naim DAC-V1 Digital to Analog Converter Instruction Manual
- July 24, 2024
- naim
Table of Contents
naim DAC-V1 Digital to Analog Converter
Windows
Windows regards an audio device as a pooled facility that can be accessed by
as many applications as are running on the computer at a time. As a user you
can set a baseline configuration for Windows to present to all running
applications and they access the audio device via a shared Windows audio mixer
application.
This allows any running application to produce audio – whether it is playing
music or giving audio feedback of actions such as button clicks albeit at the
expense of absolute audio quality as the Windows mixer service is not designed
to be an audiophile solution.
Of course, as a audiophile product the Naim DAC-V1 allows higher quality
operation with applications that are written to support the exclusive use of
the Naim DAC-V1 for audio output (such as “Foobar” and “JRiver Media Center”).
To enable these applications to take control of the DAC-V1 then we must ensure
that Windows is correctly configured as follows.
The following screenshots are from Windows 7 setup.
The setup for Windows 8 and Windows 10 is identical apart from the way in
which the Control Panel is launched.
On Windows 8 the Control Panel is accessed from the bottom left of the
Settings menu found in the Windows start screen. Or you can right click the
windows icon as below.
On Windows 10 the Control Panel is hidden. Right click the windows icon and
select the control panel from the pop up menu.
From the “Start” menu select “Control Panel”.
From the “Control Panel” screen select “Hardware and Sound”
From the “Hardware and Sound” window select the “Sound” option.
Highlight the “Naim DAC-V1” audio device. If it is not set as the default device – select “Set Default”. Then select the “Properties” button.
On the “Advanced” tab, choose from the dropdown list the audio format that you wish Windows to use as its output to the DAC-V1 from its internal mixer. It is not advised to pick a very high sample rate and bit depth here as the Windows mixer output is not bit perfect – we would suggest 16 or 24 bit at 44,100Hz as being a sensible value.
Most important here is to ensure that the “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” option is checked – this allows your audiophile player applications to take control of the Naim DAC-V1 directly and give you the high quality output that you require.
Once you have done that, select the “OK” button to close the properties
dialog.
Select “OK” again to close the “Sound” dialog. You have now set up Windows to
allow the DAC-V1 to be used correctly.
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