Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Using the Mbox-2 as a DAC
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Using the Mbox-2 as a DAC

post #1 of 13
2/18/11 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone!

 

I just recently got into this whole audiophile hobby.  This is my first post on these forums, but I've read through them a ton! 

 

Anyways, I do a little bit of music recording, so I own an Mbox-2.  I also own a recent i5 iMac, which seems to use an onboard chip for sound.  Now, I can set the output of the iMac to the mbox2, and plug in my headphones into the mbox2 to listen to music.  This basically means the sound card/DAC is the mbox2, right?  Does anyone know how this compares to a real DAC like the UDAC?  Is it worth it to buy another DAC or should I just use the mbox?  Or am I a dumb dumb?

 

Thanks for any responses! =)

Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

EMU 0404 4 Channel Digital PCI Audio Interface
post #2 of 13
2/18/11 at 1:08pm

don't waste your money on a udac, the mbox 2 is fine. It's better than a emu 0404 from what I've read. 

Reply
post #3 of 13
2/18/11 at 1:54pm

I was wondering this too, as I have an audio interface similar to the Mbox2. I ended up buying an Audio gd NFB3 because I figured something with as many features as an audio interface couldn't outperform a device dedicated to being a DAC. Unfortunately my DAC hasn't arrived yet, but once it does I hope to have an answer to the question.

Reply
post #4 of 13
2/18/11 at 2:23pm
Thread Starter 


thanks -- exactly what I wanted to know!

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nagasaki_Kid View Post

don't waste your money on a udac, the mbox 2 is fine. It's better than a emu 0404 from what I've read. 

Reply
post #5 of 13
2/18/11 at 3:09pm
Thread Starter 

Let us know if you notice anything~
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by alakalaka99 View Post

I was wondering this too, as I have an audio interface similar to the Mbox2. I ended up buying an Audio gd NFB3 because I figured something with as many features as an audio interface couldn't outperform a device dedicated to being a DAC. Unfortunately my DAC hasn't arrived yet, but once it does I hope to have an answer to the question.

Reply
post #6 of 13
2/21/11 at 4:21pm

I'm no good at describing sound, but I will say that the sound from my NFB-3 is miles ahead of my audio interface (Cakewalk UA-25EX). Soundstage is way wider, and through just minutes of listening I'm hearing new details. It makes sense, seeing as my interface has tons of features like inputs, midi, etc., that a box 4 times the size that is dedicated to being a DAC would sound better.

 

If you have the money a good dedicated DAC is well worth it over your Mbox2. But like someone said above, I would pass on getting a uDac or something in that price range as you probably won't see much of an improvement. You're gonna have to spend more money to see any significant improvement. That seems to be a reoccurring theme here at Head-fi...
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by kittyn View Post

Let us know if you notice anything~
 


 
Reply
post #7 of 13
2/22/11 at 11:25am
Thread Starter 

Where did you buy the NFB-3? I've been trying to look it up online, but I cant find it.
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by alakalaka99 View Post

I'm no good at describing sound, but I will say that the sound from my NFB-3 is miles ahead of my audio interface (Cakewalk UA-25EX). Soundstage is way wider, and through just minutes of listening I'm hearing new details. It makes sense, seeing as my interface has tons of features like inputs, midi, etc., that a box 4 times the size that is dedicated to being a DAC would sound better.

 

If you have the money a good dedicated DAC is well worth it over your Mbox2. But like someone said above, I would pass on getting a uDac or something in that price range as you probably won't see much of an improvement. You're gonna have to spend more money to see any significant improvement. That seems to be a reoccurring theme here at Head-fi...
 

Reply
post #8 of 13
2/22/11 at 2:53pm

I actually bought mine from another user here, but you can order from Audio-gd directly. They don't have any shopping cart system so ordering and everything is done through email.

 

Here's the product page. http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/NFB-2/NFB2EN.htm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by kittyn View Post

Where did you buy the NFB-3? I've been trying to look it up online, but I cant find it.
 


 


 

Reply
post #9 of 13
2/23/11 at 9:35pm
Thread Starter 

Just an update: 

 

I was experiencing a lot of noise when using the Mbox2 as a DAC.  I was frustrated, until I figured out why.  I had my mix knob somewhere in the middle, and my input1 volume turned up.. so I turned the volume down and set the mix all the way to the right.  Then the noise went away!

 

BTW - compared to the built-in headphone jack on the imac, the mbox seems to have way better range/clarity.

Reply
post #10 of 13
2/24/11 at 10:48pm

Well the Macbook pro DAC is not great and the Mbox 2 is average at best.

However, the new Mbox range: Mbox mini, Mbox Pro and Mbox are way

better. The AD and DA has been upgraded a lot.

Reply
post #11 of 13
2/25/11 at 3:35am

Until recently i was using it as my daily use DAC (switched to the fastrack cause its smaller, and fits my desk better.) Its a huge improvement over onboard sound, IMO, especially if you have one lying around. I wonder what's with the sudden interest in mboxen suddenly ;p

Reply
post #12 of 13
2/25/11 at 10:16am
Thread Starter 


Well, mainly it's just because I had one lying around, like you said :P  It's either use the imac's headphone jack (which I don't want to do since I have computer speakers connected, plus it's located in a very inconvenient place to plug things in and out of ) or use this mbox I had sitting on my desk already.  I was looking at DAC's like the E7 and  the Total Bithead but from what I gather they wouldn't be a noticeable improvement? It's my birthday coming up so... :)

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by faileas View Post

Until recently i was using it as my daily use DAC (switched to the fastrack cause its smaller, and fits my desk better.) Its a huge improvement over onboard sound, IMO, especially if you have one lying around. I wonder what's with the sudden interest in mboxen suddenly ;p

Reply
post #13 of 13
2/26/11 at 2:09am

I suppose - i just got a nforce udac 2, and i'm certain it sounds better than the mbox2 (subjectively...) - as much of a difference as when i switched between built in sound and the mbox. On the other hand, i personally can't tell the difference between mp3s and flac on the integrated sound on my system (your vanilla realtek) , and i can clearly tell the difference on my mbox2. There's other factors - with some of the newer members of the maudio/avid range, there's options for DS and ASIO on windows, and ASIO sounds better. Some experimentation may be needed to get the best out of it.

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphone Amps (full-size)

Gear mentioned in this thread:

EMU 0404 4 Channel Digital PCI Audio Interface
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Using the Mbox-2 as a DAC