Dutch 8C owners - What do you feed them?

[HooStat]

Feed it from analog. You can always play with options to feed it digital but there is no reason to worry about the analog conversion. There is always something people will tell you to worry about -- proper/optimal voltage from an analog signal, sample rate conversions, volume control. It never ends, but it also is extremely unlikely to matter in a well engineered product.

 

[JustJones]

Looks like, unless i am wrong, the SHD does not support anything over 192k which eliminates SACD files

The DAC in the 8c doesn't support over 192k either.

 

[muslhead]

The DAC in the 8c doesn't support over 192k either.

You are correct, I am not sure though, it will downsample my dsf files to a lesser quality so that they will be playable. If not and it just barfs on them i have eliminated a good portion of my music base which is something i want to avoid. Do you know?
Ideally, in a perfect world, i would like a streamer that will handle the SACD files but i can select the output format. The SMSL does but i am having some other issues that are making me feel i have a 8c input solution

 

[JustJones]

I used a Lumin U1 mini when I had the 8c. The mini would not sure about the 8c.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

You are correct, I am not sure though, it will downsample my dsf files to a lesser quality so that they will be playable.

It will downsample anything it accepts according to spec.

 

[Puddingbuks]

You can convert spdif to aes. That opens up a lot more possibilities. You need a XLR 110 Ohm to BNC 75 Ohm adaptor and a BNC to coax cable.

https://www.thomann.de/nl/neutrik_naditbncmx.htm

https://www.thomann.de/nl/pro_snake_bnc_kabeladapter.htm

 

[hardisj]

You can convert spdif to aes. That opens up a lot more possibilities. You need a XLR 110 Ohm to BNC 75 Ohm adaptor and a BNC to coax cable.

FWIW, this is the piece I purchased when I got the 8c's to review:
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-ODL-312...keywords=toslink+to+aes&qid=1614698405&sr=8-2


I run optical out of my TV or AppleTV box in to that, then to one 8c and then to the other 8c via the "pass thru". I assign Left/Right to the speakers via the web interface. Quite easy.

 

[muslhead]

FWIW, this is the piece I purchased when I got the 8c's to review:
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-ODL-312...keywords=toslink+to+aes&qid=1614698405&sr=8-2


I run optical out of my TV or AppleTV box in to that, then to one 8c and then to the other 8c via the "pass thru". I assign Left/Right to the speakers via the web interface. Quite easy.

Thanks for confirming. I have that in my Amazon basket.
PS - very much appreciate and enjoy your videos.

 

[hardisj]

Thanks for confirming. I have that in my Amazon basket.
PS - very much appreciate and enjoy your videos.

Cool! Glad you find them useful.

Since you're running AES, make sure you use the termination plug (xlr plug) on the "last" 8c. I'm sure you plan to... but just in case you weren't.

 

[muslhead]

Cool! Glad you find them useful.

Since you're running AES, make sure you use the termination plug (xlr plug) on the "last" 8c. I'm sure you plan to... but just in case you weren't.

Planned on it ... once i receive. Its on a slow boat from China

 

[Mariner9]

See Dialectic's reply (post #16) in this thread. HTH.

I will just output from DAC to the 8Cs and live with the D/A -> A/D -> D/A conversions. Would be great to demo an Alpha USB but not many dealers here and not sure if any of them are game.

 

[muslhead]

See Dialectic's reply (post #16) in this thread. HTH.

I will just output from DAC to the 8Cs and live with the D/A -> A/D -> D/A conversions. Would be great to demo an Alpha USB but not many dealers here and not sure if any of them are game.

i had not seen that post. thanks for linking for me
If i eventually get a aes source, are there special "digital" aes xlr cables or will any xlr do?

 

[Dialectic]

i had not seen that post. thanks for linking for me
If i eventually get a aes source, are there special "digital" aes xlr cables or will any xlr do?

All AES/EBU cables can be used as analog XLR cables, but the converse doesn't hold - not all analog XLRs work as AES/EBU cables.

There are lots of cheap AES/EBU cables out there. The expensive cables (e.g., Mogami, Canare) tend to look and feel better, but they do not make an audible difference.

 

[Dialectic]

FWIW, this is the piece I purchased when I got the 8c's to review:
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-ODL-312...keywords=toslink+to+aes&qid=1614698405&sr=8-2


I run optical out of my TV or AppleTV box in to that, then to one 8c and then to the other 8c via the "pass thru". I assign Left/Right to the speakers via the web interface. Quite easy.

Fwiw, my Hosa converter has been flawless in the nearly three years I've been using it.

 

[RustyGates]

I feed it analog straight out of my Tambaqui / Holo Bliss pre.

The analog conversion is extremely transparent to the source, and IMO might be better than feeding it digital - resamples at 24-bit, the ADC, DSP and DAC are synced to the same clock, no ASRC, no jitter to worry about.

 

[Puddingbuks]

Digital in should always be better, as there is no analog to digital conversion and no noise from analog sources and cables is being added to the analog signal.

or not?

 

[RustyGates]

Digital in should always be better, as there is no analog to digital conversion and no noise from analog sources and cables is being added to the analog signal.

or not?

You won't hear it when considering its a part of a speaker system - the typical THD+N of the PCM4202 ADC is -105 dB, the typical THD+N of the PCM4104 DAC is -100dB. Noise from the Class D amps would be far more of a concern than the ADC anyway, yet no one can hear noise from the Dutch 8c, it sounds clean. Quality analogue cables don't add any amount of THD+N, e.g., Mogami 2549.

I'd be far more concerned about the jitter performance of the DAC alone when fed digital input, that hasn't been measured. Feeding it analogue avoids all those issues with handling of SPDIF data.

 

[Purité Audio]

I feed it analog straight out of my Tambaqui / Holo Bliss pre.

The analog conversion is extremely transparent to the source, and IMO might be better than feeding it digital - resamples at 24-bit, the ADC, DSP and DAC are synced to the same clock, no ASRC, no jitter to worry about.

I can perfectly understand using a preamp with the 8Cs if you have multiple sources or simply if you prefer not to use the Ascend app for attenuation but the Tambaqui brings nothing to the table whatsoever.
Keith

 

[RustyGates]

I can perfectly understand using a preamp with the 8Cs if you have multiple sources or simply if you prefer not to use the Ascend app for attenuation but the Tambaqui brings nothing to the table whatsoever.
Keith

Not saying Tambaqui's bringing anything to the table; I have it along with a Holo Bliss (which has a high-quality analog pre-amp out) for my headphone set-up, and yes, I have four different sources handled by the Tambaqui. If I only had the 8c's, I wouldn't go out buying a DAC.

What I'm saying is, I presume the 8c's ADC/DSP/DAC all operating synchronously to a single clock, is faithful to the analog source with nil jitter to worry about and negligible noise added to the system relative to digital only.

 

[Purité Audio]

Analogue is converted to digital for the DSP, so even if the 8Cs had poor jitter rejection ( which they don’t ) an external dac still wouldn’t improve things.
Jitter is only an ‘issue’ for manufactures who have invented a ‘problem ‘ which they are selling a ‘solution’.

Keith