Poll: Best Inexpensive DIY DAC ?

Best Inexpensive (Less than $300usd) DIY DAC

  • DIYINHK 768khz 32bit AK4495SEQ I2S DAC

    Votes: 6 66.7%

  • Weiling 32bit ES9018 DAC

    Votes: 3 33.3%
  • Total voters
    9
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#6
Dadbeh said:
which one did you decide on?
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Dear Dadbeh,
So far have not chosen anything. Vulejov's suggestion is a good one.

The JL Sounds USB to I2S and AK4490 do look to be in a different league than the other dacs. When all added up I was at about $250usd from JL Sounds + case, transformers and incidentals.

....Which got me going the Buffalo Dac II at $199. As of tonight leaning towards a simplified Buffalo Dac II build and upgrading in the future.
 
#8
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#10
museguy said:
Have you heard the Dac ?
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Yes, so have several others and there's a Wiki about it here : TDA1387 X8 NOS DAC

If I understand the translation it is a TDA1387 ladder dac. Looks interesting, especially at less than $50usd shipped. Seems to good to be true.
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That price does sound too good to be true - here its 368rmb which at the current exchange rate is $57 but that doesn't include shipping. You'd also need to use a Taobao agent as you're outside China so that would add a few more percentage points. Nevertheless its still a considerable bargain.

TDA1387 isn't strictly a 'ladder DAC' but does have the characteristic sound quality of an R2R.
 
#11
Thank you

abraxalito said:
Yes, so have several others and there's a Wiki about it here : TDA1387 X8 NOS DAC

That price does sound too good to be true - here its 368rmb which at the current exchange rate is $57 but that doesn't include shipping. You'd also need to use a Taobao agent as you're outside China so that would add a few more percentage points. Nevertheless its still a considerable bargain.

TDA1387 isn't strictly a 'ladder DAC' but does have the characteristic sound quality of an R2R.
Click to expand...

Dear abraxalito,
Thank you for the link and sharing the information. Very interesting.

Every time I think I am starting to get a good overview of Dacs I find a new area. Thank you for sharing
 
#15
museguy said:
Dear Marszak,

Thank you for the suggestion. The Polyvection line of dacs looks very interesting, at the price point and built in Germany, there doesn't seem to be any competition. Do you own one of them ? What are your thoughts about SQ ? Thanks!
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Hello museguy,

I do own the cheapest one and been using in with pi2 and odroid c1. No problems connecting or configuring with players like moode or Volumio.
Regarding sound quality - I have no comparison to other i2s dacs.
If I had to compare to a CD player from Cambridge audio or iPhone 5 - I'd say sound is much more detailed and in general nice to listening.
Mostly I'm using pretty good headphones and definitely I can hear more details. I prefer music where vocals are important and classic jazz.
I find this dac to be very good.

--
Thanks
Marszczak
 
#16
abraxalito said:
Hard to beat this one if you're after accurate tonality : L1387DAC 8X ???TDA1387 Hifi??? ??TDA1541????-???
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Really interested in trying L1387DAC 8X DAC.. Getting setup on Taobao is a chore.

Same DAC is on ALI but more money New 8 X L1387DAC Eight Pcs TDA1387 DAC Hifi USB Decoder For Amplifier Better Than TDA1541|Amplifier| - AliExpress
The Store that sells the DAC has PCM56 Finished Dual Parallel Classic Decoder Clear And Transparent Sound Beyond TDA1541|Amplifier| - AliExpress Anyone tried this one or one of the other units from same seller. Plus these units are 120V
 
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