Ok-- sorry to interrupt the fun for a bit, but someone asked earlier if it can match or at least come close to the Ordnance-1 DAC for SQ. Well? Can or cannot? In the market for sub-RM100 DAC as a gift, and so I can keep my Ordnance at home...

LOL. Well folks, if anyone who's got this DAC is coming to Saturday's gathering, Jaben has the Ordnance, and if I am able to come I can bring mine as well, which is already well used.

Aww go on. You know you want to. Go ahead, buy it, then put up a review here and share the effects of this poison. You KNOW it's what you wanna do...

WASAPI doesn't need anything else, I think: AFAIK it uses Windows's own drivers or something, so no need any external drivers, unlike ASIO. Then again, I've never had luck with getting WASAPI to work; I find ASIO easier to work with, actually, even with its little idiosyncrasies.

@Najmods: Well that's where I hit a snag... I did select the bitrate and sampling, but then it failed somewhere, can't remember. I didn't know why, and since ASIO was working fine I just stuck with ASIO and didn't really want to bother tinkering some more.

@danny_sp15: Oh, is that so? Reckon that might be it then. I'll go try it out. Thanks!

This post has been edited by ArianneG: Oct 1 2010, 10:02 PM

So does anyone detect any difference in performance and/or sound quality between WASAPI and ASIO?

So which is better for usage in Win7 convenience wise? Mind you, I switch off ALL sounds from programs and system so it doesn't interfere with my music.

I would note that for songs with lots of detail, like my favourite Mike Oldfield music, the DAC is too slow and end up smearing the details. The Clip+ however delivers the right speed. Though of course sadly the body and weight of the sound, especially bass and mid cannot match this DAC. Clip+ isn't very warm... well, not with Shroom EB anyway.

Hmm. Burning in is also probably a good idea. I am thinking that everything needs burn in for audio stuff, even the DAC, strangely. I'm not sure if Shroom EB qualifies as slow then: because on Shroom EB the DAC was still somewhat slow, though it was not as obvious as when on cans. Maybe the slowness of detail we both heard was due to not enough power to drive the cans? Inadequate USB power is an interesting proposition. Well. If there's another meeting sometime at Jaben you're coming to, let me know. Can drag my lappy with me to see whether the 'not enough juice' theory holds or not.

Bro Daemon, am looking forward to your verdict with the Symphonica test then. So now you're saying that even on Tubular Bells with this DAC there is less obvious smearing if using a two-headed USB cable like the o nes used on 2.5" portable HDDs?? Fahrenheit147 coming? Will PM him and ask how much time he's logged on the DAC ad request the opportunity to test again then. If the smearing issue DOES go away with burn in I would get this DAC for sure.

Ordnance IS pretty fast; rather accurate to my ear, doubtless. Otherwise my slower than snail RM60 speakers wouldn't have improved any, LOL. Sadly, this DAC definitely beats it for warmth and volume. Now if only there is a DAC that won't burn a hole in my pocket while being warm like this DAC AND accurate in speed like the Ordnance. *sigh*

Tubular Bells 2003 IS an album-- remastered 2003 release of the original 1970s version, which was on LP vinyl... Check it out on Wikipedia. Most may be familiar with the opening as part of the Exorcist's OST. I just had foobar turn all the separate tracks into one track for my portable player because I prefer listening it to it as one song-- makes more sense to me that way and saves my Clip+ 's battery. XD rxy has the original files...



NORMAL listening volume?! How not to go deaf? I don't go past level 8 at the most on the master volume in Windows listening with headphones; I only set to max if it's hooked up with speakers.

Lawl. Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells is his best work, I think. Along with Amarok and Incantations. Sadly his original CDs are all )(&(*& expensive...

@rxy: Yes, still saving. But meanwhile if there's another nice, sort of low-end alternative to my Ordnance that has more body and the same speed to it, why not?

The files are as you have them originally. When I had them they were separate files. I just ran the separate files through foobar to make them all one file for use on my Clip+ because I wanted gapless playback for the tracks, which I normally have on foobar.

Maybe you need to check your settings. Ordnance is a popular choice for low-end portable, I noticed. I want to try the Go-Vibes DAC though.

Go-Vibe and Ordnance about the same price, yes. Sounds somewhat similar too, according to yuheng. Just go test it out: or maybe bro Fahrenheit can tell us more.

If AD700 is hard to drive, you will need an amp... This thing doesn't have much power to drive cans, if you look at the reviews.

I prefer not to use ReplayGain at all, since I consider it altering the original sound.