Wyred4Sound Dac-2 vs Preamp and separate DAC

I thought I'd follow-up on this thread as I purchased a McIntosh C48 preamp (that also has a supposedly decent DAC) and have run my Wyred4Sound DAC2 through it. I can say from a preamp perspective, if you listen to music at low volume you are better suited to not use the DAC2 as a preamp. [take the following as you may, as this is only my opinion] The DAC2 sounds "distorted" and muddy at very low volume when using it as a preamp. When you get it above 40 all that goes away. When I connected it to my C48 and set the output at fixed rather than variable, everything cleaned up nicely. So far, I can't attest to the DAC in the C48, but the preamp is nice sounding with the Wyred4Sound DAC2. (I've got other gripes about the C48, but that's not the topic of this thread).

Anyone experience similar issues with the DAC2 preamp at low volume?

if the DAC2 gives up anything to a dedicated preamp, it's low level detail. i've been told that the sweet spot for the DAC in variable output mode is 50-55, which depending on the gain of your system, you might never reach. i've been considering adding an in line attenuator between my DAC2 and power amps to get me closer to the optimal range for normal listening, and reduce the digital attenuation for low level listening.

has anyone else tried this?

50-55 too much gain?? I guess I need to play with the impedance taps on my amps as I have the opposite problem. I have some high Rez stuff that I just can't seem to get enough gain from the DAC2.

There is no resolution loss until you go way below 40 on the W4S DAC-2. If you have a problem it's not the dac but something else in your system. First, you need to match levels. My experience is that going direct to amp is far superior on every level than going through any dedicated preamp.

W4S DAC2 is not a passive preamp, but an active line stage of very high purity. Without inserting a number of switches and pots, interconnects and more active components to service all these, the clarity without an external preamp should be evident to all. The DAC2 is probably amongst one of the finest dacs one can get and the built in preamp certainly makes it a great value.

As a backup to testing, I use an Audez'e LCD-2 with Moon Silver Dragon wires to directly connect to the DAC2's phono outputs. If you have a higher resolution test setup, I'm all ears.

The optimum way to use DAC2 is with PWT from PSAudio and I2S cable. The I2S sounds major better than the other inputs. Drive direct to amps using a transformer linestage such as Music first or these other options:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=89744.0

TVC's do not have the negative effect on dynamics like resistive passives do. The DAC must have decent current drive however. These will beat even the most expensive active preamps.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio