Some time ago I bought an Xduoo MU-604 to replace my old USB powered DAC, an Arcam R-PAC.
I was very pleased with the upgrade as the R-PAC allowed hash through from the PC and the XDuoo with its own outboard PSU didn’t.
I did try a USB isolator and it did work well, but only in low speed mode. I felt that the R-PAC always sounded much better in high speed mode.
Anyway, I recently purchased a Camera Adapter for my iPhone that allows me to use an external USB DAC. This works for all data rates and is great for having a music streamer that is silent unlike my tower PC.
It occurred to me that I should try the R-PAC with this too, so I did. There is a pleasing lack of switching noise using the Camera Adapter since of course the phone runs on batteries.
The R-PAC sounds very very good used like this. Is it as good as the XDuoo? Not sure, but it isn’t far away. I need to switch back and listen some more.
I never expected an inexpensive adapter like this could be such a positive influence on sound quality - not because it has magical properties, but it allows the DAC to work at its best without all the ground noise from the PC.
I don’t know if the android phones have an equivalent device, but for folks that have noise from USB powered DACs this is a cheap and effective solution and gives my venerable R-PAC a new lease of life.
Has anyone had a similar experience?
I was very pleased with the upgrade as the R-PAC allowed hash through from the PC and the XDuoo with its own outboard PSU didn’t.
I did try a USB isolator and it did work well, but only in low speed mode. I felt that the R-PAC always sounded much better in high speed mode.
Anyway, I recently purchased a Camera Adapter for my iPhone that allows me to use an external USB DAC. This works for all data rates and is great for having a music streamer that is silent unlike my tower PC.
It occurred to me that I should try the R-PAC with this too, so I did. There is a pleasing lack of switching noise using the Camera Adapter since of course the phone runs on batteries.
The R-PAC sounds very very good used like this. Is it as good as the XDuoo? Not sure, but it isn’t far away. I need to switch back and listen some more.
I never expected an inexpensive adapter like this could be such a positive influence on sound quality - not because it has magical properties, but it allows the DAC to work at its best without all the ground noise from the PC.
I don’t know if the android phones have an equivalent device, but for folks that have noise from USB powered DACs this is a cheap and effective solution and gives my venerable R-PAC a new lease of life.
Has anyone had a similar experience?
