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Volume level to low on USB DAC headphone amp


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Hello members.

 

I am a new and glad to be here.

 

Hopefully someone can help me out

 

I have gathered up some entry level gear which suits me well, as I travel a fair bit. Currently I run am running Foobar2000 to an ARCAM rPAC DAC, to a pair of Grado SR60’s. My source consists of a Lenovo Thinkpad, Core i3 processor with, 4GB ram. All M4a’s are on an external HDD, connected via USB.

 

For entry level the dynamics of the setup are great (have to love the SR60’s). However I find the integrated headphone amp in the DAC lacks the ability to drive the SR60’s to high volume - the amp seems to run out of steam. The volume does get loud but is far from the “blistering” level that I have been told it should reach, (not that I would listen to blistering volume).

 

So far I have:

 

1. Checked all of the volume settings (I know of) with no result.

2. Turned off the power management on all USB Hubs, no effect.

3. Attempted to bypass Windows KMixer by loading an ASIO driver into Foobar, hoping this will remove any volume restriction in Windows 7, (which I read has volume output issues).

 

Foobar2000, output now set to ASIO, has mapped the left and right channels (as I can hear them) but the rPAC DAC is still showing a standard MS generic USB audio driver. This would lead me to believe that the music is still being streamed through KMixer.

 

And the volume issue remains.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

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The rPAC doesn't (afaik) have a ASIO driver. WASAPI exclusive mode would be most appropriate.

foobar2000: Components Repository - WASAPI output support

 

Maybe worth trying J.River as that is the usual recomendation here for media player on Windows.

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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  • 1 month later...

Whether you're going through kMixer or an ASIO low latency route shouldn't be visible to anything connected to the USB port. The protocol for audio over USB is the same either way, so I wouldn't read anything into rPAC's readout. The real giveaway if you're going through kMixer is that system audio events will be mixed in to Foobar's output.

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