Recommend me a USB Amp/DAC

B

Bladestorm

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
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I'm new to USB Amps and DAC's, and would like to get one to replace my dead PCIe Titanium HD. I use my M-Audio AV 40's almost exclusively, and rarely use my headphones (Grado SR80i). I will probably upgrade the AV 40's to something better, but they are what I have to deal with for the time being. I listen to Metal and play games, though not as much as I used to. From my limited understanding, the AV 40's being active I could get by with just a DAC and plug the headphone directly into the AV 40's when I decide to use them, but I'd much rather have an amp as well. My budget is up to $300, more if the return is worth it.. I've been looking at quite a few USB Amp/DAC all in one units, but can't decide which is right for me.

Any and all input is welcome, and please let me know if anything I said is incorrect.
 
Sounds like "amp" means "headphone amp" in your situation. What have you considered?

At $250ish, I'd look at the Audioengine D1 & Emotiva XDA-2, but there are a TON of options. While neither have a speaker amp, they should do fine with cans.
 
HammerSandwich said:
Sounds like "amp" means "headphone amp" in your situation. What have you considered?

At $250ish, I'd look at the Audioengine D1 & Emotiva XDA-2, but there are a TON of options. While neither have a speaker amp, they should do fine with cans.
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Yes, I mean headphone amp.

I've been looking at the Audioengine D1, NuForce Icon uDAC-3, Teac UDH01 and, Maverick Audio - TubeMagic D1 Plus DAC. There were others, but I can't remember at the moment.
 
Portable: JDS c5d, HRT microstreamer

Non portable: ODAC/o2, or schiit magni/modi.

Everything I mentioned was solid state, people seem to like to pair their grados with tube amps but thats more or less a preference thing.
 
Musiland Monitor 02 US...excellent DAC (especially for the money), not very good headphone amp.
 
Audioengine D1 is rock solid; I've tested it with the Audioengine A5 as well as 5 different earbuds, headphones and the sound is richer vs my old x-fi
 
I'm using the Schiit Modi USB DAC with the Schiit Asgard 2 amp. One nice feature of the Asgard 2 is that it has a set of RCA out connections for hooking up to a powered set of desktop speakers/monitors. Or you could use the connection to go to an AUX In of a receiver/integrated amp as I do.

Modi is $99, and the Asgard 2 is $249, so it is a bit over your $300 budget, but it may be worth the added flexibility over a Modi/Magni combo.
 
You could pick up a Topping TP30 or VX1. They seem to have fantastic reviews and the price is fantastic.
 
My DAC was delivered yesterday, and it sounds like crap compared to my Titanium HD. I'm assuming it's just a matter of a few settings. The sound if flat and muffled. Any advice?
 
Bladestorm said:
My DAC was delivered yesterday, and it sounds like crap compared to my Titanium HD. I'm assuming it's just a matter of a few settings. The sound if flat and muffled. Any advice?
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go to sound control panel and make sure the "Supported Formats" and "Default Format" (advanced tab) are set correctly.



also from the link the have a ASIO driver download linked you can try that... depending on what playback software you are using.

You might also want to check your source material.. sometimes a nicer piece of equipment can make problems in the source material (especially mp3s) really stand out.


if i had to take a guess ..because my damn FiiO E07K/E09K does this, is that it may have defaulted to 16bit which makes stuff sound bad...

It is also of course possible a lack of synergy between dac / amp .. my aforementioned FiiO sounds like butt when outputting to my Pioneer SX3600 while it sounds great outputting to my Kenwood KR-V106R and the Pioneer sounds great when i use my Focusrite Scarlett as a dac for it...go figure?

Another possibility is you just don't care for the new dac... which would be a bummer but it happens.. but for now check the control panel settings and give yourself a couple days to get use to it and see where that leaves you.
 
Bladestorm said:
I ended up going cheap, real cheap.
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I think this has more to do with why your DAC sounds like crap. I haven't been real impressed with FiiO stuff either. I tried the D03K, and promptly sent it back.

For a budget DAC, I would still recommend the Schiit Modi for $99. A first gen Audioquest Dragonfly might still be found in stock somewhere for around $100. A 2nd gen Dragonfly is $149, and would be another not too expensive option. Or an ODAC.
 
As also pointed out, MP3's can also not sound very good, mostly due to lower kbit/sec. rates such as 128.

Just because it is 16-bit doesn't mean it "makes stuff sound bad". Compact discs are 16-bit PCM encoded at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate. So with that logic, all CD's should sound bad, right?
 
atarione said:
go to sound control panel and make sure the "Supported Formats" and "Default Format" (advanced tab) are set correctly.
Click to expand...

Here's what I have -

image.jpg


image.jpg


I also installed the Sabre ASIO driver linked to on the sellers site, but I don't think it's working.

UNLOAD.jpg


Though this thing was cheap, I was under the impression that it was pretty good because of the DAC chip it uses.

All my tests so far have been using FLAC files, and some Youtube music videos at 1080p.

I think what it comes down to is I'm too used to the added enhancements the Creative drivers allowed. What's a good audio player I can use that has an EQ and maybe some other enhancements? Or, maybe something that runs in the background, and injects if you will, those enhancements so I'm not dependent on a specific audio player.
 
I know that foobar 2000 has an available EQ plug-in. You can also find some EQ presets for it, as well as creating your own EQ profiles.

I've also used Music Bee, but I haven't even looked to see if it has EQ capability, although I tend to think that it does.

It's also not just solely a matter of which chip the DAC uses, but also the implementation in the overall package. Being that you're listening to FLAC files, and they sound bad, I'd point the finger at the DAC just not being very good. Or, you were unlucky with that particular unit. After all, it's possible to have lemons from any manufacturing process.
 
jgreen said:
Being that you're listening to FLAC files, and they sound bad, I'd point the finger at the DAC just not being very good. Or, you were unlucky with that particular unit. After all, it's possible to have lemons from any manufacturing process.
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Good point. I just wish I knew which of those two possibilities I have. If it is a lemon I don't think I want to deal with the hassle of trying to return it to China. If it's just not a very good DAC, and knowing myself, I can see this getting very expensive buying a bunch of different ones looking for the best sound for me. :(

I'll keep using it for a few more days, and try out foobar.

Thanks for the help.
 
Glad I could help, and I hope you're able to find something you like if you ditch the DAC you have. I agree, it's not worth the hassle of shipping it back to China.

If you start shopping for a new DAC, and would like to keep the price down, here are some options I think you would be happy with. All under $200, and as low as $99.

http://schiit.com/products/modi

http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-DragonFly-Digital-Converter-Version/dp/B00882U782

http://www.amazon.com/AUDIOQUEST-DRAGONFLY-V1-2-USB-DAC/dp/B00H00VLZQ

http://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-D1-24-bit-Digital-to-Analog-Converter/dp/B006IPH5H2

http://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-Digital-Converter-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00GCDVNHI

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Streamer-High-Resolution-Converter/dp/B0038O4UFQ
 
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i know foobar is very popular so i don't wish to be chased by angry villages with pitchforks and torches (my ancestors where from Transylvania...true story so it hits close to home :D) but personally i have always found the output of foobar (by default at least) rather mediocre


personally I play my flac files with winamp with Maiko WASAPI plugin which i find personally much better.. it might be worth a try (imho) see if you like it?


your settings look good to me... you may just be use to how the creative card sounds..maybe give it a couple days, I have heard good things about the dac chip in that thing but I haven't ever had a chance to try it... if you have any other stereo gear to ouput to or if you can go to a buddies and try maybe give that a go..because while both my SX-3600 and FiiO E07K/E09K are both working perfectly.. together they sound like ass with my NHT superzero's .. but with my Scarlett it sounds great (listening to it right now with the Scarlett actually... sometimes synergy just fails to exist between certain gear.. but give it a bit also to see what you think in a few days?


worse comes to worse return it (if viable.. you ordered that from china huh?) or if not sell it you probably can get close~ish to your money back and try something else.
 
Are the speakers hooked up using the DAC's RCA out?

Also saw on the page that a power supply is required. Do you have one for the DAC?
 
ShinyFalcon said:
Are the speakers hooked up using the DAC's RCA out?

Also saw on the page that a power supply is required. Do you have one for the DAC?
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Yes and yes.

I got it to sound better messing around with the EQ in foobar. It actually sounds quite good with everything I don't normally listen to. I guess I can't expect too much considering the production quality of Metal is pretty terrible these days.

I'll try Winamp with the Maiko WASAPI plugin next.
 
As it has not been mentioned yet. My vote goes for the Audinst HUD-MX1. It has served me very well for over two years now.
 
FiiO E18 sounds outstanding. Do not pay attention to a lot of BS about FiiO I have read earlier. The E17 is outstanding too but I do like the E18 more for my headphones.
Some people just talk so much crap that man...gotta love the internet.
 
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