Cheap but good USB dac

[square_wave]

Hi all,

What is a cheap alternative to the Dac magic ? It should sound good and do assync through the USB. This is for a friend who want to interface it between his laptop and Audio engine A5. Currently he has connected the headphone out of the laptop to the inputs and it sounds quite bad. Cheap for him is below 8k.

 

[dillihifi]

try out hrt music streamer which i think should fit his specs.

 

[audiodelic]

the nuforce dac

 

[Rem]

Nuforce UDAC2 square . I thk rallynut has one though he has the UDAC 1 the 2nd version has an improved headphone amp. You can check with iaudio and rallynut regarding the product.

 

[square_wave]

Thanks. The U DAC seems to be just the ticket for him.

 

[iaudio]

Square_wave, udac is a very good product especially for the price you pay. However it wont equal your entry level cdp in sq esp I find the bass to lack a bit of control. If your friend uses it for hps, its pretty good except for power hungry sennheissers or akgs.

Edit: the udac 2 is supposed to iron out some of the negatives.

 

[rallynut]

for sure it is a brilliant piece of kit to my ears,but again,"for the money".very small,well built,a very decent headamp section as well.it is a little forward in signature,but very pleasant at that.for someone using it as an interface for laptop based music like me,the rca out is a great plus.just that it delivers a 2vrms signal only at full vol though .cheers

case in point:the audio technica m50's that i use are supposedly a bit recessed in the mids.driven by the nuforce udac1,they sound brilliant.hell,even my radius ddm.

 

[grubyhalo]

I know this one does not check any of your requirement boxes but I just thought I should throw it out here.

Lampucera-Mod Complete DAC CS4397 CS4398 24/96 OS-CON - eBay (item 190450775270 end time Dec-28-10 18:35:06 PST)

 

[sachi]

The Ibasso D10 is something to consider as well. DOubles up as a decent portable headamp as well