Accuphase dac 60

@duketbrd88 , glad to hear a found mechanical problem was the root cause of the lower volume.

A venerable E-450 in the office has seen a few add in DACs DAC30, 40, 50... each one's level matches the amp's gain and each one improves the sound. For the older DACx , I move them into the other option slot to add in a coax or optical input, works well, the major change is the USB input/

Not sure if you have PC for playing, be sure to install the ASIO driver that can be downloaded from the Accuphase site, it has a buffer selector to compensate for those players that don't have a buffer. The install is quite finicky, so it helps to follow the instructions correctly.

Like all Accuphase gear, they very rarely breakdown, if in the future something comes amiss, check the computer first. In one case, the DAC-50 didn't work off the bat, tried another computer and worked fine, both were Windows10 installs. 

If the USB source is powered off, the signal goes through, but nothing plays. In this case stop the player, disconnect the USB and reinsert again. This 99% of the time works when the player is restarted and music starts to play.

@rms456 

thanks, I don’t have streaming setup yet. Was looking into a MacBook. Cheap as possible, just for music. I guess I could look into a windows based laptop. I basically use my iPhone 12pro for everything now.

The only thing I use besides the iPhone is a chrome book. I don’t think I can use that for music.

What are my cheapest options computer wise with a usb? Was thinking about a bluesound node.. idk, just getting into the streaming thing and not sure which direction to go that isn’t a fortune.

I was thinking just a bluesound node and use the bluOS app on my phone to control qobuz?

@duketbrd88 , an iPhone, bluesound is not the choice of source for the DAC60. A laptop is not close either, too much noise in the USB, which needs a lot of clean up hardware, like the ifi micro usb3.

The sound will be shrill, the treble will splash, and bass drum will be like hitting a paper bag if a laptop iPhone or bluesound is used as a source. 

I can't offer any other suggestions, as a media server topic is beyond this thread and I'm still experimenting, there's no silver bullet here for now.

@rms456 

Thanks, I decided to not keep the dac 60. I want to get something with more inputs and xlr outputs. I feel like there is a lot to choose from in the $1,000 to $2,000 price range. Now I don't know what to look at. I see the denafrips pontus ii is pretty popular. IDK and there is a lot on the used market. So any suggestions?