ARCAM rDAC USB DAC
"Never judge a book by its cover." Don't you hate it when they say that? Surely you can judge a book by its cover. I mean-look at it! This little dac couldn't be much. Or could it?
This smoothly finished USB DAC is pretty comprehensively equipped: USB interface, coaxial and optical s/pdif. You can flip through the inputs with an elegant little switch on top. The housing by the way, is made from cast aluminium! This was a surprise for me as I expected it to be made enirely form plastic. Turns out that only the bottom is made from a rubbery plastic which is all the better because it will help prevent the little dac from sliding from its position when it is connected to heavy cables. Wireless transmission is optional by means of an antenna and a USB-stick type transmitter. For USB transfer it uses dCS asynchronous USB technology.
Listening
The little Arcam was listened to after having extensively compared the Ayre QB-9 to a variety of other computer audio playback solutions. And to be honest, I wasn't having very high hopes for it. I mean, 429 euro's, a tiny appearance and just as tiny power supply. For sure this dac wouldn't sound full. Boy how wrong I was! After having listened to the Ayre for almost a week, I connected up the little Arcam to my usual Transparent Ultra XL XLR interlinks, via two positively HUGE Cardas cinch/XLR adapters and swapped the Transparent USB cable from Ayre to Arcam. The source of choice was my full size PC running Windows XP SP3. Please see this overview for a comparison of Mac versus PC using a collection of music playbackl applications and add-ons, using both USB and s/pdif data transfer. All this time the Arcam had been sipping juice from the wall outlet so it it was surely well warmed-up. I placed it on top of the Spider rack, straight onto the struds, for the Arcam is so light that it wanders off if I try to place it onto Ceraballs. The adapters and cable assembly looks overwhelming and perhaps over the top but listening testst have concluded that these costly adapters really do sound very good. In fact, they sound like they're not there. No thinning of sound. No added glare. No loss of bass power here. So what did I hear?
From the first notes it was clear that this was one smooth operator. You just want to turn up the volume. And some more. Yeahhh. Smooth, full, relaxing. Very nice indeed. Okay, it doesn't have the Ayre's transparency, its air, its soundstaging width or depth nor its complete lack of digitallness but still, it is utterly musical. This may well be the most full and smooth sounding USB dac I have heard yet.
Two minutes later I realise something. The Arcam's smoothness does come at a price. Forgive me for throwing yet another comparison your direction, but the rDAC reminds me strongly of listening to the Meridian 506.24 CD player. So super-smooth and free from glare that you just want to keep raising the volume. But this is not only a good sign. Just like the Meridian, the Arcam can be a little restrained dynamically and it lacks a bit of drive and projection in the upper bass and midfrequencies. In other words: it is not as lively or make that live-sounding as some other dacs. But understand me correctly here: these other dacs cost multitudes of the little Arcam's entry price. In the pricerange where the Arcam operates, there is currently nothing else (that I've heard) that sounds this full and so free from digital harshness. it is just very enjoyable. Even after listening to the Ayre, or my resident Levinson, for that matter. These machines cost 10-20 times what the Arcam costs and that does make you think. The Ayre and Levinson DAC are a lot better, for sure. But 20 times better? I'll leave this conclusion up to you!
Christiaan Punter
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a tiny usb dac with a beautiful aluminium jacket and a lot of soul
So you said that it also has s/pdif inputs?
I also tried the s/pdif coaxial input. I already was told that this way, the dac would not shine so much and simply be okay. Well, using the Hiface USB interface to provide a clean s/pdif output to connect a Wireworld Gold Starlight III digital coaxial cable, I have to disagree. Connected this way, the Arcam managed to sound tighter and livelier than when using its USB input. But it also takes some of its easy going nature, making the sound a little more PC-like. Still, this is very much a taste thing and I can imagine that some people may prefer it this way. Incidentally, the EVO provides a very stable s/pdif output and is a lively performer. Results may be less stellar when you use a mediocre source.
So, I dug out an older entry level Marantz CD4000 and connected its coaxial output via the Wireworld to the Arcam rDAC. The result was frankly disappointing. It sounded thin and flat and, well, a bit boring. In fact, I find the Marantz sounds better using its own analog outputs.
In order to see what could be achieved with a much better transport, I took out my Levinson 390S CD player and connected its digital output. Mmmm. Yes, I mean no. This wasn't good either. Sure, it sounded fuller and more classy than with the Marantz CD4000 but still, the sound was merely okay. Compared to what the rDAC is capable of using USB, it had now lost all of its glow, fulness and naturalness. So, there may be something to the earlier statement about the s/pdif input after all. But I don't totally agree as evidenced with the EVO USB interface. It seems that as long as the clock is very stable and perhaps the source is a little on the lively side, you can achieve a very good tonal balance if not the total absence of a digital signature. By not using the USB inputs the sound will just not be as amazingly free-flowing as it can be. Maybe the dCS asynchronous USB technology has got something to do with this?
Conclusion
Very, very enjoyable little dac with incredibly smooth sound. Never harsh or thin. As long as you use the USB input as the s/pdif input seems to be too dependent on the input signal and, at best, still sounds more digital than the USB input. But there are limits to what you can achieve for 440 euro. With the rDAC though, I'm sure that the limit has just been raised.
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