Question about any low cost DACs on Amazon?

[GeorgeO]

Does any one have any recommendations on low cost i.e Below $30 DACs from Amazon that are worth the money? I see a pretty large range if them available.
TIA

 

[hemantwaghe]

amazon.com or in? why not get it direct? please can u share some links?

 

[GeorgeO]

.com, not .in

Take a look and you will see plenty of them.

 

[manniraj]

Earlier I had brought a Orei optical/coaxial DAC from Amazon couple of years back to use with my TV. It was decent and good reviews from all the users on Amazon. I think the FiiO is also very popular in that category on Amazon.com.

 

[greenhorn]

the behringer UCA 202 is the one to beat in that category
NwAvGuy: Behringer UCA202 Review

 

[GeorgeO]

Greenhorn

Interesting review! Thanks

 

[GeorgeO]

Here's an interesting listing of different DACs at different price points:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai84C5yKnfvAdGFBSjNWdjZOYTdPaFpYVHVBVHFDbVE#gid=0

 

[GeorgeO]

And here's the thread

List of DACs "Under $450"

 

[haisaikat]

the behringer UCA 202 is the one to beat in that category
NwAvGuy: Behringer UCA202 Review

I have this UCA202, it is indeed a good one. I think the ODAC which is the only other dedicated DAC I have beats it in detailing and the fact that UCA202 can only support till 48KHz sampled inputs so of course you can play 96KHz+ flacs but the audio player will require to downsample it.

 

[captrajesh]

Try to search for hifimeDIY DAC. I heard one modded by our FM Linuxguru pitted against ODAC in my earlier setup comprising of Marantz CD 6003 as transport, Dared VP845 tube SET and Cadence Arista speakers. It certainly gave the higher priced ODAC a run for the money.

They have lots of models. The Asynchronous version costs 59 USD + 8 USD for shipping.

 

[har297]

Was going through some forums, and found this DAC, 35$ for the unit and 9.9$ for shipping

! grubDAC Kit - miniUSB, Beezar Audio

not sure any one here has/using one though...

Regards
Harsha

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

I have the single TDA1543 version. Used it for 2 yrs. Pretty surprisingly good. Even with a lousy switching supply.

The X 4 I'm guessing is better. Someone try it and post please.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[GeorgeO]

I just picked up a Fiio DAC and have just started listening to it-its a bit too early to say anything about it:

http://www.amazon.com/D3-Digital-Co...cs&ie=UTF8&qid=1424765434&sr=1-1&keywords=dac

 

[Fantastic]

I just got a SMSL Sanskrit DAC from Ebay.com .
Very nice sound BUT it has a problem that has not yet been resolved. I'm discussing this with the manufacturer.
Basically it truncates a few milli seconds of the start of the track on some CD's.
Looks like the mute does not release fast enough. I think it can be upgraded via the USB since there is a uController on board. We have to wait and see.
Otherwise it sounds very good. I bought it directly from the manufacturer ( SMSL) who are also on Ebay.com .
I didn't pay duty as it was shipped to Singapore and brought over by a friend. Customs of late have started becoming very unreasonable ! I'm becoming more reluctant to buy anything that comes through the local post and where duty isn't prepaid.

 

[keith_correa]

Srinath is all praise for this DAC:

TDA1543 X 4 DAC, $45 shipped from China:

Muse Mini HiFi DIR9001 4X TDA1543 Parallel Connection Philip IC DAC Silver | eBay

I believe its 16 bit and non-oversampling and pretty popular. Beats $$$ peers sonically.

Ask the seller to ship it to you India thru registered post with tracking. He will charge $2-3 extra. You will have it in 10 days. Minimal or no customs.

The NOS TDA1543 is a very good DAC chip although old. Reportedly, one very good implementation of this is here.

 

[Fantastic]

I have the Muse DAC also. Will do a comparison when time permits. My memory tells me the SMSL sounds better. But better to do an A/B switch and compare it.

 

[rpanand25]

I intend to get DAC from USA(personal carry in). i found this having USB/optical/coax but with $44 price tag.
http://www.amazon.com/Panlong-Optical-Converter-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00S4LKY6C/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Is it worth it? or any other better DAC with the same three inputs for similar price?

Panalong also has a version without USB input for $22
http://www.amazon.com/Panlong-Premium-Optical-Converter-Headphone/dp/B008JYB93G/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t
but i need USB input but $22 additional for this?

 

[Fantastic]

The Sanskrit DAC has been fixed. As expected, the mute release was too slow. There is one 100uF cap that needs to be changed to 4.7uF. It's a SMD cap but is large and easy to remove. Replaced by a 25V 4.7uF regular through hole type cap. It's small and fits easily.
SMSL gave me only a VERY small section of the circuit that controls the mute signal. But it was enough to fix the problem.
This is a VERY good DAC. The low end is better than my OPPO93. I compared them in an A/B setup with levels matched to 0.1 dB. It not that it has more bass but tight bass notes seem to have a bit more weight to them. I guess that would relate to bass extension and not more bass.
However across the band the differences are negligible. I really can't hear much but there appears to be some change in image. I can't explain that. SMSL sounds preferable here.
Since I opened it I found the output stage has three DIP socketed opamps. Good place to try different opamps !

 

[amit11]

I have the Muse DAC also. Will do a comparison when time permits. My memory tells me the SMSL sounds better. But better to do an A/B switch and compare it.

Hi Fantastic,

Any feedback on the muse mini 1543 dac?

Sent from Note5

 

[raj12345]

I purchased this great DAC last month.
It cost me 52$ / 3900 Rs.
Its a great DAC highly recommended.
I compared this with my Cambridge Audio 640C CD Player. The result being that the 1543 DAC beats CD Player hands down. DAC costs 10% compared to CD Player Cost.