Whic DAC is better ?

[urindian]

I have eyed on the DAC'S below :

Can the experts say which one to go for :

Audioengine D1 24-Bit

meridian explorer usb dac

Rasperrri Pi 2 with the Hifiberyy DAC

 

[bornfi]

Please try Schiit Fulla.

 

[Fantastic]

Video on it. It's really small.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OEFYlfKf8A

You must be looking at reviews on the Net also .....like

http://www.whathifi.com/audioengine/d1/review

http://www.whathifi.com/meridian/explorer-dac/review

 

[magma]

i see you are looking for a budget dac

please note ( personally for me )
almost ALL dacs made on this budget recently have been disappointing for me
The dac market has been doing very well and manufacturers have capitalised on this;
many a time feeding junk

in my personal you would be better off buying a studio level soundcard rather than fall for many of the budget dacs being launched today

please HEAR before you buy
dont give a lot of weighteige to reviews
if you cant hear buying blind is just self satisafction and a useless exercise
many times a blind test in your system will not show anything at this budget

 

[Amitkg]

i see you are looking for a budget dac

please note ( personally for me )
almost ALL dacs made on this budget recently have been disappointing for me
The dac market has been doing very well and manufacturers have capitalised on this;
many a time feeding junk

in my personal you would be better off buying a studio level soundcard rather than fall for many of the budget dacs being launched today

please HEAR before you buy
dont give a lot of weighteige to reviews
if you cant hear buying blind is just self satisafction and a useless exercise
many times a blind test in your system will not show anything at this budget

Can you suggest few studio level soundcard?

 

[magma]

look at the EMU series
they have a nice soundcard based external DAC as well

the ESI juli is another good card
the Lynx gets a bit expensive ( but also serious ) so i wouldnt advice that in this thread

for laptop guys
i understand there are no soundcard options and so an external dac may be needed
in which case the EMU , parasounds , older assemblages , and even the odac is not as bad and so is the dragon fly or the schitt modi

you want to up the game
then youre looking at a BUffalo ( who implements the sabre chip in the best way in its class ) , the peter daniel , the Audiolab M dac , the chord chordette
the Audio-GD dacs , the better musical fidelity dacs ( above the V dac )

you want to up the game even more
now you are in MErtrum territory , the Mytek etc , Havana Audio GD again

 

[Amarendra]

If you want a USB dac try the audioquest dragonfly. Works with laptops as well as the raspberry pi. I use it with both - great improvement on the raspberry pi stock analogue out.

 

[magma]

these are the items i was talking about
http://www.creative.com/emu/products/usbinterfaces/
pretty old
but they beat the shit out of the new age dacs

only thing a custom cable will need to be made for the outputs
no a big deal though
they will not cost more than a good rca in any case

 

[Vinay2013]

I have Meridian explorer and HRT microstreamer USB Dacs

Both are good and doing the job pretty well as dacs should do. Instrument separation, soundstage, depth etc.

In my opinion, Meridian Explorer is warm and play every kind of recording well. I think it has set a limit due to that none of the recording sound bad with it. It is a real steal at 50% of its original price when it was launched. It has separate line out and a great device.

On the other hand, surprisingly HRT is little bright with more details, wider soundstage and more revealing. Bad recordings sound real bad in it. I like it more but it is difficult to listen for longer duration.

You can try your hands at Meridian explorer if you can get it from US.

I do not have much experiences with DACs but I think USB DACs have come a long way and provide real value for money.

 

[Kannan]

The raspberry/hifiberry is a very good solution. It will also work out of the box with audio specific distros like Volumio.

 

[Fantastic]

For those who want suggestions for a decent external DAC.
I have compared the following DAC's against far more expensive DAC's . All three are very good and fantastic value for money.

1. SMSL Sanskrit, PCM1796 DAC with ( x2)NE5532 (x1) LME49720 opamps. ( US$105)
2. DAC 9 AKM 4399 DAC chip, with ( x2) LME49710 opamps. ( US$70 ) ( USB module extra $35 )
3. DAC 7 Wolfson 8741 DAC chip. With (2x) NE5532 and (x1) LME49720 . ( about US$ 70 ) ( USB extra)

DAC 9 and DAC7 need a chassis and power transformer !

You may need to change the output opamps as they are usually supplied with other types which restrict the performance.

I never tried the USB inputs !

 

[vivek_r]

Hi, I agree with Magma - can live with low priced amps (actually, I do), or reasonably priced speakers, but DACs you need to spend a lot of money on to make music good!

One DAC that I owned, sold to a friend was the old musical fidelity VDAC, especially with a good power supply (VPSU). VDAC with VPSU was VFM!! You can easily make a power supply by yourself.

They are out of production, but presumably a used one would be great. Also, known well enough to be resold, hopefully (selling branded is tough, but less known is going to be worse).

I googled for prices on eBay - surprisingly (and sadly for the buyer!), they seem to hold price. Have USB and SPDIF inputs.

 

[Fantastic]

I just tried an old DAC called the Zhaolu D2.5A . Cleaned up the contacts and also discovered LM4562 inside it. I think it came with something else and I replaced them. Don't remember what it had originally. The DAC chip is an AD1852 .
Sound is superb ! I was a bit surprised ! I'm comparing it with the Emotiva DC-1 . In fact the headphone amp on it sounds much better than the DC-1 !
Actually I remember the JLH headphone amp being better than the D2.5A's amp. I have it somewhere. Must search it out and compare it again !

I've always felt that sometimes we are going round in circles looking for the best sound ! I've often heard something very nice and then thought that I've heard that sound before !

I don't remember how much it cost ( must be less than $150/- about Rs 5K at that time I think ). Must have bought it in 2006 !

Old equipment keep springing surprises !

 

[music4mhell]

look at the EMU series
they have a nice soundcard based external DAC as well

the ESI juli is another good card
the Lynx gets a bit expensive ( but also serious ) so i wouldnt advice that in this thread

for laptop guys
i understand there are no soundcard options and so an external dac may be needed
in which case the EMU , parasounds , older assemblages , and even the odac is not as bad and so is the dragon fly or the schitt modi

you want to up the game
then youre looking at a BUffalo ( who implements the sabre chip in the best way in its class ) , the peter daniel , the Audiolab M dac , the chord chordette
the Audio-GD dacs , the better musical fidelity dacs ( above the V dac )

you want to up the game even more
now you are in MErtrum territory , the Mytek etc , Havana Audio GD again

Any opinion about Cambridge Audio DAC Magic plus ?