Ultra to Yamaha A-S801: coax or rca?

[Crichman]

The DAC chip in my Yamaha integrated amp is an ESS SABRE ES9010K2M, which looks pretty similar to the slightly newer chip in the Ultra, as far as I can tell from spec sheets.

Any wisdom to share on whether I’m likely to be happier using coax and the Yamaha DAC or RCA cables and the DAC in the Ultra?

I’m typically listening to uncompressed CD-quality audio through my Wharfdale EVO 4.2s.

 

[Ronnie D]

Any wisdom to share

Try both and see which you prefer.
If you use the RCA it will give you access to the different filters on the dac in the Ultra.
(Not saying I can hear a difference in the filters)

 

[d00]

Try both and see which you prefer.
If you use the RCA it will give you access to the different filters on the dac in the Ultra.
(Not saying I can hear a difference in the filters)
View attachment 34094

I can hear. The difference can be heard, for example, in the high-pitched sounds on the speakers playing on the warmer side. Check in the songs with a well-audible hi-hat or crash.

 

[r5yk5]

The DAC chip in my Yamaha integrated amp is an ESS SABRE ES9010K2M, which looks pretty similar to the slightly newer chip in the Ultra, as far as I can tell from spec sheets.

Any wisdom to share on whether I’m likely to be happier using coax and the Yamaha DAC or RCA cables and the DAC in the Ultra?

I’m typically listening to uncompressed CD-quality audio through my Wharfdale EVO 4.2s.

I just have them both connected. I tend to use my Amp's DAC. But occasionally I switch output on the Wiim and input in the amp to see if I can hear any difference.

And I never can

 

[Dude]

The DAC chip in my Yamaha integrated amp is an ESS SABRE ES9010K2M, which looks pretty similar to the slightly newer chip in the Ultra, as far as I can tell from spec sheets.

Any wisdom to share on whether I’m likely to be happier using coax and the Yamaha DAC or RCA cables and the DAC in the Ultra?

I’m typically listening to uncompressed CD-quality audio through my Wharfdale EVO 4.2s.

Try each for at least a week each. Then do some A/B comparison. Eventually, you will know which is the best. My money is on WiiM. You should be able to do both at same time. I have an old Oppo that plays CDs via its internal DAC (ESS, sounds best) or to a Yamaha AVR via HDMI (BB TI, virtually the same) or via Coaxial to external DAC (AKM, virtually the same). In the end, the DAC is not a Y in the road, it is just one new road vs another new road. The difference is so small, usually, it is not big enough to matter.

 

[Crichman]

I've tried both briefly - they sure are similar. It's definitely going to take some longer listens.

I have had some head-scratching when trying to A-B back and forth.

1. Is there some trick to geting music to start playing again when switching between line out and coax? I seem to encounter a lot of silence when tying this... and then it works. I haven't identified the pattern correctly yet. I've done most of my testing streaming flac files from my own server.

2. I did have one incident where my Yamaha integrated amp appeared to become extremely unhappy, with all of the LEDs flashing in unison. I have a suspicion it was when trying to switch the Ultra from coax to line out - perhaps that's a process that really ought to occur with the amp off. Fortunately, this appears to have been a recoverable error.

Thanks all.

 

[Mr Ee]

Is there some trick to geting music to start playing again when switching between line out and coax?

Switching ultra output and waiting for the yammy to notice this and auto switch its input?

switch the Ultra from coax to line out - perhaps that's a process that really ought to occur with the amp off.

Shouldn't matter.
The sort of thing that makes an amp annoyed can be (un)plugging connections while it's on, especially speaker connections, or if the speaker connections touch each other, such as a stray bit of wire if you're not using banana plugs.

 

[Valentino]

iirc Yamaha uses a fixed slow roll off (or «audiophile») filter setting in the dac on these amps.

 

[Crichman]

iirc Yamaha uses a fixed slow roll off (or «audiophile») filter setting in the dac on these amps.

That’s outside of my expertise. A good thing? Should I mess with the filter settings on the Ultra if I like the Yamaha sound and use line out?

 

[Ronnie D]

Should I mess with the filter settings on the Ultra if I like the Yamaha sound and use line out?

If you like the sound, there's no need to change it
It's there though, should you wish to experiment at a later date. Just keep a note of what it was set at before you change it, so you can go back to it.