AMR DP-777, what am I missing ?


There are a lot of people here who love this DAC, I purchased one (used) based on the many glowing reviews, but feel like this DAC falls short.
To be sure it bested (by not a lot) my Wavelength Cosecant (better imaging and bass) but I still prefer my modest analog setup (Rega RP6, Shelter 500).

I am sure my digital front-end is not super tuned: IMac, audirvana, no-name USB cable to DAC. But before I spend more money I would love some advice from the good folks in this forum on how I can make this $5000 retail DAC at least come close to my modest analog setup that cost much less retail without spending too much coin.

Do I need to invest in a music server, or maybe a USB to SPDIF, or better USB cable or all of the above.

Rest of my system.
Coincident Line stage
Coincident Dragon mk2 monoblocks
Verity Parsifal Encore speakers.

Thanks.
essrand
maxboy00 I found the DAC, to be exceptional.... especially on RB, which it will be use 99% of the time


I'm not surprised, as I read that Thorsten Losech the designer of AMR gave the 777 a dsd chip only as a token gesture to keep the dsd crowd happy, but it's main forte is with Redbook replay converting through the R2R Multibit d/a chip.

Cheers George  

Essrand, in response to your question, the SE version does indeed also have 2 dacs. I will add that there is an optimizing feature (for both SE and Non-SE versions) which chooses the better dac for the sampling rate, the better jitter management & the best filter choice - very nice. 
The 6922 type tube* change made a bigger difference vs ifi USB 3.0 to me, but be sure to unplug unit well before, not just place in standby mode, and inquire from distributor as to how best to access.

*See: Joe's Tube Lore
for counsel about best 6922 tube choices.





My experience has been (with less expensive DACs than you are using) there is a clear difference in the sound of different USB cables. But also that low cost is not a guarantee of weak sonic performance - some $10-$12 cables sound much better than some $4 or $14 cables - and you won't know what you are getting until you try a few.  Perhaps the generic cable you are using is by luck actually quite good and rivals the pricier AQ job. The greatest success I have had in the bargain rack is with Belkin or HP branded cables with gold plated connectors.

For my reference cable I am currently using a 1.5m solid silver USB cable from Pangea that both I and my hugely skeptical friend have determined sounds better in our systems than what is readily available from the computer shop rack.  I think it is about $80 online at AudioAdvisor. My friend who is an engineer was so annoyed that the cable provided a noticeable sonic difference in AB listening tests that he assumed his generic cable was "broken" and attempted to come up with an empirical test to show himself why the Pangea sounded better.  I think he failed to show any difference in frequency response except with one of the cheap cables tested, even though both the bass and high end sounded significantly clearer with the Pangea. He bought one of the Pangea cables anyway and is listening to better sounding music in spite of his closely held prejudice that it should not. YMMV.