Cheap chi-fi DAC buy (<30 USD)

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eljoantonyn

Member
Joined 2014
abraxalito said:
The 2nd link is a Lee's Audio designed TDA1387 DAC with great modding potential.

The 3rd link is by the same guy but uses a TDA1305, I haven't gotten good sound out of one of those yet. Some bypass the internal opamps and say it sounds great when so modded, not something I've tried. Steer well clear unless you love 'electronic-y' sound.
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2nd link:
Very interesting design vs others with 8 nos of tda1305. I'm not an electronics engineer but that thing is intriguing.

3rd link:
The highlight is the amp, the jlh 1969.
By the way, what you mean by electronic sound ?
V-shaped frequency response?


Thanks for your observations abraxalito:)

jean-paul said:
Chi-Fi --->> very good description. I like it :)
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Chinese Hi-Fi , that's what I meant.
But, some doesn't like it, apparently !

By the way, the dac of the second link outputs at 1.5V. is that ok ?
I thought 2 or 2.5V was the norm ?
 
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phase

Member
Joined 2004
Usb power is really going to hold any of those back, there was at least one that uses an external power supply, wall-wart transformer I thought, that’d probably be my choice.
The sound card that is built in to a laptop will sound very similar really, without a better supply.
 
abraxalito

abraxalito

Member
Joined 2007
eljoantonyn said:
2nd link:
Very interesting design vs others with 8 nos of tda1305. I'm not an electronics engineer but that thing is intriguing.
Click to expand...

TDA1387 - its the 3rd link with the TDA1305. Definitely an intriguing chip I agree.

3rd link:
The highlight is the amp, the jlh 1969.
By the way, what you mean by electronic sound ?
V-shaped frequency response?
Click to expand...

I don't know another way to put it other than a kind of phasey-ness, just not a natural sound. No, nothing to do with the frequency response as far as I know. Out of TDA1305 it's bound to be flat enough.

Thanks for your observations abraxalito:)
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Coming any closer to making your decision? :p
 
abraxalito

abraxalito

Member
Joined 2007
If USB power is used directly then I would agree its a major limitation on the subjective performance of a DAC/amp. But some DACs will have internal boost converters to step up the 5V bus power to something higher - no reason those shouldn't perform well. Look on the PCB to see if there's a PSU controller chip next to an inductor.
 
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eljoantonyn

Member
Joined 2014
abraxalito said:
TDA1387 - its the 3rd link with the TDA1305. Definitely an intriguing chip I agree.



I don't know another way to put it other than a kind of phasey-ness, just not a natural sound. No, nothing to do with the frequency response as far as I know. Out of TDA1305 it's bound to be flat enough.



You're welcome. Coming any closer to making your decision? :p
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Oh ok:eek:

If it's sounds artificial, don't want it.

Haha...I was about to commit until I read the following comments....

phase said:
The usb powered DACs that I have used sounded pretty much like the headphone out on my laptop.
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abraxalito said:
If USB power is used directly then I would agree its a major limitation on the subjective performance of a DAC/amp. But some DACs will have internal boost converters to step up the 5V bus power to something higher - no reason those shouldn't perform well. Look on the PCB to see if there's a PSU controller chip next to an inductor.
Click to expand...
Does the dac in the second link have the psu controller ?
 
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eljoantonyn

Member
Joined 2014
Photos of the board.
 

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abraxalito

abraxalito

Member
Joined 2007
I think what you can do is use a USB hub which accepts an external 5V PSU. That's what people do when connecting up USB stuff to mobile phones and iPads where the USB drivers won't allow much current draw.

I'm not seeing any voltage regs on that DAC - the CM108 USB interface works directly off 5V as do the TDA1387s.
 
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eljoantonyn

Member
Joined 2014
abraxalito said:
I think what you can do is use a USB hub which accepts an external 5V PSU. That's what people do when connecting up USB stuff to mobile phones and iPads where the USB drivers won't allow much current draw.

I'm not seeing any voltage regs on that DAC - the CM108 USB interface works directly off 5V as do the TDA1387s.
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Ok, thats an elegant solution to this issue.:)
phase said:
...Or just use one that uses a 12v external transformer.

I recommended this one I think it was for my father, and he has managed to replace some of the parts inside to make it sound better.

Online Shop hifi decoder XMOS U8 + AK4490 AMP NE5532 USB DAC Sound Card Headphone Output Support for PCM 192kHz | Aliexpress Mobile
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:D
Breeze Audio is a decent brand too, right?

But that other DAC's (8 dacs in parallel) topology is very interesting.
Can't make a decision lol :D
 
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eljoantonyn

Member
Joined 2014
abraxalito said:
I'm not sure 'Breeze Audio' is a brand of electronics, they make DIY cases with that writing on which are pretty nice for the money.
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Oh !:(

So its a straight shootout between...
hifi decoder XMOS U8 + AK4490 AMP NE5532 USB DAC Sound Card Headphone Output Support for PCM 192kHz-in Digital-to-Analog Converter from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

and

Nobsound Mini HiFi Sound Card DAC TDA1387 USB 8X Audio Decoding Headphone Amplifier DTS/AC3 Coaxial Optical Digital Output-in Headphone Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

with the following DAC as a mute spectator :D

Lee L1969 DAC pure class a USB decoding headphone amp one machine, Android OTG for apple PC portable headphone amplifier-in Headphone Amplifier from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
 
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