Accuphase dac 60

It’s your decision obviously, but I would give it more time and accumulate hours. Admittedly I do not own Accuphase , but from what I know of their history/track record this seems a very atypical experience. Their digital sound quality is consistently admired. But I understand, the final decision is yours.

Charles

@duketbrd88

you need to adjust volume of the internal accuphase dac card to be the same as the external ps audio dlink dac -- that difference will entirely screw up any proper comparison of sound

assuming that dac card from accuphase is working properly, it simply has a lower output through the amplifier section than the d-link (or said differently, the d-link has higher fixed output voltage it is sending to the accuphase input) which is accounting for the volume discrepancy -- that same volume discrepancy is also making it sound like the sub is hardly working

think of the problem as a less powerful car having a much more sensitive gas pedal, its not more powerful, it just gives you most of what it has in the first inch of gas pedal travel - you just need to compensate for that to compare the sound properly

the fact that the accuphase volume knob needs to be set higher for the internal dac compared to the external one does NOT mean the louder one sounds better!

Jjss49, sounds exactly correct. I have to turn the accuphase up about 12db on the volume to sound about the same. There is also a comp button that boosts it closer to the output to very close to the ps audio dac.

it sounds good when cranked up louder, but just normal low listening levels, sounds totally different. The ps audio sounds full throughout the whole volume range, even pretty low listening levels. It’s just seems odd.

@duketbrd88

you need to adjust volume of the internal accuphase dac card to be the same as the external ps audio dlink dac -- that difference will entirely screw up any proper comparison of sound

assuming that dac card from accuphase is working properly, it simply has a lower output through the amplifier section than the d-link (or said differently, the d-link has higher fixed output voltage it is sending to the accuphase input) which is accounting for the volume discrepancy -- that same volume discrepancy is also making it sound like the sub is hardly working

think of the problem as a less powerful car having a much more sensitive gas pedal, its not more powerful, it just gives you most of what it has in the first inch of gas pedal travel - you just need to compensate for that to compare the sound properly

the fact that the accuphase volume knob needs to be set higher for the internal dac compared to the external one does NOT mean the louder one sounds better!
 

yes sir, I believe you are correct. Is that how drastic the volume will be with any external dac vs the accuphase dac 60? By sound match, you mean I have to adjust the volume of my e380 accuphase up until it matches the output of the ps audio to compare the two? It a good 12-15db on the volume up to have the dac 60 match. 

@jjss49 

So essentially the Accuphase has a lower analog stage output voltage/gain compared to the P.S. Audio DAC? You’d think that Accuphase would emphasize this important point clearly. 
Charles