Hello!
I'm looking for DAC recommendations. I will most likely be picking up a secondhand DAC but I'm open for DIY projects. My main question is: if we're talking new producsts, what price class do I need to buy into to get the most out of my setup? It being a small portable DAC would be a bonus so I could also use it with my phone (and headphones).
My current setup is:
source: FLAC files from my computer.
amp: Marantz pm80
headphones: shure SE535
speakers: A pair of DIY speakers with the following drivers (each):
-Seas H831 26TFF (10x10cm tweeters, 40 euro)
-Audax HM130CO (13x13cm woofer, 100 euro)
-2x Audax HM210CO (21x21cm woofer, 140 euro)
So we're talking 840 euro worth of drivers.
On a side note, I planned on building my own DIY speaker kit, however I then found this secondhand prebuilt kit for a stupidly low price. I know the drivers but the crossover and kit name are a mystery.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Nicolas
I'm looking for DAC recommendations. I will most likely be picking up a secondhand DAC but I'm open for DIY projects. My main question is: if we're talking new producsts, what price class do I need to buy into to get the most out of my setup? It being a small portable DAC would be a bonus so I could also use it with my phone (and headphones).
My current setup is:
source: FLAC files from my computer.
amp: Marantz pm80
headphones: shure SE535
speakers: A pair of DIY speakers with the following drivers (each):
-Seas H831 26TFF (10x10cm tweeters, 40 euro)
-Audax HM130CO (13x13cm woofer, 100 euro)
-2x Audax HM210CO (21x21cm woofer, 140 euro)
So we're talking 840 euro worth of drivers.
On a side note, I planned on building my own DIY speaker kit, however I then found this secondhand prebuilt kit for a stupidly low price. I know the drivers but the crossover and kit name are a mystery.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Nicolas
This thread:
Cheap chi-fi DAC buy (<30 USD)
has gotten past the $30 USD limit in the title and has some interesting ideas.
Based on some comments in that thread, I bought a Topping D30 which seems very nice and was delivered quickly from AliExpress.
In my office I use a Maverick TubeMagic which sounds pretty good for computer streaming sound and YouTube.
I can't convince myself that I can hear differences between DACs, but I may have never had a really bad one or I have really bad ears, or both....
DIY (at my skill level) for DACs means mostly plugging together cheap modules on PCBs, and trying to find a presentable case, so not much fun. Been there, done that....
Cheap chi-fi DAC buy (<30 USD)
has gotten past the $30 USD limit in the title and has some interesting ideas.
Based on some comments in that thread, I bought a Topping D30 which seems very nice and was delivered quickly from AliExpress.
In my office I use a Maverick TubeMagic which sounds pretty good for computer streaming sound and YouTube.
I can't convince myself that I can hear differences between DACs, but I may have never had a really bad one or I have really bad ears, or both....
DIY (at my skill level) for DACs means mostly plugging together cheap modules on PCBs, and trying to find a presentable case, so not much fun. Been there, done that....
Hi Nicolas
You don´t write your budget you plan to spend but i guess you are ready to spend more then 30Euros.
my first DAC diy is actually a fine board and its with case about 30 euros
CM6631A + ES9023 cheap board - modification...?
sound is really good for a 30 euro ready DAC
--> actually i use a Topping D50 to leave my "Master" DAC (Gustard A20H) some rest. my target is to be able to pimp in the future the D50. actual the price is about 200 euros and the extra batterypack is about 16 euros or so...sound very good
chris
You don´t write your budget you plan to spend but i guess you are ready to spend more then 30Euros.
my first DAC diy is actually a fine board and its with case about 30 euros
CM6631A + ES9023 cheap board - modification...?
sound is really good for a 30 euro ready DAC
--> actually i use a Topping D50 to leave my "Master" DAC (Gustard A20H) some rest. my target is to be able to pimp in the future the D50. actual the price is about 200 euros and the extra batterypack is about 16 euros or so...sound very good
chris
The best low-ish cost dac I know of is Allo Katana, an RPi hat dac. With appropriate linear power supplies it can really sound quite good (although not quite so good as some $2,000 dacs that are rated A+ recommended by Stereophile). Katana sells for $250 in basic form. An isolator board costs another $40 or so. Then you would need an RPi, and linear +-15v and +5v power supplies, and one +5v good quality wall wart. Film caps augmenting the +-15v add some more $, so probably around $500 total cost for a dac that sounds as good as $1,000+ dacs. Maybe as good as good quality $1,500 dacs, but probably not more than around that level of sound quality.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.