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looking for small, cheap, clean desktop DAC. - Page 2

post #16 of 26
1/5/13 at 10:01pm
Thread Starter 

i keep hear ppl saying buy ODAC, once and for all.. lol

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post #17 of 26
1/5/13 at 10:26pm

It's not the best thing in the world, just very, very good. The Modi and Sabre-based DAC's mentioned earlier will be near indistinctable unless you are comparing them side by side though. 

If you're getting a Magni, I'd say get the Modi for sure. For any other amp, it's your call as to the balance between cost and performance.

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post #18 of 26
1/6/13 at 8:50am
Thread Starter 

ok, i think i will get either magni or odac now.

thanks guys

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post #19 of 26
1/11/13 at 9:50am

Newly released "HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC (external PSU) . 96khz/24bit - ES9023+TE7022 + Coaxial OUT" for $59.  From reviews I've read of the non-desktop version, if you don't want to build your own case/enclosure, I don't know what comes close for the price.   I'm debating between it and the standalone ODAC.

 

Quote from their site:

 

Quote:

The newest member of our Sabre DAC family features an USB Isolator chip (adum4160) that isolates the DAC from USB power. It can then be supplied with an external clean power supply.

 

Features:
- Input USB. (the COAX connector is output!)
- Output on RCA plugs (analog) and COAX (digital)
- Physical Volume control (analog). Volume Level can also be controlled by the normal volume control keys on your computer.
- When using headphones leave volume control on maximum position. Use Computer hotkeys to control volume control.
- No drivers required for Mac, Windows and Linux! However for Windows 7 we recommend installing the driver, as the default windows driver has some issues with noise (download  below)
- Normal line level output (2Vrms)
- Requires external (not included) power supply: DC from 5-15V or AC from 4-11V. 500mA. Both polarity DC is ok. Plug is 6/2.1 - 6mm on outside and 2.1mm in the middle

 

Highlights about Sabre ES9023 dac chip:
- The sound go straight out of the DAC chip and into your headphones or amplifier. It is not needed that the sound signal go through a capacitor to remove a DC voltage, there is no DC voltage to remove! This omits the need of a cap which adds costs and reduces sound quality.
- Jitter Eliminator! The ES9023 utilize patented HyperstreamTM architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator.
- 112db DNR

 

USB chip TenorTE7022L:
- Accepts up to 96khz/24bit input signals over USB. Most USB DAC's use the cheaper PCM2704 usb receiver chips that can only accept up to 48khz/16bit.


Edited by sawdin - 1/11/13 at 10:05am
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post #20 of 26
1/11/13 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sawdin View Post

Newly released "HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC (external PSU) . 96khz/24bit - ES9023+TE7022 + Coaxial OUT" for $59.  From reviews I've read of the non-desktop version, if you don't want to build your own case/enclosure, I don't know what comes close for the price.   I'm debating between it and the standalone ODAC.

 

Quote from their site:

 

Thanks, i will take a look at it.

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post #21 of 26
2/5/13 at 8:05pm

I just got the ELE today and friggin' love it! 16 bucks and it even makes my power hungry Senn 580's sound great WITHOUT an amp!

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post #22 of 26
2/6/13 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 

is there any cheap amp to pair with the ELE?

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post #23 of 26
2/6/13 at 11:53am

What is your definition of cheap? Give me a price range. I will tell you however that the ELE did increase the sound/volume slightly on all my headphones. FWIW

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post #24 of 26
2/6/13 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by shockdoc View Post

What is your definition of cheap? Give me a price range. I will tell you however that the ELE did increase the sound/volume slightly on all my headphones. FWIW

as cheap as possible, has great value, just like the ELE.

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post #25 of 26
2/6/13 at 12:32pm

If you're looking for something that cheap I would PM Dsnuts. He's always finding ridiculously cheap gear that sounds great. If I remember correctly he eventually did find a small cheap-ish amp to pair with the ELE. It will likely end up being something from some small shop in China (like the ELE).

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post #26 of 26
2/6/13 at 12:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by shockdoc View Post

If you're looking for something that cheap I would PM Dsnuts. He's always finding ridiculously cheap gear that sounds great. If I remember correctly he eventually did find a small cheap-ish amp to pair with the ELE. It will likely end up being something from some small shop in China (like the ELE).

alright, thanks.

i will post on the discovery thread.

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