You said you were anti WiFi. Tablets are normally WiFi, but you could connect a USB to Ethernet adapter and disable WiFi. The problem with tablets is that it may be difficult to get bit-perfect playback from certain apps like Spotify and Tidal out to an external DAC with the price of slight potential quality loss. If you don't care then a tablet may do but you'll need a USB hub as you want to avoid wireless, so would need 2 USB devices connected to the tablet: a network adapter and a DAC.
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DAC or What?
- Thread starter Leoniums
- Start date
You said you were anti WiFi. Tablets are normally WiFi, but you could connect a USB to Ethernet adapter and disable WiFi. The problem with tablets is that it may be difficult to get bit-perfect playback from certain apps like Spotify and Tidal out to an external DAC with the price of slight potential quality loss. If you don't care then a tablet may do but you'll need a USB hub as you want to avoid wireless, so would need 2 USB devices connected to the tablet: a network adapter and a DAC.
- Thread Starter
- #22
Thatz what i am asking. Didnt knew about bit perfect etc.
I was talking for a tablet with 2 usb since one will be used for lan adapter and the 2nd for dac export....
So a laptop is the best choise. With lan of course and not usb lan adapter correct?
I was talking for a tablet with 2 usb since one will be used for lan adapter and the 2nd for dac export....
So a laptop is the best choise. With lan of course and not usb lan adapter correct?
Laptops usually have LAN ports, but some don't so you'd need USB to LAN for those. I haven't seen a mainstream laptop w/o a USB port but maybe they exist. A laptop or a PC would be the most flexible solution to achieve the best sound quality. If you have a tablet already you can start with it and see how it goes you can always add a laptop later, just get a DAC, a compatible USB to LAN dongle, and a powered USB hub to split the USB connection from the tablet to 2 devices. There are players capable of direct bit-perfect playback of local files, but streaming apps typically just play through the tablet OS and the output gets resampled. The effects are relatively minor, you may not care on 128kbps streams which is typical for network radio stations,
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A tablet with 2 usb ports will do, however a simpler tablet with just 1 usb port and a hub may cost less.
Btw, which tablet has 2 USB ports? Just curious.
Well, MS Surface is more of a laptop than a tablet as it runs Windows OS on Intel processors, so you get what you'd get on a laptop just in a different form factor. If the budget allows I'd go for it as you should be able to run normal Windows apps, just make sure you get one with W10, avoid Windows RT. Android is naturally cheaper but generally less friendly for quality playback. Both can be made work however.
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- Thread Starter
- #28
I am back again.
I am moving to a new house so i dont really have much free time atm.
So i bought a 5th gen i5 Microsoft Surface Pro and also uts hub for its ethernet port plus to have its usb port available for the dac connection.
I am still looking for a DAC.
So please go ahead and give me more suggestions.
Thanks again
I am moving to a new house so i dont really have much free time atm.
So i bought a 5th gen i5 Microsoft Surface Pro and also uts hub for its ethernet port plus to have its usb port available for the dac connection.
I am still looking for a DAC.
So please go ahead and give me more suggestions.
Thanks again
Oh, WIndows 10 will be fun. You get home from work dog-tired and settle down in your listening chair to relax with some music from your glorious Revel Salon 2s. You flip on your tablet and...
I suggest having some good books to read by the listening chair.
I suggest having some good books to read by the listening chair.
TimW
Major Contributor
Your McIntosh C1000 preamp has balanced (XLR) inputs. Many consider this connection to be superior to unbalanced (RCA) connections because it gives you ground loop resilience. If I were in your position I would look for a DAC that has balanced outputs.
The only DAC that has been reviewed here with top tier SINAD performance, balanced outputs, USB input, and a bargain price is the SMSL SU-8 (Version 2)
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-su-8-version-2-balanced-dac.5433/
If you don't feel that you need balanced outputs there are other affordable top tier options with USB input such as:
Khadas Tone Board. This is just a circuit board, you will need to figure out a case for it.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-wesiontek-khadas-tone-board-dac.4823/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ase-enclosure-for-the-khadas-tone-board.5054/
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/alum...minum-case-for-khadas-tone-board-p-13626.html
March Audio DAC1
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ew-and-measurements-of-march-audio-dac1.5755/
Aune X1S. Includes a headphone amplifier.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ew-and-measurements-of-aune-x1s-dac-amp.6535/
BTW have you had the chance to listen to your new system yet or are you waiting on a DAC to do so?
- Thread Starter
- #31
I tried yesterday but i think i am fcing issues.
I wired everything and i added a sone 5000es blue ray on it. The sound was awfull in the beggining. Then i tired other inputs (aux etc) and another cd. Sound was clear but didnt had enough power. I had volume on 50 and i thought it should be much higher.
Earching around and i found that my salons have some bars on the rear, where you connect the wires and it should be removed?
I think i am kinda lost
I wired everything and i added a sone 5000es blue ray on it. The sound was awfull in the beggining. Then i tired other inputs (aux etc) and another cd. Sound was clear but didnt had enough power. I had volume on 50 and i thought it should be much higher.
Earching around and i found that my salons have some bars on the rear, where you connect the wires and it should be removed?
I think i am kinda lost
jsrtheta
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I have no idea of the details, but there are such things as legal remedies. Don't let someone rip you off.
TimW
Major Contributor
When you say bars on the rear of your Revel Salon speakers what I think you are talking about is the jumper straps between the high and low frequency inputs no? The only reason to remove those straps is if you are biwiring or biamping your speakers which is unnecessary. However if you already have speaker cables made for biwiring then it may make sense to use them. What do your speaker cables look like? Do they have just one pair of connectors on each end or do they have two pairs of connectors on an end?
Your McIntosh MC501 amplifiers have three pairs of output binding posts. One pair is for 2 Ohm nominal speakers, one pair is for 4 Ohm nominal speakers, and one pair is for 8 Ohm nominal speakers. You should only connect your speaker cables to one pair of these binding posts. You have the Revel Ultima Salon speakers and not the Revel Salon2 speakers correct? According to the Stereophile review of these speakers, their impedance is rated at 6 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum. According to the MC501 manual "If the Loudspeaker's impedance is in-between the available connections, use the nearest lower impedance connection." Meaning you should connect your speaker cables to the 4 Ohm output binding posts of your MC501 amplifiers.
If these speaker connections are made properly we will have to look at the connections to and from the preamplifier. If everthing is connected properly then there may be a issues with some of the equipment.
TimW
Major Contributor
Also make sure the equipment is powered off when you are messing with these connections.
TimW
Major Contributor
Other than one issue everything looks fine to me although I am not familiar with these products. You seem to have all of the interconnects from the Bluray player to the amplifiers correct and based on these pictures I doubt you have damaged anything. But with the specs I can find on those speakers the speaker wire really should be connected to the 4 Ohm output binding posts on the amplifiers. Right now they are connected to the 8 Ohm outputs. If I were you I would move those speaker wire connectors to the middle 4 Ohm output binding posts on the amplifiers. It should be pretty easy to do this as the connectors should be loosened and tightened by hand. Make sure no metal parts of the speaker wires from one binding post touch the other side. Make sure the amplifiers are powered off when you change the connections.
With that being said I'm starting to doubt that this connection issue is the root of your volume problem. If you make the connection change and the problem persists I would try connecting a device you know well (phone, tablet, laptop) directly to the preamp using a 3.5mm to rca cable. If you can achieve sufficient volume with that device then we know the Bluray player is the issue. It is a fairly complex Bluray player with some audio processing abilities so it may have some settings that need adjusted.
Good luck.
With that being said I'm starting to doubt that this connection issue is the root of your volume problem. If you make the connection change and the problem persists I would try connecting a device you know well (phone, tablet, laptop) directly to the preamp using a 3.5mm to rca cable. If you can achieve sufficient volume with that device then we know the Bluray player is the issue. It is a fairly complex Bluray player with some audio processing abilities so it may have some settings that need adjusted.
Good luck.
TimW
Major Contributor
Looking at the manual for your C1000 preamp and controller it looks like the volume display can be set to either Percentage of the maximum volume (0 - 100%) or Decibels (-92.0dB to +15.0dB). I'm not sure what the controller is set to display but if you only turned the volume up to 50% or -50dB it could make sense that the volume was low. Those speakers are not high efficiency and if you want your music louder it should be fine to turn up the volume. Is there issues with the sound other than low volume?
- Thread Starter
- #38
I have also found that speakers are 6 ohm nominal i think with 3 ohms minimum. So one thing is that.
2nd thing is that speakers wires are wrong.
Right now i have put on each monoblock the following cables.
1 cable with 4 connections on each side.
2 red and 2 black.
red and black on one of the 8ohm and the other red and black on the 2nd 8ohm
I think i have to change as following.
1st i have to take off that speaker jumber.
Then on each cable (from the m9noblock side) i have to add the 2 black connectors un one of the 4ohm and the 2 red connectors in the other 4 ohm.
Same thing for the other monoblock
I am also not sure if i have to make any changes on the power amp setting or w/e in order to understand that i use one monoblock for each speaker but probably no since thats what wires are doing?
Sorry if i cant explain myself better. But its late here, i am tired and also my English are not my foreign language. Hope you can understand.
Thanks again for your help.
2nd thing is that speakers wires are wrong.
Right now i have put on each monoblock the following cables.
1 cable with 4 connections on each side.
2 red and 2 black.
red and black on one of the 8ohm and the other red and black on the 2nd 8ohm
I think i have to change as following.
1st i have to take off that speaker jumber.
Then on each cable (from the m9noblock side) i have to add the 2 black connectors un one of the 4ohm and the 2 red connectors in the other 4 ohm.
Same thing for the other monoblock
I am also not sure if i have to make any changes on the power amp setting or w/e in order to understand that i use one monoblock for each speaker but probably no since thats what wires are doing?
Sorry if i cant explain myself better. But its late here, i am tired and also my English are not my foreign language. Hope you can understand.
Thanks again for your help.
- Thread Starter
- #39
The pre amp is set on percentace probably since i hit for once the max just to see whats the maximum. And that was 100. But i believe that on 50 it should have been really high... It wasnt but not sure how that % is working. I mean that it might level like 1% until 50% and then 10% per 5 or something. For sure 4ohms will make a difference and also thT red black wrong connections might also help. Will check tomorrow morning.
Dont want any meet with the police officer hehe
Dont want any meet with the police officer hehe
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