Russ Reed

I bought one of these little DACs to introduce my sister to computer audio. It's a nice sounding DAC, but it's not all that. I put in in my system to compare the difference in sound quality to my Ayre Qb-9. No contest. I'm glad because if it had sounded anywhere close, my Qb-9 would be for sale. It would be very nice for a desk top or portable system. You still get what you pay for in DACs. For $99, not to bad!

Take a look at what JRiver Media Center does with DLNA. I think you will save yourself alot of frustration.

With my Sony AVR I use the pre section for volume only. Play straight through the analog direct out avoiding all processing. And use a much superior stand alone DAC. This has been the most bang for the buck to have multi channel for video and good quality 2 channel for music.<br /> Chris is this approach possible with the Marantz?<br /> <br /> Thanks Russ

What usb hub driver update do you recommend? What pci changes are you suggesting? Thanks Russ

I still listen to albums straight through some, but most of the time I'm listening to various play lists. The volume leveling function works very well in JRiver. From what I understand it's still bit perfect, the volume has just been equalized for all tracks across the entire playlist. When listening to a single album I don't think there is any leveling applied. Russ

You can tell what I did by my signiture. I'm really happy with the sound from my B&W 683's. AVRs aren't all bad if set up properly. I only use the analog stage direct, no processing. I'm only familiar with PCs and I really like what I get out of JRiver Media Center. It also needs to be set up properly. Chris has a guide for JRiver and Windows 7 here. Good listening Russ.

As you can see from my signiture I have a Sony AVR. I didn't like the DAC sound from the receiver. So I added a good stand alone DAC which improved the 2 channel audio so much I'm still amazed. I also tried adding a so called better amp (PBN Audio)so I was just using the pre out on the AVR, but there was no noticeable improvment. I'm very happy with the quality of sound I have now.

If you go the PC or MAC route there are plenty of resources here to keep you on the right path. Listen befor you buy. Just keep it simple. Back your music up. I have been very happy with my setup. You can go big or small. I went somewhere in the middle. Good listening!

I was a complete novice. You can tell from my signiture what I decided to go with. I already had a PC. I went with JRiver media player because they have WASAPI, ASIO and other tools already included. I have had no problems with any music player I have tried. I could have spent way less on my DAC, but listened to this one and decided I liked the way it sounded and I liked the simple usb interface. I've ripped my music once and I have three backups. Well, if you need easier than that and sound quality isn't as much a priority an Olive would probably be a perfect fit. Jussayin!

What, you work for Olive I guess?

I had thought about an Olive prior to putting together another solution. The way I understand it, all the music you rip to an Olive becomes Olive's. If you decide to do something different later you can't even copy any of the music you have on the Olive hard drive. Also you will have no backup if your Olive gets fried. Just my 2 cents.

You can see from my signiture what I use. I just wanted an audio specific designed cable between computer and DAC. This one sounds very good. I have not compared it to anything else.

This is my setup in my signiture. I'd like to have better just for music, but this sounds pretty good. Stand alone DACs are worth every dollar.

Ditto!

I have to go with my present DAC. Ayre QB-9.