A good affordable dac for $200 - $300

[dudlew]

So..... I have been having issues with My modi 2 Uber. I contacted Schiit about it, but I dont think its a driver issue. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. I have gone sometimes three weeks or more with it plugged in and not hearing a sound to coming home and it works. I thought it might be an issue with windows 10 as just after an upgrade it started working again. but a power down and the same issue occurs again.

After about a week of not working, it started working again last night. To say its leaving me frustrated is an understatement. If I turn off my PC i know I will have to go back to onboard sound until it decides to work again.

So now, i am looking for an alternative. I have considered getting the Eitr so as to bypass the the USB section and use the coaxial making the assumption that the issue is with the USB connection, but I am uncertain. Could that possibly be the right way to go?

Barring that, any DACs out there that are a good bang for the budget in that price range? I hav considered the Mimby, but was wondering what else might be out there as competition.

As an aside, I have been on a spending spree lately, I have the Massdrop CTH on order, and the HD58X. all of the rest of my equipment is in my sig. so you have an idea of the gear I already own.as far as sound goes... slightly warm, but mostly neutral, a bit elevated bass and smooth treble. I am a bit treble sensitive and a touch of a closet bass head. Of the headphones I own, the one I enjoy the most is right now is the Nighthawk, but I have never gotten the chance to compare it to the PM3 which I also love, but the pads got spoiled and that spoiled the sound big time.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, even if its to consider the eitr route instead of a new DAC.

thanks
dudlew

 

[SeaWo|f]

I would be hesitant to get the eitr. While the usb implementation may not be the same as the modi it's still a version of schiits implementation and may not play well with your system.


Also your sig says mac mini. If you have any other usb sources I would start by trying those. If it's consistent then it's a problem in the dac. Maybe isolated to the onboard usb maybe not. The only way to test further would be with non usb sources. If you have usb 2 and 3 ports on your PC try moving or it from one type to the other. If you are using front panel switch to back.

 

[Hi-Fi-Apricity]

Sea Wolf is right here. Schitt has always been pretty meh when it comes to their USB implementation. The 300 dollar range is a bit of a weird one for sure because you are in the inbetweeners of budget and mid tier in price (and sometimes, not always, price conforms with quality).

I think that if you wanna go super lean the OLDAC is an option but closer in your range would be the Cambridge DacMagic+. Now this is an amp and a dac but its main purporse is being a DAC, but I wouldnt really consider it unless you want balanced outputs on a budget. If you dont want balanecd out the Dacmagic 100 would be a decent choice. I do think its worth mentioning that the Dacmagic(s) dacs are not linear as in they tend to have a slightly warm character but by no means are bad DAC(s) for their price, just coloured.

Now this is controversial and is the subject of many muhh squiggly lines vs muh ears debates, but if you are the type that values measurements greatly you cant go wrong with the Topping D50 as its probably the best measuring in its price range.

And my final recommendation is the iFi Micro iDAC2. This much like the DacMagic+ has a headphone amp as well as the dac circuit if you wanna play around with that. This one I have not heard myself but have heard many good things about it, but as of now I can't personally endorse it. I will say that I do like the layout and look of the thing though ; quite slick!

EDIT: And the DAC's measured above are known for their good USB implementation, particularly the Dacmagic(s) and the Topping!

 

[Monsterzero]

I would grab the Eitr if youre happy with the way your current DAC sounds(when it does work).
My rationale is that the Eitr is cheaper than any decent DAC out there and can significantly improve your SQ,and possibly fix your issues.
If it doesnt you can easily sell it for very little loss.

If you want to avoid Schiit,there are other products that do essentially the same as the Eitr such as the Singxer SU1

 

[Fargeg]

As mentioned before, you should test where the noise in your chain is coming from, trying your DAC on different systems, before thinking about purchasing a new DAC. As for $200-$300 DAC suggestions:

One option would be the Topping D50. The Topping D30 has respectable performance and build quality for the price, and the Topping D50 is an upgrade from that with support for very high bit rates, its own display, and input/volume controls. Topping is based in China, and there haven't been too many accounts of people's customer service experiences with them, so YMMV in that respect.

There's also the JDS Labs El Dac. From my experience owning their C5D, their products also have clean audio output and solid build quality, and their customer service has been very responsive. If you're willing to spend some more for a combo DAC/amp and don't need optical, there's the Element as well.

 

[dudlew]

I would be hesitant to get the eitr. While the usb implementation may not be the same as the modi it's still a version of schiits implementation and may not play well with your system.


Also your sig says mac mini. If you have any other usb sources I would start by trying those. If it's consistent then it's a problem in the dac. Maybe isolated to the onboard usb maybe not. The only way to test further would be with non usb sources. If you have usb 2 and 3 ports on your PC try moving or it from one type to the other. If you are using front panel switch to back.

Thanks for the reply. The one thing in my sig that is not there anymore is the mac mini. that stopped working and at present I am using an Asus Zenbook laptop with windows 10. At present I have no other USB sources. I did try the DAC at work a few months ago and it did not work. It was a Windows XP machine. It did work previously. It has worked on my mac mini, a friends laptop when I did a cable shootout, at work, and on my windows laptop. Only in the past 7 months has this been an issue. That is why I feel its maybe a hardware issue and not based on the lPC i connect it to. I will have to try a friend's computer to try again. The other night I tried plugging it into a powered hub and again the device was not recognized.

My reason for thinking of the Eitr, is to use the coaxial section of the DAC. Again, I dont have a way to test tthe coaxial out of the dac as I havent seen a CD player in years... lol. But I guess its something I am going to have to make some time for before considering the Eitr.

As mentioned before, you should test where the noise in your chain is coming from, trying your DAC on different systems, before thinking about purchasing a new DAC.

Its not an issue of noise, Its an issue of the DAC not working.... at least the USB section. Which is why I mentioned getting the Eitr, so that I can use the coaxial secion of the DAC isntead of the USB.

As for the sound, for headphone listening, I am relatively satisfied, so I am not in a rush to go upgrade crazy just to reach audio nirvana yet

D