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Has anyone out there got an Arcam AirDac yet. I purchased one and have tried connecting it to my Beolab 5's, using the digital out. The lights show that it is working and that the Airplay is connected, but I'm not getting any sound from the speakers. Anyone have any suggestions?
Is the airplay generally working on your network?
my router had a feature activated called AP Isolation. the Airport devices would show up and I could connect but nothing would play.. It blocks essentially all network between the devices on the network,
if airplay is generally working on your network that's not it
Cheers
JK
I figured out what I was doing wrong, so all is well!! The Arcam Airdac sounds fantastic, if anyone is interested.
Just curious - could you please share what was wrong?
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
yes please share what was wrong!
also, does this have noticeably better quality over a plain Apple TV or Airport Express?
And how have you hooked it up to your BeoLab 5's, making it trigger them on automatically?
Thanks
I was previously using B & O equipment, so when I did the new set up, I forgot that I actually had to turn the speakers on for them to work. So pretty simple fix and all is working fine now.
I have my Beolab 5's connected directly to the AirDac using the digital out and I am playing music through Spotify using my iPad. The quality is exceptional. Not sure how it would compare to playing over Apple TV or Airport Express as I have not had experience with that, but I can tell you that the sound quality is definitely far better than using a Playmaker.
Now that is interesting! (the comparison with Playmaker)
I would have thought the Playmaker would have had B&O quality DAC integrated?
Tell me, when connected via Digital Out on the AirDac, are you not bypassing the internal DAC of the AirDac and using the internal DAC on the BeoLab 5's?
This is what makes me think such:
We started with the company's $249 rBlink Bluetooth streamer, which has a built-in DAC that can be bypassed (via a coaxial digital output) if so desired.
Link: http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php/company-tours/arcam-september-18-19-2013/425-arcam-s-superb-streamers-and-dacs
Can someone explain to me, or point me in the right direction, as to what exactly this device does and how it benefits the sound quality, as opposed to something like the Playmaker.
That's right the DAC in the AirDAC isn't used. It only seem to be used for AirPplay.
An AirPlay base station has a digital output as well, so I suppose the sound would be just as good.
Beoworld app with direct photo upload and emoticons.
AirPlay is AirPlay - if you use the dig-out, every AirPlay device does the same.
If you want to compare the AirDAC with the Playmaker, you would have to use the analog-out's of both devices, since the Playmaker has no dig-out.
well now i'm confused even more :D "It only seems to be used for AirPlay"?
Is the AirDac in this setup (connected to BeoLab 5's) via Digital Out (AirDac) --> Digital In (BeoLab 5) using it's internal DAC, or simply passing digital signal to the BeoLab 5's to process with its internal DAC?
I thought this is what's happening:
iPhone/iPad/iPod/iTunes Audio ------ [digital over WiFi/AirPlay] -----> AirDac ------digital [over Digital Out Cable SPDIF] ----> BeoLab 5.
BeoLab 5 uses internal DAC to convert this digital signal to analogue to play over the speakers.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong so I can understand the point of the AirDac here in this setup, other than an AirPlay receiver.
The same could be achieved with an Airport Express via Digital TOSLINK out to the BeoLab 5's?
@ari - it is just an AirPlay receiver.
The internal DAC is not used.
Thanks for clearing that up.
Seems like an expensive AirPlay receiver when used in this setup :) Airport express also has digital out and is less than fifth of the price :D
That's right!
But you can connect two digital sources to it in addition to the AirPlay function.
"The airDAC uses an automatic input selection determined by which source is playing.
The order of priority (from first to last) is AirPlay, Coaxial and finally Optical."
If you need that (e.g. for a good CD player), it can make sense to spend the extra money.
I see now!