T+a dac8

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
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This has been playing in my system for a few days, and I am really impressed. It has a real sweet sound and GREAT bass. Very organic, sweet sounds. It plays nicely with the Aurender N10 too!

At $4190, it's a GREAT DAC for the money.

"T+A Elektroakustik's DAC 8 DSD has none of these faults, yet approaches the performance of cost-no-object designs. If you've been following the clues, some of you already know where this is going to end: The T+A Elektroakustik DAC 8 DSD could be your stairway to sonic heaven."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/ta-elektroakustik-dac-8-dsd-da-processor
 
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Mike try sending the T&A DAC8 an upsampled DSD512 signal. IMO this is where this DAC really shines.
 
Mike Roon will do DSD512 with a very modest PC and you can get HQ Player to work if you choose your PC wisely. The Roon upsampling algorithms do not sound as good as HQ Player but it could give you a glimpse.
 
nc42acc said:
The Roon upsampling algorithms do not sound as good as HQ Player but it could give you a glimpse.
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My experience has been quiet the opposite. Roon's first up-sampling release sucked big time but after some followup/feedback, the latest up-sampling with sox filter just beats HQP hands down in my system. I am also using Rock/Roon endpoint setup which further improves the SQ. I started with HQP/Windows/NAA and moved to Daphile even before Roon came up with up-sampling - even Daphile sounded better than hqp.
 
Mike said:
Would need a powerful PC for that?


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Up-sampling to DSD512 is quiet taxing on the CPU. You at least need an i7 6700k to avoid shuttering. A cuda enabled graphic cards helps a lot in offloading the work and let a cpu run a bit cooler than without. However, these are not the problem - if you are up-sampling to DSD512 and using a high power PC, you simply can't connect the PC directly to the T+A. The noise from the PC will kill all that was gained from up-sampling. So the best and cheapest two box solution is to use an endpoint (which connects to the DAC) with a good power supply. The i7 server and endpoint are connected using networking protocols - Roon RAAT or HQP NAA.

The other single box (and albeit expensive) solution is to get the SGM server which can dish out clean USB signal to the DAC and can simultaneously up-sample to DSD512 but (I think) you will be stuck with HQP up-sampling solution with it.
 
For €6900, you can use a Lampi SuperKomputer (version 2) that comes with a stripped down "thin" audiophile Linux and a bespoke ultra low noise PSU that took a year to design and uses bespoke parts not commercially available. The latest FW update from Amanero allows DSD512 to be fed "natively" via Linux/MacOSX and Windows. It also has new redesigned cooling.

I have not heard it, but a pal in the UK has and it blew him away.
 
What about the Small Green Computer SonicTransporter (i7) with the new Signature Rendu and use Roon to upsample to DSD512?
 
Great info, thanks. I will make sure I have the latest release of Roon and try it again.

Devg said:
My experience has been quiet the opposite. Roon's first up-sampling release sucked big time but after some followup/feedback, the latest up-sampling with sox filter just beats HQP hands down in my system. I am also using Rock/Roon endpoint setup which further improves the SQ. I started with HQP/Windows/NAA and moved to Daphile even before Roon came up with up-sampling - even Daphile sounded better than hqp.
Click to expand...
 
Mike said:
What about the Small Green Computer SonicTransporter (i7) with the new Signature Rendu and use Roon to upsample to DSD512?
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Another good solution...but 2 box and people say HQP is the better upsampling engine. Otherwise just use JRiver to upsample and have a good interface.
 
Mike said:
What about the Small Green Computer SonicTransporter (i7) with the new Signature Rendu and use Roon to upsample to DSD512?
Click to expand...

I think its a good choice if its able to up-sample to DSD512.

I, personally, hate to spend thousands of $$ (more than what Small Green is charging) on a x86 based computer. Intel's release cadence is every 6 months (google for tic-toc model) and what is now great become a door stop very quickly in the digital and computer world. You can power them with the world's fanciest linear power supply but ultimately there are noisy dc-dc switching regulators on the motherboard that will take away most of the benefits, unless you are designing the motherboard yourself. A better option is to use a low powered endpoint especially designed for audio, like the Sonore and SoTM devices. The downside is its a two-box solution (and likely more components in your rack) but far more flexible and easily upgrade-able down the line.
 
Those isolation low power computers also need fancy LPSU, so not that much cheaper. Count on near $2K for a Sonore and high quality LPSU and quality connecting cables.

In any case, folkloric assertions are that the SGM beats those 2 PC setups too.

SG Computer will need to have at least a Skylake chipset to upsample i7 6700K reliably. If no upsampling then those fancy lpsu with a 1 box server playing native will be VERY quiet of implemented right. Release cadence does not matter that much as BoM is not dominated by chipset and Mobo on the top servers, its the LPSU/case/cooling system/quality USB and other output cards, SSDs and all the other junk that pile up the cost.

However, your argument still has some validity.
 
The basic fact that most people don't realize is that the power/case/cooling requirements mostly comes from the need of compute power - the CPU and memory are a major contributor to it. Not so much for the storage and networking. I started with a 45w CPU and case (Jplay setup), only to aboundone it after couple of months for a 95w CPU and a corresponding larger case for running Roon core. I don't need the fancy LCPU rails to power noisy high speed components which itself has SI challenges. A $300 platinum standard ultra low noise 500w ATX SMPS will just work great. I would rather spend most of my budget on the endpoint where I know things are designed the way it should be for audio.
 
Devg said:
The basic fact that most people don't realize is that the power/case/cooling requirements mostly comes from the need of compute power - the CPU and memory are a major contributor to it. Not so much for the storage and networking. I started with a 45w CPU and case (Jplay setup), only to aboundone it after couple of months for a 95w CPU and a corresponding larger case for running Roon core. I don't need the fancy LCPU rails to power noisy high speed components which itself has SI challenges. A $300 platinum standard ultra low noise 500w ATX SMPS will just work great. I would rather spend most of my budget on the endpoint where I know things are designed the way it should be for audio.
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I guess I am not most people. I used to work for HP (in the WW PC operations HQ) for many years.

You have to isolate the noise from the dirty upstream PC to the endpoint. That too has a cost and box quantity tradeoff...that is my point. You pick your own poison.
 
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Trying the T+A DAC DSD8 with Aurender, iFi USB 3.0, iFi Gemini USB, Stillpoints Ultra SS and the new WyWires Diamond USB in the home system.

Really good!


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anyone have further experience with the t+a dac 8 dsd? comments / thoughts on how it [or t+a in general] plays with tube gear?
 
aKnyght said:
anyone have further experience with the t+a dac 8 dsd? comments / thoughts on how it [or t+a in general] plays with tube gear?
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Lots of experience. It’s a great unit. Musical, slightly sweet on top. Hits way above its price point. Does equally well with PCM and DSD.


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Mike said:
Lots of experience. It’s a great unit. Musical, slightly sweet on top. Hits way above its price point. Does equally well with PCM and DSD.


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Absolutely agree Mike. However, I'll also add that the built-in volume control is very good, so if you don't have any analogue sources, it does a fantastic job of driving an amp directly without need for a preamp.
 
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