Arcam airDAC Audiophile Grade DAC with AirPlay (Black)

I have been an audiophile on a reasonable budget for a long, long time and over the years you hear of the latest and greatest tweak or accessory (Tice Clock, anyone?) or component, only to try one and the results are "meh". Not with the Airdac. Instant and obvious improvement in bass response, clarity and sense of AIR. Since I converted to iTunes streaming Airplay my ripped CD's sounded ok but somewhat constricted and veiled and bass response was weak. NOT ANYMORE. It's the kind of improvement where you want to listen to your collection all over again.

Great device. After several hours of desk research this seems to be the only device that supports both AirPlay and DNLA in a small footprint. I personally prefer DNLA via my NAS - AirPlay seems a little too tinny. I connect the AirDac to my amplifier via coax cable and the resulting sound is great. I have not suffered drop outs as per previous reviewers - the app is a little buggy for me and also does not let me know the bit rate of the music I am playing. so I use the app that's bundled with my Synology NAS (audio station- it also does not let me see the bit rate but seems more relatable on my network). I think the device is a little overpriced for what it does - hence the 4 star rating.

This item did not play well my Verizon FiOS router. I ended up buying the irDAC and separate AirPort Express but still too many dropouts. I exchanged the AirPort Express for the Apple TV and that did the trick!

Arrived defective. Talked to Arcam (because, they never reply to email inquiries); confirmed defective. This was a replacement for a miniBlink, which is a poor device (dropouts, hiccups, low range). The miniBlink was a replacement for a rDAC-kw that died (after warranty, of course). I love my Arcam amp (made in the UK), but all of the "made in the PRC" stuff is just not up to par. To top it all off, all the Arcam rep would say is "return it," clearly without giving an 'efph. Being international, it's an incredible hassle to return it. Yet, when asked, Arcam refused to accept it direct, even though it's clearly under warranty. No more Arcam for my lifetime, I'm afraid. Seriously, disappointed.

Set-up instructions were a little confusing, but once I got past that it's been working fine and the audio quality is excellent. Until other manufacturers come out with audiophile-quality Airplay-compatible wireless DACs, getting this will be a no-brainer.

Great audio when it works. Issues with AirPlay

Great product. Very high quality streamer with very good sound

great!

Very useful unit. Allows me to stream from iTunes or any iOS device into my Quad 34/306 set up. Very solidly built and easy to set up and use. I just use the phono outputs. I used to use an Apple Airport Express for this, but the sound through this sounds warmer and more dynamic. No issues with drop outs or delays. Highly recommended, especially when the price drops a bit.

La connexion avec mon amplificateur hifi classe A a été simple et la lecture des fichiers lossless se fait trés facilement à partir de mon ipod sans fil. Je ne vois aucune différence de qualité par rapport à la lecture de mes CD à partir de ma platine dédiée Marantz.La lecture des fichiers via deezer ( version payante) est aussi de bonne qualité.Trés content de mon achat et du confort que cela me procure. Je peux enfin changer de musique de mon canapé tout en profitant de la qualité de ma chaine hifi!

Excelente DAC, configurable desde ipad en dirección 192.168.1.12 de este modo se puede escuchar spotify desde airplay. No he necesitado cable de red para usarlo, sólo con wifi y mi ipad, una maravilla, para más prestaciones: irDAC sobre todo sí tienes Apple TV

Produktidee:- Der AirDAC hat statt der üblichen USB-Schnittstelle einen Ethernet-Eingang sowie einen WLAN-Adapter. Damit fehlt ihm zu einem echten Netzwerk-Player eigentlich nur die entsprechende Steuerfunktion (Display, Software, Fernbedienung etc). Diese Funktion liefern stattdessen Smartphone, Tablet, oder Computer mit Player-Software die den AirDAC quasi als „Ausgabegerät“ nutzen. Man investiert also sein Geld beim AirDAC im Vergleich zu einem Netzwerk-Player vorwiegend in die Klangqualität des Ausgabegerätes → finde ich gut.Klangqualität:- Mich begeistert im Vergleich zu anderen DACs am meisten die Ausgewogenheit. Ob Jazz, PoP, Klassik oder einfach Internet-Radio - es passt einfach. Selbst mit 128kbps Internet-Radio bekommt man noch einen erstaunlich guten Klang.- Der Klang der beim Internet-Streaming über einen HiFi-Anbieter (Streaming in CD-Qualität) herauskommt ist für meine Maßstäbe allerdings atemberaubend. Offenheit, Transparenz, Dynamik -> einfach Klasse.Bedienung:- Der AirDAC aktiviert automatisch den Eingang auf dem er ein Signal erhält. (Wenn mehrere Signale gleichzeitig kommen priorisiert er). Daher braucht man keine extra Fernbedienung.- Musik im hochauflösenden Format 96kHz/24Bit funktioniert auch.Mein Ansatz: MacBook an den optischen Eingang des AirDAC angeschlossen. Fernsteuerung des MacBook mit dem iPad (RemoteApp). Das iPad liefert dabei die volle Sicht auf die Titel, Alben, Covers etc. → Klang in Hochauflösung, Fernbedienung mit High-End Display. Was will man mehr.- Für „Smartphone-verseuchte“ Familien: Jedes Familienmitglied kann über WLAN den AirDAC mit dem eigenen Smartphone etc. koppeln und die eigenen Songs abspielen bzw. streamen ohne die Stereo-Anlage anzufassen. Die Stereo-Anlage selbst kann - bis auf die Boxen - vor Kindern geschützt in einem Nebenraum stehen → So funktioniert angstfreies High-End für Familienväter ☺Mein Fazit: Wer so ein Gerät sucht kann bei dem Preis nichts falsch machen.

It is great when it works and sounds fantastic. I use it mainly for streaming music from TIDAL (& sometimes Apple Music) to my HiFi system. Getting it to work smoothly was however a challenge. I suspect that if you can connect it to the Internet via an Ethernet cable you will be laughing and ready to (rockn') roll. This wasn't an option for me and I needed to use the WiFi option. The DAC seems to need a very strong signal to work smoothly.The signal in the room that I am using the DAC in isn't full strength but had been fine for Apple TV and Amazon TV. Despite the AirDAC showing green lights for the connections when streaming it kept breaking up and losing contact. I resorted to getting a WiFi range extender placing it in the room and connecting the Air DAC to the extender's WiFi signal. I then have to ensure the device (iPad or iPhone) that I am streaming from is also connected to the extender (as opposed to the main WiFi) signal. It then works beautifully with no loss of connection.I have marked it down a star as a product of this nature should work much more smoothly with WiFi. Had I wrote a review straight away it would have been 1 star! Perseverance was worth the reward in the end.