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Help with fatiguing sound in my PC system

I replaced my Halo Pre and Denon changer with a PS Audio DL III. I run lossless music into it from iTunes on a PC (Windows 7 64bit, core i7, 16MB RAM), I use a Pangea USB cable into a MF V-link, then go into the DAC with a Wireworld ultraviolet coax. The increased detail, clarity, resolution and extension are remarkable, but so is the amount of listening fatigue. The highs are too much, but the music sounds muffled if I add the pre-amp back. My system is profiled in the link below. I have some ideas, let the voting begin:
1 - buy an offramp or a pacecar (can't afford it!)
2 - use better USB/coax/interconnects/speaker cable
3 - apply acoustic treatments to the room
4 - use a software player (Jplay) that sits on top of iTunes
5 - buy speakers with different tweeters (Quad 22L2/Focal 826v, this is happening, but not any time soon)
6 - get a better amp (McCormack/Odyssey, distant future)
7 - tweak Windows 7/iTunes settings (WASAPI exclusive mode?!?)
8 - adjust speaker position/toe in (already did this and it helped a little)
I am thinking about trying #3/#7 next. Ideas? Thnx in advance.
realremo
realremo OP
460 posts
 
I bought the DL III because of the sonic character described in pretty much all of the reviews - warm, big soundstage, with a very good handle on low end frequencies. The improvement in SQ after running the signal from my Denon changer into the DAC was noticeable, there was no listener fatigue. But leaving the changer and the pre amp completely out of the signal chain blew that improvement out of the water, yet produced listener fatigue. The pre must have been rolling off the highs somehow. Looks like my search is not over! I might sell the Halo to fund a USB converter upgrade...
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Although I have read reviews of the DLIII, I can't recall any mentioning the USB input. My listening experiments revealed much better results with either the coax or toslink input vs the USB. Can't say it was fatiguing as I didn't listen long for fatigue to set in. Now that I have it all sorted out, I like the dac very much.
realremo OP
460 posts
 
I found the USB from laptop directly to the DL III to be disappointing. Adding the Vlink improved it quite a bit. I'm ordering some room treatments and I am playing around with Foobar/Jriver/Jplay. I'll get it there, eventually.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,295 posts
 
Have you tried any different ICs just to see what effect they might have? Not familiar with your but ICs are one way to solve this kind of thing sometimes. IF you think your ICs might be on teh bright side and a contributor, try a pair of inexpensive used networked ICs like MIT terminator. These are the ones I know of specifically that lean more towards a fuller low end in their spectral balance.
realremo OP
460 posts
 
Thanks Mapman, I will try that if the acoustic deadening I plan to do in the room doesn't help. I have always wanted to dampen my listening room, There are way too many hard surfaces.
Also considering a purchase of Jplay, the SQ improvement cannot be ignored. I don't know if I can go back to iTunes, even using WASAPI, iTunes cannot compete with the improvement Jplay makes.
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