technobear
04-04-2012, 15:55
Arcam rPAC Review
Before I start, this is one bear's opinion so don't flame me too much if you don't like what you're about to read :ner:
A few days ago I bought an Arcam rPAC. This is an asynchronous USB DAC with a headphone amp and line out. Initial listening was done with the supplied USB cable and with the Audio Technica ATH-M50's as the Beyerdynamic T1's only have a big jack and I didn't have an adaptor for the Arcam's small jack socket. My first impression was 'bloody hell' :eek:
This Arcam sounds very good with the M50's. Very very good. So good that it blows my old NuForce uDAC-2 into the weeds and then stomps all over it for good measure. There was clearly no lack of current for driving low impedance 'phones (note though that the M50's are very sensitive). Without doing any comparisons to the Audiolab, my first impressions then were very good and I spent an enjoyable two evenings roaming my music collection and enjoying it enormously http://www.technobear.btinternet.co.uk/emoticons/phones_banging.gif
Interestingly I never once though about run-in. The rPAC sounds great from the get go and doesn't seem to have changed much if at all after a couple of days use.
I did have one small problem. I couldn't get the rPAC and/or foobar to play without occasionally freezing using Kernel Streaming. The Audiolab is quite happy with Kernel Streaming so this is odd :scratch: However, I switched to ASIO4ALL and the rPAC/foobar plays perfectly with that.
Today, the adaptor arrived. Time for the 600 ohm Beyerdynamic T1's. Would the rPAC even drive them? :eyebrows:
A word about setup at this point. As noted I'm using ASIO4ALL to drive the rPAC. I decided to use Kernel Streaming to drive the Audiolab only because this makes it much easier to switch between the two in foobar. I hope that doesn't significantly affect the playing field but I haven't done exhaustive tests to find out.
So to the T1's. Happily the Arcam does drive them and very well too. There's certainly no shortage of volume even though they are 600 ohm and a fair bit less sensitive than the M50's. Time to compare with the Audiolab 8200CDQ...
To begin with it was a little hard to spot the differences but after a little while they became clear. On Stormy Monday by Eva Cassidy (Live At Blues Alley), Ms Cassidy's voice was a little more forward on the Arcam. This had the effect of making it slightly harder to follow other strands in the music as the voice tended to dominate a little. The bass line was a little indistinct on the rPAC and was easier to follow on the Audiolab.
I decided to explore the mids a bit more by playing some piano, Miss Clare Remembers by Enya (Watermark). This was very interesting. The Arcam put my head inside the piano and the amount of detail in the sound was just astonishing and rivetting. The Audiolab was a little more laid back and relaxed by comparison, like I was next to the piano. That trademark Arcam slight forwardness again.
Next I decided to explore the bass. I chose Doctor by Orbital (The Altogether). This track starts with some licks on a deep bass guitar (I assume that's what it is). On the Audiolab you can certainly tell that it's a string instrument and not some synthesised creation because you can clearly hear the musician's finger moving on the string. I'd never noticed this before until today (never heard it before on headphones) but the level of detail and articulation from the Audiolab here is quite amazing. The Arcam didn't quite match it. It wasn't entirely clear that this was a finger moving on a string. It just might have been but you couldn't be sure. If I hadn't heard it on the Audiolab I would never have know it was a real string.
So the Arcam is astonishingly good for £150 but not a giant killer.
Or is it? Yes, I'm afraid there's more... :D
The playing field wasn't quite level you see. The Audiolab was still benefitting from the galvanic isolator and also from Kimber USB. The Arcam was using the USB cable that came with it. I moved the isolator to the Arcam but couldn't hear any immediate change in the sound. Then I substituted one of my other Kimber USBs for the supplied cable and played Doctor again. At this point someone really should have been here with a camera. The look on my face must have been a study! :doh:
WARNING: All foo non-believers look away now. You're not going to like this :lol:
Suddenly, the bass was deeper, stronger, more articulate and more detailed. Suddenly that lick sounded like a finger on a string. I quickly went back through some of the other tracks I had played and yes, the new found bass dexterity was there to be heard in all of them. Ho hum. Perhaps this Arcam is a giant killer after all.
There is still one area where the Audiolab shows clear superiority though and that is transient attack. Snare hits and other percussive sounds are definitely a bit sharper and better defined and with a little more impact on the Audiolab (damn! I was hoping to be able to sell it :() If you had never heard the Audiolab (CDQ or MDAC) then you would likely not realise there was anything more to be desired here. I guess Mr Westlake's Optimal Transient filter really is the state of the art in digital filtering right now (in this price class at least).
To sum up, the Arcam rPAC sounds far better than you might expect for its humble price. No excuses need be made for any part of its performance. All of the price comparable competition should be worried and so should quite a few higher up. The rPAC definitely puts the final nail in the coffin of adaptive USB DACs. When sound quality like this can be had from digital at this price , asynchronous USB is clearly the way to go. Oh, and budget CD players are rendered completely obsolete. Only something of the order of the Audiolab 8200CDQ will outplay it.
Never mind What*Hifi and their 5 stars, the rPAC has the technobear seal of approval http://www.technobear.btinternet.co.uk/emoticons/thumbup.gif Nice one Arcam ;)
Before I start, this is one bear's opinion so don't flame me too much if you don't like what you're about to read :ner:
A few days ago I bought an Arcam rPAC. This is an asynchronous USB DAC with a headphone amp and line out. Initial listening was done with the supplied USB cable and with the Audio Technica ATH-M50's as the Beyerdynamic T1's only have a big jack and I didn't have an adaptor for the Arcam's small jack socket. My first impression was 'bloody hell' :eek:
This Arcam sounds very good with the M50's. Very very good. So good that it blows my old NuForce uDAC-2 into the weeds and then stomps all over it for good measure. There was clearly no lack of current for driving low impedance 'phones (note though that the M50's are very sensitive). Without doing any comparisons to the Audiolab, my first impressions then were very good and I spent an enjoyable two evenings roaming my music collection and enjoying it enormously http://www.technobear.btinternet.co.uk/emoticons/phones_banging.gif
Interestingly I never once though about run-in. The rPAC sounds great from the get go and doesn't seem to have changed much if at all after a couple of days use.
I did have one small problem. I couldn't get the rPAC and/or foobar to play without occasionally freezing using Kernel Streaming. The Audiolab is quite happy with Kernel Streaming so this is odd :scratch: However, I switched to ASIO4ALL and the rPAC/foobar plays perfectly with that.
Today, the adaptor arrived. Time for the 600 ohm Beyerdynamic T1's. Would the rPAC even drive them? :eyebrows:
A word about setup at this point. As noted I'm using ASIO4ALL to drive the rPAC. I decided to use Kernel Streaming to drive the Audiolab only because this makes it much easier to switch between the two in foobar. I hope that doesn't significantly affect the playing field but I haven't done exhaustive tests to find out.
So to the T1's. Happily the Arcam does drive them and very well too. There's certainly no shortage of volume even though they are 600 ohm and a fair bit less sensitive than the M50's. Time to compare with the Audiolab 8200CDQ...
To begin with it was a little hard to spot the differences but after a little while they became clear. On Stormy Monday by Eva Cassidy (Live At Blues Alley), Ms Cassidy's voice was a little more forward on the Arcam. This had the effect of making it slightly harder to follow other strands in the music as the voice tended to dominate a little. The bass line was a little indistinct on the rPAC and was easier to follow on the Audiolab.
I decided to explore the mids a bit more by playing some piano, Miss Clare Remembers by Enya (Watermark). This was very interesting. The Arcam put my head inside the piano and the amount of detail in the sound was just astonishing and rivetting. The Audiolab was a little more laid back and relaxed by comparison, like I was next to the piano. That trademark Arcam slight forwardness again.
Next I decided to explore the bass. I chose Doctor by Orbital (The Altogether). This track starts with some licks on a deep bass guitar (I assume that's what it is). On the Audiolab you can certainly tell that it's a string instrument and not some synthesised creation because you can clearly hear the musician's finger moving on the string. I'd never noticed this before until today (never heard it before on headphones) but the level of detail and articulation from the Audiolab here is quite amazing. The Arcam didn't quite match it. It wasn't entirely clear that this was a finger moving on a string. It just might have been but you couldn't be sure. If I hadn't heard it on the Audiolab I would never have know it was a real string.
So the Arcam is astonishingly good for £150 but not a giant killer.
Or is it? Yes, I'm afraid there's more... :D
The playing field wasn't quite level you see. The Audiolab was still benefitting from the galvanic isolator and also from Kimber USB. The Arcam was using the USB cable that came with it. I moved the isolator to the Arcam but couldn't hear any immediate change in the sound. Then I substituted one of my other Kimber USBs for the supplied cable and played Doctor again. At this point someone really should have been here with a camera. The look on my face must have been a study! :doh:
WARNING: All foo non-believers look away now. You're not going to like this :lol:
Suddenly, the bass was deeper, stronger, more articulate and more detailed. Suddenly that lick sounded like a finger on a string. I quickly went back through some of the other tracks I had played and yes, the new found bass dexterity was there to be heard in all of them. Ho hum. Perhaps this Arcam is a giant killer after all.
There is still one area where the Audiolab shows clear superiority though and that is transient attack. Snare hits and other percussive sounds are definitely a bit sharper and better defined and with a little more impact on the Audiolab (damn! I was hoping to be able to sell it :() If you had never heard the Audiolab (CDQ or MDAC) then you would likely not realise there was anything more to be desired here. I guess Mr Westlake's Optimal Transient filter really is the state of the art in digital filtering right now (in this price class at least).
To sum up, the Arcam rPAC sounds far better than you might expect for its humble price. No excuses need be made for any part of its performance. All of the price comparable competition should be worried and so should quite a few higher up. The rPAC definitely puts the final nail in the coffin of adaptive USB DACs. When sound quality like this can be had from digital at this price , asynchronous USB is clearly the way to go. Oh, and budget CD players are rendered completely obsolete. Only something of the order of the Audiolab 8200CDQ will outplay it.
Never mind What*Hifi and their 5 stars, the rPAC has the technobear seal of approval http://www.technobear.btinternet.co.uk/emoticons/thumbup.gif Nice one Arcam ;)