Hi! I want to buy a DAC for my Adam T8V speakers but I don't know which one would be better for me. The ones I looked at are the Audient iD4 MK II and the other is the Topping E50. For me, the microphone and headphones are not that important, but I don't know how much of a difference in sound quality there would be if I bought the more expensive Topping. Would there be an audible difference at all if listening to quality music is the primary consideration? Thanks.
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Dac for the Adam audio t8v
- Thread starter Raven08
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Count Arthur
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Unless they are faulty or particularly badly designed, most DACs will likely sound indistinguishable from one another.
So, you can relax and pick the one that has the features you want and suits your budget.
As the Adam T8V has balanced inputs, I would opt for a DAC with balanced/XLR outputs.
There's an article here about the audibility thresholds of amps and DACs:
www.audiosciencereview.com
In short, all the DACs in the blue section are excellent and you probably wouldn't hear any problems with any of those in the green section either:
A
So, you can relax and pick the one that has the features you want and suits your budget.
As the Adam T8V has balanced inputs, I would opt for a DAC with balanced/XLR outputs.
There's an article here about the audibility thresholds of amps and DACs:
Audibility thresholds of amp and DAC measurements
Introduction A recurring theme on ASR is whether or not the various measured qualities of the devices are audible. In this post, I'll present some clear and visual thresholds for when those imperfections can be considered a potentially audible concern. I will not explain the basics of amp/DAC...
www.audiosciencereview.com
In short, all the DACs in the blue section are excellent and you probably wouldn't hear any problems with any of those in the green section either:
A
AnalogSteph
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You don't need anything super-duper-duper fancy for these, their overall dynamic range is fairly modest anyway (@ 1m: max SPL ~ 100 dB SPL, noise floor ~5.5 dB SPL, so roughly 95 dB). A modest Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd gen or a Topping D10 Balanced would be plenty fine. You could even get away with a Behringer HD400 between OK onboard audio and the ADAMs, IMO (most anything fancier than an ALC892/ALC887 ought to be OK, though the ones capable of higher output like ALC1220/ALC4080 and ALC1200/ALC4082 may be preferable).
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I have two ADAM systems - one with T5Vs and the other with T7Vs. One system uses a Topping D10 Balanced and the other a JDS Atom +. In my opinion, both systems work very well. Neither system produces any tweeter hum.
Newman
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I think you should have mentioned that very few people agree with you on this issue.
The data is right here though: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n62hGAdKptSSKC74_fIT_R7DxFJ60YR2_O9C8x-vYQI/edit?gid=0#gid=0
The T8V seems to be a quite a bit better than the T5V though. The T5V is below average, the T8V dead smack in the middle.
Newman
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Yes but in this case that data contradicts Amir's direct listening reports. So it should have a question-mark on it.
The data says, T5V= 29.7 dBA, JBL305P= 28.5 dBA, JBL308P= 30.0 dBA
Amir says, T5V "Quick testing for hiss showed that I could not hear much past a few inches away from Adam tweeter. So really not a problem". Confirmed by many, disputed by you.
305P "there is a tweeter hiss that you can hear in near-field applications." Confirmed by many.
308P "oh, yes, there is hiss from the tweeter. It is very audible with your ear at the tweeter level but is gone at about 2/3 of a meter/2 feet or so."
So the reliability or representativeness of the data is clearly in question.
My take-home from all these inconsistent reports and measurements is this: there is enough variability in individual sample hiss/idle noise levels from all these active monitors, that every buyer should just choose the monitor on other considerations (ignoring noise reports) and check their individual sample for its hiss/noise in relation to their personal standards. If there is an issue, then decide whether to try other samples of that speaker (which might solve it because there is a fair bit of sample variation) or swap out to another speaker...which should also not be relied upon to be any better.
cheers
You are on ASR, I don't put much stock into subjective experiences taken literally months or even years apart in varying different situations. The list I linked is from https://www.soundandrecording.de/ and measured in an anechoic chamber. Yes, sample to sample variation exists, but it is still just electronics. If you truly believe this list isn't representative of the actual hiss levels then we can completely stop with measuring electronics on ASR. Because the electronics are what are causing hiss and since we have such variation with electronics why even bother measuring them?
I have both the LSR305 and T5V at home and both have clearly audible hiss at about 80cm and there is no real difference between those two speakers. My NC400 + M106 are dead silent. But you don't have to believe me, you can just look at the measurements.
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Amateur question, but how do you set the volume on the PC with the Topping D10 Balanced Dac?
I'm running Windows 11 and Foobar2000 for both systems. The Windows volume is set at 95%. Foobar is at 100%. The T5Vs are on my desktop and are set to the 3 o'clock position (about halfway between 0 db and -18). I'm running a Nobsound passive preamp for volume control. It very seldom gets set to more than halfway between zero and max when listening to my WAV files and is usually lower than that for typcial Internet videos.
I was going to say tell me you've never heard T5V without telling me you've never heard T5V, but obviously you have. Fair enough. Volume and hiss are about the only definitive things you CAN get from mechanical measurements. Frequency response charts for example, don't do a very precise job of telling you how headphones and speakers sound. Otherwise you could look at charts and pick headphones or speakers you will like and the truth is, you really have to hear them. I'm using iLoud micro monitors now for their size, flat response, flexibility and portability but plan on picking up T5V in a couple of months because out of about 10 of 12 studio monitors I heard in Guitar Center, these sounded the best. At least on rock. And didn't stand 6 inches from the speakers or listen to Cat Stevens or Tori Amos to see if there was noticeable hiss. That said, they sounded pretty flawless to me with those ribbon tweeters and good bass and mid response. The best speakers I have ever heard, at least for hard rock like Blink 182 or Boston, for example. Why did you buy them if not for the sound quality? Furthermore how many speakers have you tested compared to Amir? They are amazing speakers. But not perfect. Fine. If you listen to light jazz or yacht rock with them 6 inches from your head they may not be ideal. Those that listen to rap or dance might prefer speakers with more bass like JBL or the larger Adam like T8Vs. For my money, the T5V produce gorgeous sound reproduction.
I think the sound quality is great for the money, it just has audible hiss. That's why I said that going balanced probably has little use. But turns out the T8V is a bit better in that regard. As for the T5V, I'd add a subwoofer to it. It really helps a lot. I used them for a couple of months without a subwoofer, but picked up the matching subwoofer when I saw someone close by selling it for a good price. Really helps clean up the sound at higher volumes (the sub has a high pass filter in it).
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