a few things left for me to tryout. OS upgrades, software upgrades and optimizers, etc are on the horizon. Depending on your point of view, this could either be daunting or extremely exciting.
Thanks for reading ... look forward to exchange views with everyone here.
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