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Which one of these two USB DACs?

post #1 of 16
4/27/11 at 10:30am
Thread Starter 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120656535749

or

http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Beach-Advantage-Digital-Adapter/dp/B0036VO4X4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1303925108&sr=8-1

 

Which one should give me better sounding music through my Thinkpad?

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post #2 of 16
4/27/11 at 11:02am

TBH I don't think you will be happy with either of the devices. Buy the TB and if you don't like it you can return it, that's all I can recommend given the two options.

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post #3 of 16
4/27/11 at 11:33am
yeah i think you're gonna be throwing away $20...
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post #4 of 16
4/27/11 at 11:51am
Thread Starter 
Yeah I figured I would meet that reaction. Is there a sub $50 usable USB DAC either of you would recommend? Thanks for your time.
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post #5 of 16
4/27/11 at 12:02pm
ehhh....You could look at the Behringer UCA222. While I don't own one, I have heard good things about them for what they cost....
If you could stretch you budget a little more, you could get something like this too.... http://cgi.ebay.com/AUNE-Hifi-Mini-USB-SPDIF-DAC-Sound-Audio-Card-PCM2707-/260725525642?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb473cc8a#ht_7929wt_1139

If your computer has a optical output, you could watch ebay and probably find an Entech number cruncher 203.2 for around 50 bucks.... I have one of these, and for the money it is great, however, they aren't usb... =/
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post #6 of 16
4/27/11 at 2:40pm

The TB uses a c-media device

The ebay device uses PCM2704

The Behringer UCA202 uses PCM 2902

 

The PCM2704 has the better specs of the 3 chips. I would buy the ebay thing. You will have a reference point before upgrading to more expensive devices...

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post #7 of 16
4/27/11 at 2:56pm

bump up your budget a bit and look for a used udac. i've seen them around here for 60-70. 

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post #8 of 16
4/27/11 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by glt View Post

The TB uses a c-media device

The ebay device uses PCM2704

The Behringer UCA202 uses PCM 2902

 

The PCM2704 has the better specs of the 3 chips. I would buy the ebay thing. You will have a reference point before upgrading to more expensive devices...


I am looking at the official specs for both chips and from my layman's perspective, it seems the PCM2902 has better specs. Could you possibly please explain why you said the 2704 has better specs? Sorry for my ignorance.

 



Quote:
Originally Posted by bik2101 View Post

bump up your budget a bit and look for a used udac. i've seen them around here for 60-70. 


I read via NwAvGuy's blog--same link that glt posted--that the udac is technically flawed.

 

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post #9 of 16
4/27/11 at 6:02pm

hot audio destroyer dac

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post #10 of 16
4/27/11 at 6:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyjets28 View Post

hot audio destroyer dac



That does look nice for $70...also, If you are willing to do some diy...you could look into the alien / grub dac.

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post #11 of 16
4/27/11 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyjets28 View Post

hot audio destroyer dac



That uses a PCM2705... versus the $20 eBay DAC which uses the PCM2704....

 

Also, I have absolutely no EE capabilities nor do I have the time to learn any.

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post #12 of 16
4/27/11 at 6:29pm

While the dac chip itself is important, it is only part of a good dac, there is a lot more than matters than just the chip. However, I haven't used either of those dacs, the $20 dollar one could very well sound as nice or better than the $70 one, but it also might be far inferior...  you can't base it solely on the chips used...


Edited by Snag1e - 4/27/11 at 6:35pm
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post #13 of 16
4/27/11 at 7:00pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/HI-FI-DIR9001-4X-TDA1543-parallel-connection-NOS-DAC-/190513558682?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5b7e349a

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post #14 of 16
4/28/11 at 1:00pm
Thread Starter 

Just an update: I received the TBAAM in the mail today, and honestly, this thing has created a significant improvement in the audio coming out of my laptop. The increased clarity especially stands out to me. I'm also using it with my Fiio E5, and it is just a great setup for me. I am guessing that to more trained ears, this setup wouldn't be so lauded... but it works for me!


Edited by EyeDoc - 4/28/11 at 1:02pm
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post #15 of 16
4/28/11 at 1:10pm

Nice! Glad you're liking it  smily_headphones1.gif

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