very budget USB DAC w/ line out

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Hello. First post after reading and searching through lots and lots of threads. Thanks for making a great forum.

Can someone recommend a <= $65 USB DAC with line out? (I'd like to spend as little as possible, preferably < $50.) To be clear, I do not have digital out from my laptop. I only have USB. So the DAC has to accept USB input.

I'm going to be playing this through a Denon PMA-300V integrated amp into EPI T E 70 Epicure speakers, and also through my Grado SR60 phones. So you can see I don't need the ultimate in high quality audiophile DACs. But I do want something that sounds significantly better than my laptop's audio out, because I can hear a noticeable difference with my Grados between the laptop out and the headphone out from my Denon DCD-860 CD player (in use w/ a different stereo system). I'm not sure if I need the DAC to be a headphone amp as well -- I figure I can just plug the Grados into the headphone out of the integrated amp, no?

Here are the five options I see:

1. MUSE DA10 PCM2704 MINI USB DAC Digital Decoder Headphone Amplifier+ Adaptor for $40 on ebay (free ship)

2. MUSE Mini 24Bit 192Khz Coaxial Optical USB Input DAC Headphone Out,Silver for $50 on ebay (free ship) -- this is the one w/ the CS4344 DAC processor /CS8416 Digital receiver / CM108AH USB receiver

3. Silver MUSE DA20 PCM2706 MINI USB DAC Decoder Headphone Amplifier+ Power Adaptor for $56 on ebay (free ship)

4. FiiO E10 USB DAC Headphone Amplifier for $65 on Amazon (free ship w/ prime)

5. ultra cheap option: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Go! Pro USB Audio System with THX SB1290 for $30 on Amazon (free ship w/ prime) -- just headphone out, but if it sounds good, it sounds good, right?

EDIT: one last hybrid option: Audio DIR9001+ 4X TDA1543 parallel connection NOS DAC S for $57 shipped on ebay, plus some cheap USB-->digital out option?

I've had the damndest time trying to find any reviews or opinions on the various Muse products. I'm wondering whether anyone knows whether they would sound better than the FiiO E10?

Thanks very much for bearing with me on this long post, and for any advice you can give me!
 
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Oh sorry, typo , it should be
"You couldn't go wrong with the ES9023."

I figured. ;)

At this point, it looks like the only other option to consider is the Stoner Acoustics UD100 mentioned towards the end of that thread. But as that one is harder to order and you have to make a case yourself (and costs a few $ more), this is probably the better option for me, it seems.
 
Thanks very much for the helpful suggestions. Hmmm, this clouds things a bit for me -- it's not clear to me which I should go with.

Do you think these options provide better sound than the Hifimediy recommended above? I do see that they cost less, for the most part. Though I saw people in the Hifimediy thread linked above saying it (the Hifimediy) blows away the various 2704 DACs on the market ("Definately a HUGE step up from cheap PCM 2704-based $ 20 USB DACS that flood the market."). Do you have an opinion one way or the other?

Thanks very much for your contribution to my knowledge of this!
 
Thanks very much for the helpful suggestions. Hmmm, this clouds things a bit for me -- it's not clear to me which I should go with.

Do you think these options provide better sound than the Hifimediy recommended above? I do see that they cost less, for the most part. Though I saw people in the Hifimediy thread linked above saying it (the Hifimediy) blows away the various 2704 DACs on the market ("Definately a HUGE step up from cheap PCM 2704-based $ 20 USB DACS that flood the market."). Do you have an opinion one way or the other?

Thanks very much for your contribution to my knowledge of this!

Well, TE 7022 is a new chip, it is a 24/96. The first time for a USB.
All the others (2704) are 16/44.1. They are OK. there are of course differences between them, sonic and quality.

I like them all. Some sound better to me, some to my wife ;).

I don´t have equipment to measure the quality of any of these, but they do the job.

RGDS

PEMO
 
Thanks very much for your insights, Pemo. I appreciate the help. Those seem like good suggestions.

In the end, I have decided to go with the Hifimediy, because people's reviews of it have been overwhelmingly positive and fairly unanimous! Can't wait for it to get here.

Thanks again, everybody, your guidance and recommendations. And thanks to you, syklab, for the great tip on the Hifimediy.

I'll try to post back when I have it and will share my impressions.
 
I think you'll be happy with it. I wouln't hesitate to get one of the wolfson DACs either.

I have both the 2704-based DACs listed in this thread, and I find the HifiMeDiy to be way better.

The HifiMeDiy and the Wolfsons with the TE7022 are also high-res (24/96) compatible, which is nice for the future (more audio is released in 24/48 or 24/96 every year, so this is a clear trend)

Please have a look at my mods in the other thread. Cleaning the PCB is recommended as a minimum (at least if you have as much residue as I had on mine).
 
Thanks very much! By the way, in your recommendation for cleaning the PCM, do you have a recommendation for a good alcohol based electronics cleaner, or what I should look for? All I have is DeoxIT red and green (which I used to great effect to fix the H/K receiver for my other stereo system) but I don't think those are alcohol based, right?

Thanks!
 
I bought the Muse with 4x TDA1543. VERY nice . I've been comparing it with my OPPO BDP93 blue ray player. I haven't listened it too critically but it appears to be as good if not better in some aspects !
Recommend it to anyone who wants a good dac without spending too much. You will need a good volume pot between this and a good power amp. All that you need.
For low budget systems this dac with a ( well implemented !) LM1875 or other chip amp will be hard to beat unless you probably spend 10 times more.

I have another CS4344 Muse which didn't sound as good ( when it worked!).

I use Amyl Acetate or TCE ( Tri Chloro Ethylene) to clean the pcb.
 

I bought one of these last summer just to satisfy my curiosity; it seemed like an amazing value, and there were no reviews of them I could find at the time. I've been using it recently as a USB sound card while traveling. It is OK, better to my ears than my laptop's native sound, though I probably wouldn't use it in a high-end system. Long term I will probably stick it into one of my vintage tube radios.
 
Hi Randy

I ordered it on 9/27/12. It shipped via China Post on 9/30/12.
Haven't heard anything since.

When I input the tracking number into the China Post website, it just says it was shipped on 9/30 or something like that (the China Post website is down right now, as usual, so I can't view the tracking info right now. It says Internal Server Error when I try.)

I was hoping that I got my order in just before their holiday.
 
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