He says "I'm going directly from the DAC to a pair of Airmotiv 4s powered monitors in both cases. "
Yes, I have powered monitors so the amp is included. The monitors are expecting line level output. All things being equal, the D10 is a lot lower in level than the HiFiMe DAC. It's not like it doesn't work. It's just that it's dramatically lower relative to the HiFiMe DAC.As Timbo2 implies, this is a DAC only. You still need an amplifier to drive a headphone or speakers. Was your hifime DAC+headphone amp?
Yeah, the D10 can get loud enough at near the max sometimes. Just seems a little odd, but maybe it's just my expectation bias. I definitely can hear sonic differences between the two, so wanted to make sure everything is optimal before I declare one the favorite.Is the ultimate volume loud enough (or even the same)?
If so, there's just a different curve on the volume control on the two DACs.
Oh, interesting. I had never even noticed that little trim knob. I will try that out tonight! Thanks for your help, Ray.Is the ultimate volume loud enough (or even the same)?
If so, there's just a different curve on the volume control on the two DACs.
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A reviewer says "Each Airmotive 4 has balanced and single-ended inputs and a number of adjustments: a level-trim control to optimize the amplifier gain for the input source, and ..."
The Manual says:
View attachment 13069
dearHey gang, I ordered this DAC based on this review and thread and have a question specifically for Mac users. This is replacing (or currently challenging to unseat?) one of the very budget HiFiMe Sabre DACs. The HiFiMe DAC was like $29 when I ordered it a few years ago. It may be the $42 model now. Not sure.
Anyway, my question for Mac users: The output level of the D10 on my Mac is dramatically lower than the HiFime DAC. Like I don't get ANY sound at all until I'm about 40% on the Mac volume level. Sometimes I'm at like 75-90% to get decent output levels from quieter recordings. By comparison, the HiFiMe DAC is typically ear splitting at about 50% volume on my Mac, all other things being equal.
Is this just normal for this DAC on a Mac? I don't want to comment on sound comparisons until I know if that's normal or whether there's something odd going on with my setup. I almost thought it wasn't working until I really cranked it up. Is it just me? I'm running a slightly older version of MacOS with El Capitan, so not sure if that could be part of it. I'm going directly from the DAC to a pair of Airmotiv 4s powered monitors in both cases.
Any thoughts/help appreciated/
Are there D10 users that already have switch their opamp if so from a listning point of view what are the diffrences
So you say it does not make sence that the D10 can change Opamps?. Hm that needs another topic i guessHeh.. If you will be able to hear any difference after switching the op amp that would mean your new op amp is oscillating or having some other stability issue.
So you say it does not make sence that the D10 can change Opamps?. Hm that needs another topic i guess
Let's wait on Amirm measurments consiting of different Opamps (from a technical point of view) still would be interesting to hear from D10 owners if they notice any diffrence. A difference that does not has to be big (i don't expect that) but posibile some different in (3D) stage placement more or less space around voices instruments. Bit thighter or less tighter bass etc etc. For instance i have high sentive speakers an Opamp that could tamme the highs slightly could have my preference.It almost never does. If the DAC is so bad that it would then it would make more sense to swap the whole DAC instead of ap amps.
Let's wait on Amirm measurments consiting of different Opamps (from a technical point of view) still would be interesting to hear from D10 owners if they notice any diffrence. A difference that does not has to be big (i don't expect that) but posibile some different in (3D) stage placement more or less space around voices instruments. Bit thighter or less tighter bass etc etc. For instance i have high sentive speakers an Opamp that could tamme the highs slightly could have my preference.
I can do it with the new analyzer. Alas, I am still working on creating my test parameters so that they work well and match my previous measurements. This is proving a bit challenging as the new analyzer is really picky about stability of measurements when noise dominates (like above at low dBFS). I sort have THD measurements working but IMD is still work in progress. Remind me in a week or two and I will tackle this.
MUSICAL FIDELITY A370What is your recommended amplifier to match topping D10 for a desktop set-up?