The Black Adder
09-05-2015, 12:55
The IQAudio DAC+
Just thought I'd do a simple review of this DAC for you. I've now had it in my system for a couple of days now so here is my experience so far.
Setup:
I had recieved the Pi board with the SD card and PSU before I recieved the DAC+. So after I flashed the card with the Volumio image and plugged it in.
The setup with the IP address (via Ethernet cable first) with no hassle. My Router is a cheap one too and not very highly regarded.
Once that was done I entered Volumio via my web browser. Volumio popped up fine. I then plugged my music HDD in to the Pi and off it went updating.
The Wifi connection was next. With the Ethernet still connected I plugged the dongle in to the Pi and entered the network section of Volumio. I set it up with the password etc and rebooted it. It did take a little while to see the router but it eventually did.
With the Ethernet cable now disconnected I could now control the Pi perfectly. On my Windows 7 laptop though I had to install Bonjour to get past the firewall.
When the DAC+ arrived there was only a couple of things to setup in Volumio at first. Namely setting Volumio to work with the IQAudio Dac+.
Audio quality of the IQAudio DAC+
From out of the box with the Pi the dac fitted together in the IQAudio case very well. Although there was a small snap-off tag left on the PCB which hindered the fitment to the Pi a little but it squeezed in fine. The standoffs fitted fine too and made both boards nice and rigid.
Sound wise. With an A/B comparison to a TEAC D700 (with twin TDA 1541A S1 chips) it's a much more natural sound. The image is superb with no real overly hot areas in the sound, it's very much a tamed down sort of sound that doesn't lose it's drive. A very well separated sound which is very much like vinyl.
The IQAudio Dac has a much smoother sound that gels the sound stage together very nicely. It's also much easier to hear the most minuscule of detail of the high frequency that other dacs seem to brush over. A much more refined and detailed sound.
Regarding mids. These are much smoother, less shouty and presented in the image like a perfectly finished jig-saw. With that the sound stage seems much more coherent and understandable. The stage isn't wider but much easier to see.
Now the bass. The TDA1541 DAC is a lovely dac and for bass it's one of the best even today but only if it's designed and implemented correctly. The IQAudio DAC+ presents the same weight of bass but with less flab... that might sound funny to you but it's true. It's again much more coherent and focused which makes it more tuneful and easy to follow.
In all I'm very happy with the IQAudio DAC+ and it's a keeper.
Notes to other potential converts:
This needs some quality time to set up. There are lot's of information out there to guide you through.
I used this guide: http://theaudiostandard.net/thread/1241/build-raspberry-based-audio-streamer (Thanks guys)
I was glad that I set my Pi up before the board arrived actually... it gave me some quality time to get the network sorted beforehand so I'd recommend that. Makes things much easier as impatience can get the better of some.
You will need to download Putty if your using windows.
Once you set it up there are other small tweeks to do in Volumio and in Alsamixer.
Once your set up and running you can explore better PSU's and fiddle with cables to your heart's content.
Don't rush... it's not a plug n play thing. If you get stuck then just ask for guidance. It will be worth it.
Just thought I'd do a simple review of this DAC for you. I've now had it in my system for a couple of days now so here is my experience so far.
Setup:
I had recieved the Pi board with the SD card and PSU before I recieved the DAC+. So after I flashed the card with the Volumio image and plugged it in.
The setup with the IP address (via Ethernet cable first) with no hassle. My Router is a cheap one too and not very highly regarded.
Once that was done I entered Volumio via my web browser. Volumio popped up fine. I then plugged my music HDD in to the Pi and off it went updating.
The Wifi connection was next. With the Ethernet still connected I plugged the dongle in to the Pi and entered the network section of Volumio. I set it up with the password etc and rebooted it. It did take a little while to see the router but it eventually did.
With the Ethernet cable now disconnected I could now control the Pi perfectly. On my Windows 7 laptop though I had to install Bonjour to get past the firewall.
When the DAC+ arrived there was only a couple of things to setup in Volumio at first. Namely setting Volumio to work with the IQAudio Dac+.
Audio quality of the IQAudio DAC+
From out of the box with the Pi the dac fitted together in the IQAudio case very well. Although there was a small snap-off tag left on the PCB which hindered the fitment to the Pi a little but it squeezed in fine. The standoffs fitted fine too and made both boards nice and rigid.
Sound wise. With an A/B comparison to a TEAC D700 (with twin TDA 1541A S1 chips) it's a much more natural sound. The image is superb with no real overly hot areas in the sound, it's very much a tamed down sort of sound that doesn't lose it's drive. A very well separated sound which is very much like vinyl.
The IQAudio Dac has a much smoother sound that gels the sound stage together very nicely. It's also much easier to hear the most minuscule of detail of the high frequency that other dacs seem to brush over. A much more refined and detailed sound.
Regarding mids. These are much smoother, less shouty and presented in the image like a perfectly finished jig-saw. With that the sound stage seems much more coherent and understandable. The stage isn't wider but much easier to see.
Now the bass. The TDA1541 DAC is a lovely dac and for bass it's one of the best even today but only if it's designed and implemented correctly. The IQAudio DAC+ presents the same weight of bass but with less flab... that might sound funny to you but it's true. It's again much more coherent and focused which makes it more tuneful and easy to follow.
In all I'm very happy with the IQAudio DAC+ and it's a keeper.
Notes to other potential converts:
This needs some quality time to set up. There are lot's of information out there to guide you through.
I used this guide: http://theaudiostandard.net/thread/1241/build-raspberry-based-audio-streamer (Thanks guys)
I was glad that I set my Pi up before the board arrived actually... it gave me some quality time to get the network sorted beforehand so I'd recommend that. Makes things much easier as impatience can get the better of some.
You will need to download Putty if your using windows.
Once you set it up there are other small tweeks to do in Volumio and in Alsamixer.
Once your set up and running you can explore better PSU's and fiddle with cables to your heart's content.
Don't rush... it's not a plug n play thing. If you get stuck then just ask for guidance. It will be worth it.