• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

How is this for a DAC ?

TechLarry said:
M-Audio SUPERDAC II Digital Audio Converter

-Audio SUPERDAC II Digital Audio Converter

Also considering this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BURJVOC...olid=2HFPWS1A086N7&coliid=I92VN2N8T3407&psc=1

Micca OriGen+ High Resolution USB DAC and Preamplifier - 24-Bit/192kHz PCM and 64x DSD
Click to expand...

As far as the first one I have no idea. As to the second one, I actually own this myself and am very happy with it. What kind of headphones are you planning on powering with it?

I suggest watching
This is a very good review on the predecessor to this unit. The + version adds spdif fiber input and a switch on the front to switch between headphone and pre-line out on the back of the unit. Everything else is just the same.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Friend of mine ran M-Audio gear for DAC and recording I believe for a while, not bad but there is better stuff out there.
 
Sway said:
As far as the first one I have no idea. As to the second one, I actually own this myself and am very happy with it. What kind of headphones are you planning on powering with it?

I suggest watching
This is a very good review on the predecessor to this unit. The + version adds spdif fiber input and a switch on the front to switch between headphone and pre-line out on the back of the unit. Everything else is just the same.
Click to expand...


No headphones. Line out to my M-Audio 12" Sub and M3-6 Powered Monitors.

I need to make sure the volume controls the Pre-Out when used.
 
The Micca Origen is convenient for powered monitors due to the pre-out control and knob position / form-factor, and it seems even more so now that they released the Micca Origen +

I had the Micca Origen, but decided to return it due to USB noise (possibly from motherboard) at the pre-out. I could listen to headphones just fine, but there was noise (background noise and excess shrieking upon mouse movement) coming through my speakers. An optical DAC fixed the situation (SMSL sd793 II).

I'm glad Micca now has that optical input, but my SMSL also has a decent external PSU... I see the Origen + has the retained the USB and DC 5v options, but I'm guessing they still do not include a separate 5v DC PSU. That may not be an issue, however.
 
Archmage said:
I had the Micca Origen, but decided to return it due to USB noise (possibly from motherboard) at the pre-out. I could listen to headphones just fine, but there was noise (background noise and excess shrieking upon mouse movement) coming through my speakers. An optical DAC fixed the situation (SMSL sd793 II).
Click to expand...

I have a Creative Sound Blaster E1 that has a crazy amount of background static in it, and the reason I got it was to replace the built-in sound card that did the same thing. You would think there would be a way to filter that out.
 
Westrock2000 : we both use ASRock z77 motherboards (I have the extreme 4) and AMD 7XXX GPU's (7950 with 7970 pcb). My noise issue persists through different PSU's and houses... I don't know what the problem is; perhaps I could solve the issue with a ~0.7v ground lift using anti-parallel diodes as seen in the overpriced Hum-X device, but either way I won't be getting a budget mobo next time. Fortunately, I'm not after high-fidelity audio right now... so this SMSL amp/DAC has been the perfect low-budget solution.

This may be why NwAvGuy (designer of ODAC and Objective Amp) states that galvanic isolation on a USB DAC may be useful when connecting to grounded components (like my speakers)... and not quite so useful for headphones and headphone amps, which "float" with respect to ground.
 
I might go with the Origen. Sounds like it has a really good price/performance ratio.
 
This iFi is lovely, and also does quad DSD upsampling through software (foobar and Jriver Media Center). Amazon.com: iFi - Nano iDSD DAC: Electronics

The headphone output is great as well, and they have a small usb isolation circuit in the device - there are many aftermarket USB isolators out there now, if we want to get into that discussion I can suggest the Schiit one will do 99% of units that cost 4x as much. Many higher-end DACs do have isolation built in, though, so its not always necessary (even with stinky loud boards like my EX58-UD3R and old EVGA x45)

ETA - the iFi is battery powered and also works with iPads with a camera connector kit, but I assume many DACs do that. The knob also does act as a pre-amp control, so it would control your powered speaker volume.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Why the hell do they have the output on the front panel? That's stupid.

Plus if I break $200 I'd probably go with a JDS Labs Objective2+ODAC.
 
TechLarry said:
Why the hell do they have the output on the front panel? That's stupid.

Plus if I break $200 I'd probably go with a JDS Labs Objective2+ODAC.
Click to expand...

I agree, I use it mostly for headphones on my laptop so that part of it doesn't bother me - it is a nuisance when I use it as a source/preamp for my tube amp, though, as the cables look wonky. You are, however, getting filtering produced by the DAC wizards at AMR who normally make gear a few tens of thousand dollars more, and the DSD upsampling is beautiful to my ears.

The ODAC is definitely a decent unit (especially for price), a very sterile/objective unit that would actually suit computer audio and solid state amplification of powered speakers well.
 
TechLarry said:
Did NwAvGuy ever resurface or is he still MIA ?
Click to expand...

Good question, I haven't seen anything recently on the various audio forums, but I tend to stay away from them as they just become a feedback loop of opinions and namecalling...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top