[Jan Meier]

Dear headfellows,
 
 
Just an observation:
 
While setting up a netbook with WIN7 I was not able to install the drivers for the DACCORD. The setup-programm failed everytime I tried.
 
The solution: Deactivation of the antivirus programm (Avast free Antivirus).
 
 
Another observation that may help people to cure their dropouts:
 
Running a DACCORD on this new system occasionaly caused a dropout while runnning 192/24 files. Again the solution was to deactivate the antivirus programm.
 
 
The netbook is a (slow) ACER One Aspire D270 with SSD.
 
 
Extra note: People may experiment with increasing the priority of their audio-player in the task-manager!
 
 
Cheers
 
Jan

 

[Randomlogic]

Just wanted to feedback to anyone looking for a great DAC to seriously consider the daccord. I had it for nearly two years now and havent found anything for close to the money that matches it.
 
On top of that the personal customer service you get from Jan is well and truly the best I have ever seen. Any questions or issues are responded to within hours.
 
Highly recommended!

 

[punit]

I did a side by side comparison of the  Daccord & Daccorf FF (I have the Daccord & my friend got his upgraded to FF). I was playing the same music simultaneously on both the DAC's through SPIDF which were connected to my Cavalli Liquid Glass (which has 2 inputs), listening was with HD 800. This allowed me to do split second switching. IMO the FF has bit more treble air / extension, This gives it a bit more sound stage.To my ears this was not very readily apparent, I had to switch back & forth a quite few times before I came to the above conclusion.  YMMV.

 

[rasmushorn]

  I did a side by side comparison of the  Daccord & Daccorf FF (I have the Daccord & my friend got his upgraded to FF). I was playing the same music simultaneously on both the DAC's through SPIDF which were connected to my Cavalli Liquid Glass (which has 2 inputs), listening was with HD 800. This allowed me to do split second switching. IMO the FF has bit more treble air / extension, This gives it a bit more sound stage.To my ears this was not very readily apparent, I had to switch back & forth a quite few times before I came to the above conclusion.  YMMV.

Thanks for sharing this! It is not often you have a chance to listen to both versions at the same time.
Also as Jan says, the difference in the output stage in the Daccord is less audible than the differences in the amplifiers are when upgrading to the ff-versions. But still that little difference helps adding that little extra air and once you get used to it I am sure you will miss it if you go back. 

 

[Allanmarcus]

I find that after I put my Mac to sleep, then wake it, I have to unplug the DACCord's USB, then plug it in a again to get the DACCord to play. The Mac sees the DACCord, but nothing plays until I reset the connection by unplugging the USB and then plugging it back in. Anyone else see this? Is there a firmware upgrade, maybe, for the DACCord?

 

[wantan]

Same for me on a windows system.
 
I'm using a tablet with windows 8 and foobar direct sound. When the tablet goes into sleep mode (energy saving) a few seconds later the Daccord's "sampling rate indicator" LEDs turn off. When I wake the tablet up the Daccord doesn't come back. I need to either plug the USB off and on or restart the computer to get a connection to the Daccord.
 
My Schiit Bifrost Uber and the Yulong DAC are back automatically after going out of sleep mode. It's just the daccord showing this behaviour.
 
Doe's anybody esle experience the same? Any solutions? I'd love to get this working, it's a great DAC.

 

[plakat]

I find that after I put my Mac to sleep, then wake it, I have to unplug the DACCord's USB, then plug it in a again to get the DACCord to play. The Mac sees the DACCord, but nothing plays until I reset the connection by unplugging the USB and then plugging it back in. Anyone else see this? Is there a firmware upgrade, maybe, for the DACCord?

I did notice that as well, but did not recheck after the last update to El Capitan... Using other DACs at the moment.

 

[Okkultus]

  Same for me on a windows system.
 
I'm using a tablet with windows 8 and foobar direct sound. When the tablet goes into sleep mode (energy saving) a few seconds later the Daccord's "sampling rate indicator" LEDs turn off. When I wake the tablet up the Daccord doesn't come back. I need to either plug the USB off and on or restart the computer to get a connection to the Daccord.
 
My Schiit Bifrost Uber and the Yulong DAC are back automatically after going out of sleep mode. It's just the daccord showing this behaviour.
 
Doe's anybody esle experience the same? Any solutions? I'd love to get this working, it's a great DAC.

I also have a similar problem on my Win 7 PC, sometimes it just disconnects itself or something, and then I have to unplug the USB cable and plug it back again. And I don't use sleep mode, so in my case it's unrelated to that.

 

[wantan]

Here's what I found out...
 
The DACCORDs USB receiver needs USB power to work. If the USB port cuts the power the DACCORD is loosing the connection. To reestablish the connection you can restart the computer or simply unplug the cable.
One way that helps with windows and foobar is using WASAPI output and disabling the computers energy saving controlls for the USB port in the hardware manager and in the energy resources menu.

 

[Allanmarcus]

  Here's what I found out...
 
The DACCORDs USB receiver needs USB power to work. If the USB port cuts the power the DACCORD is loosing the connection. To reestablish the connection you can restart the computer or simply unplug the cable.
One way that helps with windows and foobar is using WASAPI output and disabling the computers energy saving controlls for the USB port in the hardware manager and in the energy resources menu.

The big question is why does this happen with the DACCord, but not with any (or most) other DACs? I have two other DACs and this doesn't happen with them. 

 

[Jan Meier]

Dear headfellows,
 
"why does this happen with the DACCord"
 
With most DACs the USB-receiver-chip is powered by the internal supply of the DAC.
 
With the DACCORD however, this chip is completely powered by the USB-power.
 
The big advantage is, that the circuitry of the USB-input can be completely isolated (electronically) from the DA-circuitry. Pollution coming from the PC thus is rejected.
 
Cheers
 
Jan

 

[Allanmarcus]

  Dear headfellows,
 
"why does this happen with the DACCord"
 
With most DACs the USB-receiver-chip is powered by the internal supply of the DAC.
 
With the DACCORD however, this chip is completely powered by the USB-power.
 
The big advantage is, that the circuitry of the USB-input can be completely isolated (electronically) from the DA-circuitry. Pollution coming from the PC thus is rejected.
 
Cheers
 
Jan

Thanks for the explanation, but it seems counterintuitive. Seems that one would want the USB chip on the DAC powered by the DAC's power, not the USB power.

 

[Allanmarcus]

I have to admit that I'm getting pretty annoyed by having to unplug and plug in the USB cable everyday. This cannot be how the DAC was designed to be used. There has to be a solution. I like having the Corda stack, but not if I have to do the USB plug thing daily, or sometimes more than once a day. Any ideas on how to use USB with this DAC and not have to unplug/plug-in the cable so often?

 

[SunTanScanMan]

 
I have to admit that I'm getting pretty annoyed by having to unplug and plug in the USB cable everyday. This cannot be how the DAC was designed to be used. There has to be a solution. I like having the Corda stack, but not if I have to do the USB plug thing daily, or sometimes more than once a day. Any ideas on how to use USB with this DAC and not have to unplug/plug-in the cable so often?

 
Purely hypothetically, would adding a powered USB hub between your Mac and the daccord work?
There may be more 'noise' added, but the question is how audible that will be - this I don't know. I would assume that the Mac will recognise the dac once it wakes, but again unsure.

Assuming that the above is not utter nonsense, it may be worth experimenting?

 

[raceturtle]

Quoting my post from the "Moon 230HAD" thread.
 

Decided to use one device for both DAC and headphone amplifier functionality instead of using Meier DACCORD and Musical-fidelity V90-HPA so I bought the Moon 230HAD. I also thought it will improve the overall sonic quality of my system.
 
Meier DACCORD build quality is not in the level of 230HAD but, for my ear, DACCORD sonic quality is better.
 
DACCORD sounds like it produce more depth (more body/life). 230HAD, compared, sounds cleaner/controlled but like it has gone through a noise canceling device. The first thing I notice was that voices on 230HAD sounds flat, and trumpet on DACCORD sounds bigger like they "occupy more space".
 
With DACCORD it was easier, for me, to get carried away by the music.
 
Note that this is my first post so I don't really know whether I'm using the right terms.
 
AKG K712 was used during the test and 230HAD was burned-in in more then 300 hours.
 
I think that the sound of DACCORD=>230HAD=>k712 was a little bassy but I believe that the K712 slightly emphasize the bass range.
 
I also considered the possibility that DACCORD adds noise/feedback which produce the illusion of depth but I don't have the required reference in order to test the theory (I did notice that crossfeed intensify the illusion of depth).