Will Voltage-Out DACs Ever Be Good, Like Current-Out DACs?

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From what I have noticed, any usb powered dac will sound about like the headphone output of the computer that is attached to the dac. Maybe a little better, but not much.
Would be better off optimizing the computer for audio and saving the $20 or whatever that thing would cost.

Also, the pcm5102 had shown some clipping behavior if I recall.
 
From what I have noticed, any usb powered dac will sound about like the headphone output of the computer that is attached to the dac. Maybe a little better, but not much.
Would be better off optimizing the computer for audio and saving the $20 or whatever that thing would cost.

Also, the pcm5102 had shown some clipping behavior if I recall.

This is about as incorrect as you can get.

USB DAC sounding like the completely unrelated headphone output of the PC. LOL - one of the most ignorant statements I have ever seen here, and that's saying a lot.

Before you reply, I know you said USB bus powered. It's still completely wrong.
 
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Sounds like me.. In some fields.
For example, I am still using Windows XP, with no plans to move to anything newer by Microsoft..

But I see what you mean.
I will try some newer DACs then.

Me too :!

We used to have musicians with real sound, then there was the tube, then the electric guitar, now we have ear buds and digital audio...

Computers used to be for work, now they eat our precious time :fim:

Men use to hunt live in the wild with bows, now we sit in an office or work hard in manufactures and have a push cart and a car and worry about health care, and electronics specifications!

back to business, the best DAC now is working in parallel. We can argue that the ES9038PRO is the most advanced, best sounding DAC, and how does it sounds? IDK. I heard the previous Sabre dacs the 32 bit ones, and they sound ...
- smooth
- accurate
- warm
- non-digital
- sterile
- non-involving
- without much contrast

In comparison, the best I have heard from a tda1541 is
- relatively smooth
- not very extended , not very deep bass
- not very warm
- involving
- neutral
- very layered
- can listen to at least 4 different instruments without blurring of sound

In comparison the other dacs dont sound as clear in the vocals and in separation of timbres.
 
This is about as incorrect as you can get.

USB DAC sounding like the completely unrelated headphone output of the PC. LOL - one of the most ignorant statements I have ever seen here, and that's saying a lot.

Before you reply, I know you said USB bus powered. It's still completely wrong.

Well enjoy your dac there, powered by your noisy computer ps, I certainly won’t stop you!

After all, a $20 dac should be as good as any other, right?
 
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Well enjoy your dac there, powered by your noisy computer ps, I certainly won’t stop you!

After all, a $20 dac should be as good as any other, right?

I didn't say anything about that particular DAC being any good. It's probably crap.

Just because it's powered by the bus does not mean anything. The QuantAsylum QA401 is powered by the bus and performs extremely well and likely would not perform any better were it powered by an external supply.

Just because you don't know how to filter a SMPS and use high quality linear post regulators doesn't mean that it is impossible. It might surprise, you but there are some people out there that actually know what they are doing.

Similar to the on-board headphone output, wow, what nonsense. It would be nice if you didn't spread such misinformation.
 
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Would be better off optimizing the computer for audio and saving the $20 or whatever that thing would cost.
How is that done?


I heard the previous Sabre dacs the 32 bit ones, and they sound ...
- smooth
- accurate
- warm
- non-digital
- sterile
- non-involving
- without much contrast

In comparison, the best I have heard from a tda1541 is
- relatively smooth
- not very extended , not very deep bass
- not very warm
- involving
- neutral
- very layered
- can listen to at least 4 different instruments without blurring of sound

In comparison the other dacs dont sound as clear in the vocals and in separation of timbres.
Hmm
"- without much contrast" vs " - "can listen to at least 4 different instruments without blurring of sound"

This means an ESS DAC had a problem with several instruments being played together?
 
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If it is in your price range, you could look at a Khadas Tone Board or Topping DX3 Pro.
Those are known to measure well and be decent implementations.
Thank you.
I am more a fan of USB Powered DACs, that are properly implemented, as you said.

But not 450$ like the QuantAsylum QA401..
A well implemented USB Powered DAC, under 100$, would be a nice choice.
 
Thank you.
I am more a fan of USB Powered DACs, that are properly implemented, as you said.

But not 450$ like the QuantAsylum QA401..
A well implemented USB Powered DAC, under 100$, would be a nice choice.

The QA401 is a measurement device anyway, but just using that as an example of what is possible.

I'm not sure what's under $100, check out the Khadas Tone Board, but not sure if you need other parts to make it work.

Under $100 it will be hard to find something well done. If I designed one, my BOM cost would be well over $100.
 
Thank you CallMeMike.
It's ok that it's not moddable, since I prefer a working product with no mess..

It seems that its output is Headphone Amplified,
and I am onnecting it to Amplified Speakers.. (Yamaha HS7),
is that OK?
Or must I take a DAC that outputs Line Out and not a Headphone Amplifier output?
 
If you search,(it is diy after all) there are several sources which walk through the steps that will help reduce noise from your audio usb. One is clearing the start up menu.


Good luck with the cheap boards, they can be fun up to a point, but not worth investing a bunch of $ into that’s for sure. Might try searching around here on the form to see what others have done also.
 
I was able to put one together for around $200 US, using a board, transformer, diy case, discrete op amp, and a slew of capacitors, many of which I had already.
There are others that are available, completed in a case, that hover just over $100 that use a much more simple single power supply and less regulation, decoupling.
The next step down will be the ones that are usb powered.

I also have a great sounding dac that uses a usb input, and the computer thing is very real. I just realized last week that the laptop wireless was pinging off of several devices. Turning the airplane mode on made a nice difference. Also to use a (single) ferrite on the usb helps also.

Sorry about the off-topic btw.
 
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Also, the pcm5102 had shown some clipping behavior if I recall.

The PCM5102A will likely only clip if there is a load on the output. The output drive is limited by the charge pump, so it is difficult for the device to drive negative full-scale voltage with load on the output. If you check out the datasheet, TI specified the THD+N at -1dBFS for this reason. If the output is buffered, then 0dBFS should be fine, with no clipping.
 
Just an example of an available, completed device;


AK4495SEQ double core soft controlled DAC decoding DELUXE Support DOP DSD | eBay



A strictly usb input device for diy could even do without knobs, only use a power switch, which can come integrated to the switch. Saves time and helps reduce clutter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050HH70E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A volume pot could also be used to control the volume, or a headphone/preamp can be added with another transformer, all into the same case.

Just some ideas anyways, not exactly cheap like pocket change, but definitely a bargain.
 
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