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DAC or soundcard? best musical sounding maybe warm 400$?

post #1 of 6
4/4/11 at 7:50pm
Thread Starter 
hello headfiers! i was planning to buy a NuForce HDP but itay e over priced. someone yold me that i can get a better soundcard for half a price. im planning to use my computer and ps3 on the "recommended dac" and ill probaby buy krk powered speakers "unless there are better in that price range". ill listen to music, and watch alot of movies.. at the moment, i listen to alot of hiphop, rock, acoustic. any recomendations? thanks guys and i hope to hear from on u guys soon!
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post #2 of 6
4/4/11 at 7:56pm
If you just want a DAC-only (no preamp or headamp included in the same box) the Audio-gd NFB-3 for $300 is attracting rave reviews:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/512856/audio-gd-nfb-2-nfb-3-delivery-impression-thread

I love mine.
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post #3 of 6
4/4/11 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 

ohh so the dac of this one is much higher than HDPs? sorry im a noob at these.. 

then i can just  Computer>Coax>NFB-3>Active speakers?

 

Edit: changed my title to a musical sounding with kinda warm touch so its not boring i guess. :)
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by attenuated 3db View Post

If you just want a DAC-only (no preamp or headamp included in the same box) the Audio-gd NFB-3 for $300 is attracting rave reviews:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/512856/audio-gd-nfb-2-nfb-3-delivery-impression-thread

I love mine.


 


Edited by diodiel - 4/4/11 at 9:05pm
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post #4 of 6
4/28/11 at 10:09am

Check out the $50 MUSE TDA dac on ebay.  The 4 chip version.  Then find an equally as inexpensive headphone amp.

 

Though it would also be wise to make sure your headphones are up to the caliber you need them.  Your going to want something powerful, like the 80ohm DT770.  If you listen to hip hop it WILL make your hands shake, no joke or exaggeration.


Edited by ninjikiran - 4/28/11 at 10:11am
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post #5 of 6
4/29/11 at 8:11am
Thread Starter 

hey thats interesting. what amp did you use with it? and ill be using a TMA-1 wd 32 ohms only.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/tda1543x4-DIR9001-4X-TDA1543-parallel-connect-DAC-Muse-/260760330626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb686e182#ht_3571wt_908

 

is the 4 chip version, this one?

 

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninjikiran View Post

Check out the $50 MUSE TDA dac on ebay.  The 4 chip version.  Then find an equally as inexpensive headphone amp.

 

Though it would also be wise to make sure your headphones are up to the caliber you need them.  Your going to want something powerful, like the 80ohm DT770.  If you listen to hip hop it WILL make your hands shake, no joke or exaggeration.



 

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post #6 of 6
5/3/11 at 9:44am

Yep thats it, and I didn't use it but http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/512389/mini-dac-tda1543-x-4-nos

 

Have fun ;)

 

As for an amp, this is a tad more expensive but moddable and well regarded.  It is a DIY Matrix M-Stage if you find the review.  I post it only because its something that you won't need to upgrade for a while unless you go deep into hi-fi.

 

http://alicemagicbox.com/lasercollection/lovelycube.html

 

Or you can grab one of these all in one

 

http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1

 

http://audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB11.1/NFB11.1EN.htm

 

http://audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/FUN/FUNEN.htm

 

 

There are a ton of options out there.  Any amp/dac that you get with opamps can be fitted with Audio-GD OPA's as well which are supposed to have larger audio changes.  The Mav D1 has a tube-preout meaning you can put any tube ya want in there and output to a seperate amp.

 

(like http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tube_magic_a1/hardware_a1)


Edited by ninjikiran - 5/3/11 at 9:51am
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