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Recommend me a DAC

post #1 of 23
3/17/09 at 5:14pm
Thread Starter 
I want to pair up a dac with an amp (which i dont know yet either), but its going to be used with the HD650s. and the music genres will be of all sorts ranging from slow blues, classical all the way to some nu-metal rock(linkin park etc).

my budget is something around $300-400USD or ~$700AUD.

im open to suggestions but it would be easier if someone suggested something i can easily get in aus. i was considering the Dacmagic but some people prefer others over it so i thought id get back to the drawing board and start again.
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post #2 of 23
3/17/09 at 5:56pm
Consider the audio-gd compass, especially now that it is still in its introductory price. It is well within your budget
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post #3 of 23
3/17/09 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zantetsuken View Post
I want to pair up a dac with an amp (which i dont know yet either), but its going to be used with the HD650s. and the music genres will be of all sorts ranging from slow blues, classical all the way to some nu-metal rock(linkin park etc).

my budget is something around $300-400USD or ~$700AUD.

im open to suggestions but it would be easier if someone suggested something i can easily get in aus. i was considering the Dacmagic but some people prefer others over it so i thought id get back to the drawing board and start again.
Are you using a computer or that Creative Zen?
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post #4 of 23
3/17/09 at 6:09pm
Welcom to DAC hell this should get your DAC experience started..

Lite Dac AH, Pacific Valve mod $180

Gigalab Moon $185

KingRex UD-01 $190

Stereo-Link Model 1200 $198

E-MU 0404 USB $199

HIPPOhifi The Bloat $199-249

Sigtone Shek h1 $200

Valab NOS DAC $200

Firestone Audio FubarIII $210

Zhaolu D3 $229

Audio-gd DAC-100 $245

Three-Two USB DAC $245

Devilsound Labs DAC - digital audio cable $249

Firestone Spitfire $250

KECES DA-151 $250

Lite DAC AM / Modified $259, $375

Moodlab Concept $261

Meier-Audio Corda 2Move $271

iBasso D10 Cobra $275

Sigtone Shek d1 $280

Musiland MD-10 $295

Xindak DAC-3 MKII $319

Yulong DAH1 $319

KECES DA-131 $320

Sigtone Shek d2 $320

BES Audio Icarus $329-379

Channel Islands Audio VDA-1 $349

Citypulse DA7.2x II $350

Scott Nixon USB.UFO.JF $350,

Mhdt Laboratory Constantine / Constantine+ $359, $399

AD LABS Rockna RD-2, DIY fully-assembled $385

Cambridge Audio DacMagic $399

Core Sound HeadLine $399

Diyeden Great March 2 $399

HeadRoom Micro DAC $399

Promitheus Audio Solid State DAC $405-425

Moodlab Dice $416
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post #5 of 23
3/17/09 at 6:14pm
OR you can just buy this: PICO DAC 299$ intro price
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post #6 of 23
3/18/09 at 5:52am
Thread Starter 
ill be using this with a computer. btw do any of these have balanced outputs? i was looking to go balanced as well in the future since i hear the 650s do you great justice with a balanced setup. also i hear some are "truly" balanced and some are not, are any of these balanced? or am i going to have to up my budget for that?
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post #7 of 23
3/18/09 at 6:43am
Don't know if they are truely balanced, but they have balanced output. Check them out

BES Audio Icarus $329-379
DAC: Burr-Brown PCM 1798, Philips TDA1543, Cirrus CS4398 (all on daughterboards)
Inputs: USB, Coaxial, Optical, XLR
Outputs: RCA, XLR, 1/4" TRS

Citypulse DA7.2x II $350
DAC: Burr-Brown PCM1796
Receiver: Cirrus CS8416
Inputs: Coaxial, Optical
Outputs: RCA (x2, variable and fixed), XLR

Cambridge Audio DacMagic $399
DAC: Wolfson WM8740 (x2)
Upsampling
Inputs: USB, Coaxial (x2), Optical (x2)
Outputs: RCA, XLR, Coaxial digital, Optical digital

Diyeden Great March 2 $399
DAC: Burr-Brown PCM1798
Upsampling chip: TI SRC4190
Inputs: Coaxial, Optical, XLR
Outputs: RCA, XLR
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post #8 of 23
3/18/09 at 7:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by paara View Post
OR you can just buy this: PICO DAC 299$ intro price
Get a nice balanced DAC later. Go for the Pico now.
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post #9 of 23
3/18/09 at 7:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brighten View Post
Get a nice balanced DAC later. Go for the Pico now.
ive not heard of the pico. how does it compare with other dacs?, also i thought the higher the upsampling the better the DAC. it says the pico goes up to 96Khz. whereas others like Dacmagic can go all the way to 192Khz. i could be wrong here but just curious.
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post #10 of 23
3/18/09 at 8:01am
That is wrong, A non oversamlpling dac can be as good or better then a 192khz DAC.
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post #11 of 23
3/18/09 at 8:25am
Thread Starter 
what does it mean to 'upsample,' 'oversample' and hows it work, can you point me in the right direction for that?

thanks =)
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post #12 of 23
3/18/09 at 8:47am
Oversampling is an upsampling process where the ratio between output sampling frequency and input sampling frequency is an integer larger than 1. Upsampling is any kind of transformation providing an output sampling frequency that is higher than the input sampling frequency and not necessarily a ratio.

Upsampling vs. Oversampling for Digital Audio — Reviews and News from Audioholics

Anyway it doesn't neseccerly increase SQ by upsampling the signal.
Some san that NOS is the way to go but others prefere up/oversampling. A bad recording probably gonna sound better with oversampling, while a NOS probably gonne sound better on high quality sources.

But the sampling rate is just a pice in the "SQ puzzle". Quality of components and designs is just as important. if not more. So dont pay too much attention to the sample rate
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post #13 of 23
3/18/09 at 1:12pm
I guess first you should make a decision regarding whether you need a portable DAC or a full-size DAC. I am looking for a DAC for my Denon D2000 and right now I would be going for a full-size DAC (most prob. the Compass).


Quote:
Originally Posted by zantetsuken View Post
ive not heard of the pico. how does it compare with other dacs?, also i thought the higher the upsampling the better the DAC. it says the pico goes up to 96Khz. whereas others like Dacmagic can go all the way to 192Khz. i could be wrong here but just curious.
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post #14 of 23
3/18/09 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by paara View Post
OR you can just buy this: PICO DAC 299$ intro price
KECES DA-131

My vote is for one of these two.
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post #15 of 23
3/19/09 at 3:32am
Pico DAC sounds like a good choice for you.
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