Tiring listening experience since new DAC

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   Hi,

Before getting my Corda StageDAC delivered (and the Wireworld optical cable) I was
using the on-board DAC from my MacBook connected directly to the Graham
Slee Solo through a cheap analog cable. The sound was quite good, not
excellent, but it allowed me to listen to music for long periods of
time without feeling tired (hearing fatigue). OK, I might have touched the EQ settings in iTunes a few times .

Ever since I've threw in the new DAC and cables, the sound is way,
way better, clearer and more powerful, but unfortunately the listening
experience became more tiring. If the volume is set at a non-tiring
volume, it sounds too weak, no true bass and detail. If however I
increase the volume to be able to hear the details, the sound becomes
too tiring for my ears :(
I tried the Corda StageDAC crossfeed filter for headphones, but it
seems not to work well on all types of music, so no real solution here.

Do you think I should use the variable output of the DAC and play
more with the volumes of both DAC and the Slee to find a proper
match?
Thank you very much for your help with this one!
My audio chain looks like this:

ALAC music fed by MacBook (iTunes) -> Wireworld Supernova 6 optical cable -> Corda StageDAC -> Meier RCA-RCA -> Graham Slee Solo MKII -> Sennheiser HD650 (w/ stock cable)

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mihneam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Location: Romania Online Status: Offline Posts: 5	Quote Reply Topic: Tiring listening experience since new DAC Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 12:23pm
	Hi, Before getting my Corda StageDAC delivered (and the Wireworld optical cable) I was using the on-board DAC from my MacBook connected directly to the Graham Slee Solo through a cheap analog cable. The sound was quite good, not excellent, but it allowed me to listen to music for long periods of time without feeling tired (hearing fatigue). OK, I might have touched the EQ settings in iTunes a few times . Ever since I've threw in the new DAC and cables, the sound is way, way better, clearer and more powerful, but unfortunately the listening experience became more tiring. If the volume is set at a non-tiring volume, it sounds too weak, no true bass and detail. If however I increase the volume to be able to hear the details, the sound becomes too tiring for my ears :( I tried the Corda StageDAC crossfeed filter for headphones, but it seems not to work well on all types of music, so no real solution here. Do you think I should use the variable output of the DAC and play more with the volumes of both DAC and the Slee to find a proper match? Thank you very much for your help with this one! My audio chain looks like this: ALAC music fed by MacBook (iTunes) -> Wireworld Supernova 6 optical cable -> Corda StageDAC -> Meier RCA-RCA -> Graham Slee Solo MKII -> Sennheiser HD650 (w/ stock cable)

mrarroyo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 28 Jul 2008 Location: Miami Beach, FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 674	Quote Reply Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 10:20pm
	I always use the DAC at its fixed output (about 2 V/rms) and use the volume of the amp. I would make sure that iTunes is flat. By that I mean you do not have the eq nor the sound enhancer or the soundcheck engaged.
	Miguel

mihneam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Location: Romania Online Status: Offline Posts: 5	Quote Reply Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 7:33am
	This is exactly what Jan Meier (the designer of StageDAC) suggested as well: to use the fixed-level output with iTunes volume at maximum to eliminate distorsions :-) But this is how I got to this fatiguing thing to begin with... I am going to try a comparison test between my former setup (onboard dac/amp from MacBook) and the current one (StageDAC fed through USB) using both inputs on the Slee. I will listen to both setups to see which one is more fatiguing and why.

mrarroyo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 28 Jul 2008 Location: Miami Beach, FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 674	Quote Reply Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 1:43pm
	Do not forget to check the iTunes settings I mentioned above.
	Miguel

mihneam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Location: Romania Online Status: Offline Posts: 5	Quote Reply Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 2:43pm
	This is how I've been using them :-) Thanks!

mihneam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Location: Romania Online Status: Offline Posts: 5	Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2010 at 9:24am
	Last weekend I took some time to experiment a little with all the options on different kinds of music, older and newer recordings. It seems that my fatigue issues were mainly due to 2 things: 1. my being tired (not related to music listening) and 2. the extreme channel separation and sound details brought by the new DAC. No. 1 (don't laugh, I don't mean THAT no. 1 :-)) has nothing to do with audio or equipments. As for no. 2, I have tested both the USB and optical inputs of the DAC and I can firmly say that optical is far more detailed (especially in the highs) than the USB. Thus, USB is less fatiguing. This DAC features a configurable crossfeed filter, and I now agree that using the crossfeed does eliminate the fatiguing, unfortunately at the expense of dynamics: it seems to me that the crossfeed cuts not only the 2K range as explained in the product documentation (and for which there is a compensatory switch provided to boost a bit those frequencies), but it takes away some of the "life" from the music. Well, that's it I guess, I am glad after all to have this crossfeed for days when I am really tired and when my ears cannot tolerate the extreme channel separation present in older (but dear to me) recordings.

firefly0071 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 01 Sep 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 12	Quote Reply Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 10:59am
	From reviews I have read (actually 6moons), the StageDac is better as a headphone DAC than a DAC to floorstanding speakers. However Meier does have a reputation for headphone amps.