The firmware running on the explorer 2 must be version 1717 or later. When listening to cdquality audio, theres little to distinguish between the arcam rpac and the meridian explorer, but both devices sounded better than the kef x300a speaker system, providing. Meridian explorer the hitchhikers guide to meridian. Rather conveniently, the rpac comes with its own miniusb to usb cable, but we found the wire length to be a bit too long, leading to tangled complications. The rpac worked ok with windows 7 with the current motherboard etc drivers.
Arcam places the money where it counts, into the design of the player that affects its sound. Apr 27, 2012 accessory of the week arcam s rpac is a digitaltoanalogue converter dac and headphone amp designed for anyone who listens to music on a computer. Since the rpac s asynchronous usb input is limited to 2496 playback, no drivers are required for mac or pc users. Feb 11, 20 meridian enters the fray the usb buspowered meridian explorer is a small, portable 24192capable asynchronous usb dac, headphone amp, and it can also function as a 2496 usb to spdif converter. The arcam rpac is a usb, bus powered dac digital to analogue converter and headphone amplifier that forms part of arcams new r series line of. Arcam rpac cuts out with windows 8 microsoft community. Mar 04, 20 windows automatically set the arcam rpac as the default for sound output. This program is installed automatically on any computer used with the explorer 2. When updating the firmware arcam want you to put the rpac in usb class 2 mode prior to connecting to a windows computer. It has a single usb input that also powers the unit.
Some noise passed but i was on windows, i belive mac will work better. Usb audio driver in usb audio playerrecorder pro and audio evolution mobile. Unfortunately, i did not tested the optical output. It is a fantastic product with a musical presentation well suited to desktop listening. The arcam rpac dac lets me bypass the sound card in my computer and send a pure digital signal through a usb port. So were accustomed to seeing one or two more zeroes in its prices. Note that you cannot use this driver to play or record audio in other apps.
It features hifigrade hardware and software engineering, specifically designed to enhance your laptop or desktop listening. Getting started connect the audio output to an analogue preamplifier using a mini jack lead, or to a. The one included in the box was too short for my needs. The driver can be downloaded from the explorer page on the meridian. Arcams rpac is a small, solidly built aluminium box designed to do just one thing.
Meridian enters the fray the usb buspowered meridian explorer is a small, portable 24192capable asynchronous usb dac, headphone amp, and it can also function as a 2496 usb to spdif converter. Conclusion about the arcam rpac headphone dacamp and rblink bluetooth dac. Meridian id28 usb input meridian explorer usb dac meridian director dac meridian prime headphone amplifier mqa meridian id29 usb input. The quality of the sound was improved considerably when started using this device.
Arcam rpac headphone dacamp and rblink bluetooth dac. I have tried a better cable with rpac and it really improves the sound. You should also consider arcam, by the way, rpac is ok up to 2496 and rdac looks very. Arcam rpac usb dac headphone amp trutone electronics. Correct disposal of this product this marking indicates that this product should not be disposed with other household waste throughout the eu. Recommended settings dacs with direct usb or spdif connection. Theres a mini usb input on one side of its oval tubular extruded aluminum body and two 3.
Since the rpacs asynchronous usb input is limited to 2496 playback, no drivers are required for mac or pc users. But when the a19 arrived, it came with a second, smaller box full or arcam goodies the rblink, the rlink and the rpac. As with most arcam products the appearance of the cd36 is pretty utilitarian in design like the cd33. Arcam reentered the digital to analogue converter dac market with the introduction of the rdac a few years ago. Meridian dont have explorer 2 only drivers the current release is a package windowsdriverv3341withinstructions. In comparative tests against meridians explorer dac and the arcam rpac, both of which are incredibly highquality audio sources, the director produced only the. Jun, 20 inside, the rpac employs the ti pcm5102 dac, the same dac found in the meridian explorer usb dac that can handle up to 24192 data, while the rpac is limited to 2496. Or, you can use the phono outputs next to the usb socket to feed the signal straight into a stereo amp and on to a pair of speakers. At that far i have heard only good about hrt microstreamer. Working great with meridian explorer using rc2 and usb audio fix patch. Using a digital to analogue converter dac normally found in very high end hifi components and arcam s worldclass audio circuitry, the rpac takes audio files stored on a mac or pc and delivers converts them into beautiful music with stunning clarity and precision. Though the variations can get confusing, i love all of these compact music networking and streaming devices spawned by the original sonos products over ten years ago. They were supplied because arcam prefers its dacs outside of the amplifier and the a19 comes with a power connector to drive up to two such devices usefully, just two of the three have an external power supply.
Meridian explorer usb dac audio driver for windows 7 32 bit, windows 7 64 bit, windows 10, 8, xp. Thats about 1,500 hours a year, or 63 days worth of tunes or billie jean on. The last step was to open foobar 2000, my highres playback software, and select the arcam driver in the output menu. The standalone dac concept was not new to the arcam team as they were the first company to ever launch an affordable outboard dac back in 1989. From lowbitrate internet radio to betterthancdquality downloads, youll hear more of the music you love. Jun 20, 2012 arcam s rpac is a small, solidly built aluminium box designed to do just one thing. I was reading through the firmware update and faq forms about the the rpac and saw an interesting fact. Apr 28, 2012 the arcam rpac is a usb, bus powered dac digital to analogue converter and headphone amplifier that forms part of arcams new r series line of streaming music products which also. Meet the awardwinning arcam rpac, the personal audio converter that will transform your computerbased music at home, at work, or on the move. Oct 26, 2015 arcam rpac cuts out with windows 8 be. Were all playing more music from computers stored on their hard drives or streamed from online services such as spotify but macs and pcs simply arent optimised for audio enjoyment. In comparative tests against meridians explorer dac and the arcam rpac, both of which are incredibly highquality audio sources, the director produced only the slightest perceptible improvement in subjective sound quality when listening to standard cdquality 44. Its got one of our favourite dac chips and has more features than many of its rivals, but its very expensive.
The os specs for pcs listed on meridians website are windows xp sp3, windows 7 sp1 or windows 8. The rdac can be viewed as a portable dacheadphone amp but it also works wonders as. Meridian explorer usb da processorheadphone amplifier. As usb powered audio volume goes, the rpac is among the better ones that. Using a digital to analogue converter dac normally found in very high end hifi components and arcams worldclass audio circuitry, the rpac takes audio files stored on a mac or pc and delivers converts them into beautiful music with stunning clarity and precision.
The arcam rpac offers pc and mac users an affordable upgrade to their onboard sound, complete with a dedicated headphone amplifier. I had always noticed the rpac shows as a usb 1 type device and would only support 2496 as published on my macbook via usb. If your arcam dealer is unable to answer any query regarding this or any other arcam product please contact arcam customer support at the above address and we will do our best to help you. Embracing this expanding market is the meridian explorer usb dac a.
Nov 01, 2014 arcam rpac 200 hrt microstreamer 190, muscistreamer ii 180 audioguest dragonfly 1. Our market is small so i there are no epiphany acoustics edac, meridian explorer, ifi idac is over 300 here. The version currently running on the explorer 2 can be established by running the program meridian usb control panel while the device is connected. Arcam sent over two products meant to solve two problems for the modern music lover. If youre fed up with the mediocre sound quality and unstable drivers that commonly afflict motherboardbased audio systems then you need a. Once you get past their enormity big drivers, big sound you simply wont. Where some manufacturers place a huge emphasis upon the look of a player, arcam does not. Then i designated the arcam as the default sound device in the win 7 control panel and chose 19224 as the default output format. It is designed and produced by arcam, one of the worlds most prestigious audio engineering companies with over thirty years of experience building highend hifi equipment.
The arcam rpac is a usb, bus powered dac digital to analogue converter and headphone amplifier that forms part of arcam s new r series line of streaming music products which also includes the excellent drdock. Meridian dont have explorer 2 only drivers the current release is a package windows driver v3341withinstructions. The os specs for pcs listed on meridian s website are windows xp sp3, windows 7 sp1 or windows 8. Arcam rpac is a quality headphone amp and usb dac at. Accessory of the week arcams rpac is a digitaltoanalogue converter dac and headphone amp designed for anyone who listens to music on a computer. The meridian explorer is an unquestionably brilliant audio processor. Another nice feature of this dac is the updown volume control so volume adjustments for headphones are easy to do. Aug 30, 20 explorer owners who wish to use their new converter with a windows operating system must first visit the meridian website and download and install the appropriate driver file. Mar 18, 2015 then i designated the arcam as the default sound device in the win 7 control panel and chose 19224 as the default output format. The version currently running on the prime headphone amplifier can be established by running the program meridian usb control panel while the device is connected. Liked but also thought it lacked some punch for example, againts a arcam rpac. This is an excellent audiophile grade dac and headphone amplifier that i can recommend to anyone who wants to listen to music on a pc or mac. The meridian explorer is tiny enough to fit in your hand, or pocket and looks quite unassuming for what it is capable of. If your library is limited to bitrates of 96 khz or less, you neednt bother with this.
Windows automatically set the arcam rpac as the default for sound output. Arcam rpac 200 hrt microstreamer 190, muscistreamer ii 180 audioguest dragonfly 1. Jul 07, 20 when listening to cdquality audio, theres little to distinguish between the arcam rpac and the meridian explorer, but both devices sounded better than the kef x300a speaker system, providing. Jan 19, 2012 the rpac is a usb, bus powered dac and headphone amplifier designed to dramatically improve the audio performance of pc and mac computers. Im having the same problem with windows 8 and the arcam rpac. Im currently using mopidy for streaming from spotify but im unable to stream in 24192. I have had the same information from arcam that the problem is that updates are needed to windows 8, which have not been released yet. There are a lot of options here, but weve enjoyed our time with the arcam rpac. Aug 06, 20 in comparative tests against meridian s explorer dac and the arcam rpac, both of which are incredibly highquality audio sources, the director produced only the slightest perceptible improvement. The rpac is a usb, bus powered dac and headphone amplifier designed to dramatically improve the audio performance of pc and mac computers. Jan 25, 20 i have had the same information from arcam that the problem is that updates are needed to windows 8, which have not been released yet. Uploaded on 4122019, downloaded 4559 times, receiving a 99100 rating by 3394 users.
Explorer owners who wish to use their new converter with a windows operating system must first visit the meridian website and download and install the appropriate driver file. This program is installed automatically on any computer used with the prime headphone amplifier. The rplay is intended for those who want to add one or more points of audio around their lair, streamed from subscribed services such as spotify, tidal, qobuz, deezer, pandora, or amazon prime, or a nas on the network. M explorer was a huge improvement over the arcam dac, and i was not using any sort of high grade cables. Inside, the rpac employs the ti pcm5102 dac, the same dac found in the meridian explorer usb dac that can handle up to 24192 data, while the rpac is limited to 2496. I have not tried it with headphones, but i expect the result would be similar. The detail, bass, midrange, treble and especially the soundstage feel much nicer on the arcam but as well as all that, there is real sense of smoothness to the sound. There is a miniusb input for connecting to your pc with the included cable, and dual 3. You dont need to worry about it for your dac setup. The firmware running on the prime headphone amplifier must be version 1717 or later.
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