New Rega DAC

The toslink output is shared with the headphone output, from what I've read. insert the mini toslink end into the headphone jack, and you should be good to go.

I haven't used a mini toslink, so no opinions from me. I use a full sized glass toslink cable - Sonicwave - that I bought on Amazon for about $25 shipped. Excellent cable IMO.

Great DAC BTW. I'm loving mine. As good as the Apollo is, and it's certianly deserving of all the great press it got, the DAC is far better for the same price.

I'm waiting too!

I've had one for about a week now. Best way to describe the sound is that it sounds like a very good turntable. A touch warm and smooth, but not artificially so. Everything my Apollo did, the DAC more than one-ups.

And it's solidly built. I'd say it's on par with my Bryston B60 in this regard.

Lang 76 -

I also had an Apollo, and the DAC is far better. I didn't have them at the same time, but I lived with the Apollo for about 4 years, and got rid of it about 3 months ago.

I run an Apple TV gen 1 into the DAC. The ATV reportedly has a good amount of jitter, but the Rega DAC uses proprietary re-clocking.

Lang76 -

I'd imagine it would sound great. I don't have an AE, so I can't say for sure. All I can say is that my ATV1 and Rega DAC sound far better than my Apollo did.

I have the first one my dealer got. We opened the box and compared it to a few things and used it with a couple of transports and inputs without any warm up/break in to make sure everything was working and get a rough idea what it sounds like. We didn't try USB.

We couldn't hear any differences between transports and inputs. It was cold, so it sounded not as full and rich as it does now, but it definitely competed with what was at the shop. I have to swing by that shop within the next few days for something else, and I'll try to hear their's compared to the others for my own sake. Their DAC should be fully run in by now, so comparisons will be fair. I'll report what I hear. The other DACs at the time were the Naim DAC, Naim UnitiQute (as a DAC and as a whole unit), and Arcam rDAC.

I haven't heard the ATV 2, so don't base your opinions on what I said. One or two people said the ATV 2 sounds better, while others have said the ATV 1 is better. Not that I've counted them, but more have said the ATV 1 sounds better, if that helps. Same as everything else in this hobby, I'm afraid.

I can only report what I hear - My ATV1 sounds better with music stored to it's hard drive than when it's streamed. Not a huge night and day difference, but definitely better.

I've stuck with the ATV 1 because of the hard drive. I don't want to have to turn the computer on just to listen to music, and I don't want to deal with streaming issues like dropouts and interference. Everyone's priorities are different.

The ATV 1 is still on Amazon for $150. The ATV 2 is available for $99 at Apple stores. Maybe buy both and compare at home? Make sure you can get a full refund though.

What I can definitively tell you is that my ATV 1 and Rega DAC sound fantastic in my room. If you like the Apollo, I'd bet a lot of money that you'd love the Rega DAC.

Lang 76 -

When you synch all your music to the ATV, use the ethernet connection over the wireless. Far faster. Not that it's fast by any means, but once the stuff is on there, you're all set.

Rbc -

The whole thread is about our findings on the Rega DAC, and mine are about the ATV 1 and Rega DAC. Regardless of our findings, go hear it for yourself. No one's ears and preferences are the same.

I'm loving mine too. Rega just knows how to get the music right. People can say what they want about the ATV, but I've got nothing but praise for it's ease of use and great sound using it's digital output. Can't see why people waste their time with the Wadia iTransport.

What's the issue as far as grip? Are your interconnect cables coming loose easily, or are the RCA jacks wobbly?

I don't have any issues with mine. I didn't throughly inspect them, but had no reason to. If it helps, I used Audioquest King Cobras, which seemed a bit loose on everything (no more loose on the Rega), and now use Kimber Heros with locking RCAs.

The RCAs are standard RCAs as far as I know. Nothing special about them, and nothing inferior either. They look like any other RCA jack I've seen on gear.

Not to open a can of worms, but I doubt the high grade RCA jacks do anything more than look pretty anyway.