[glitch39]

in reading posts, you do not want to go optical or coaxial if going through a PC, due to internal noise. Better to go USB, to isolate line noise and lower the noise floor.

For me, that is the way I'm playing my music so I went that route instead. After I ripped my collection, I stored my CD's away and now only have an external drive which I can move around

 

[Corbet]

dOP- What laptop do you have? Most modern laptops have a TOS/Optical compatible headphone port, all that you need is a $1.50 converter from monoprice.com.

Check your laptop's specs.

EDIT: Part in question I use with my laptop: For only $0.54 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Toslink Female to Toslink Mini Male Adapter | Toslink Adapter

 

[Elluzion]

oops

 

[Elluzion]

is the travagans green just a DAC, so you can't hook up an ipod up to it eh?

 

[verbaan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glitch39 /img/forum/go_quote.gif in reading posts, you do not want to go optical or coaxial if going through a PC, due to internal noise. Better to go USB, to isolate line noise and lower the noise floor. For me, that is the way I'm playing my music so I went that route instead. After I ripped my collection, I stored my CD's away and now only have an external drive which I can move around

This is NOT my experience. I have my Keces DA-131 hooked up to my computer with a coaxial cable. I wanted to try coax before optical (my coax cable is pretty decent, my optical cable is rubbish). Then I decided to keep it this way. No noise at all. Not even if I turn up the volume on my LDMKIII. I'm glad I got the DA-131 which has both optical and coaxial inputs. Now I have my CD player hooked up to the Keces too.

For what it's worth: my computer has a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P motherboard with Realtek ALC889A chip and a Coolermaster Realpower 450W PSU. It's not connected to the same socket as the Keces.

 

[shomie911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I should be done with my review of the Travagans Green by the end of next week, but just in the first 6-7 hours with it I am liking it very much with my ALO modded HFI-780. I am impressed so far. The synergy is great, and even when I unplug the 24v PSU it can be driven entirely by the Macbook USB port, with no internal battery with no drop in sound quality so far. The PSU is only needed when driving speakers, as it has 4 banana jacks on the back for your desktop speakers when listening to your computer. It is about the width and depth of an ipod video, and about 3" tall, so being able to listen to headphones on the laptop, and take it outside on the porch without a power adapter is still possible. The White gives up the speaker jacks for both analog and USB inputs, and therefore the PSU is much smaller, but still a 24v wallwart. However, the Green includes a USB to S/PDIF converter, so it has Optical out and Coax out on the rear, next to the speaker outs. I will also be trying the Green with speakers and a STAX transformer as part of my formal review that I hope to have done by the end of next week. The review includes comparing the Green to the White and Red, which I have burning in at my bedside rig right now. I don't want to give too much away right now, but this is an amplifier that I feel may be a contender. I posted this in another thread because I am excited about it, and don't want to hear people say, "Why didn't you tell me about this before I bought Blah Blah Blah!".

It seems like the White provides the best SQ but the features provided by the Green seem almost too much to ignore.

A USB DAC, Optical and Coaxial out to attach to a larger speaker amp, a supposedly great headphone amp, and the ability to drive high efficiency speakers.

All from one little $240 box. That is without question, the definition of bang-for-the-buck.

I think I may be going with either the Green or the White, because I doubt the increase in fidelity from the LD MKIII and the Keces DA-151 is worth it for the $550 (more than double the price of the Green) it would cost to buy them.

Plus the Travagans White or Green would all fit on my desk, instead of having to put the DAC on the floor and the amp on the desk like I would have to do if I got larger scale equipment like the Keces and Little Dot.

In the future though I'm fairly certain I'm going to move to a high-end (around $1000) tube amp, a quality set of speakers and a nice CDP.

Linux laptop ---> White/Green USB DAC/Amp ---> Beyerdynamic DT880s should keep me happy until I purchase my true hi-fi system.

Although knowing Head-Fi I'll probably end up spending my money on headphones instead

EDIT:
The Green and White DACs work with Linux right, since they don't use drivers?

I have the latest release of Mandriva if that helps.

 

[Corbet]

When it comes to USB vs. Optical, if I have the option of using either/or with my laptop, which one provides the more superior sound?

 

[Elluzion]

t;hink im gettin the iBasso D2, what other options in the same price range ($200 for Amp/DAC portable) are there

 

[shomie911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, they are crisper, yes. Honestly, I would rather have a Lunchbox II, but I really like tube amps. For a SS amp in this price range, the only serious competition is the Meier Audio Arietta, and I would also recommend it over the Travagans amps except for people with very laid back headphones, in which case the Travagans amps are the better choice, or for people who want the USB DAC in this price range, in which case again the White becomes the obvious choice.

Seems the other amps in the $200-$300 price range are a little better than the Travagan amps. Although none of the amps Skylab thought were better also offered a USB DAC, offered optical and coaxial output or functioned as a speaker amp. So I guess it depends if you are willing to sacrifice a little sound quality for the extra features.

Now that I think of it, any of these amps are going to be better than my Minibox-E so I think the Travagan Green is perfect for me.

It can be USB powered when using it as a DAC for your headphones.

Plug it in, hook up some speakers and you have a highly transportable speaker rig that can be fed from your laptop or other computer.

Use it as a USB to S/PDIF converter for your higher-end speaker or headphone rig. (Once I get better gear.)

Seems like a great deal to me, but that's only because I could use each one of the features it offers.

You can get a lot for $240, even with the Dollar as bad off as it is now.


EDIT:

Another quick question. Does the stepped attenuator in the White give it some sort of advantage over the Green?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I am not a big fan of stepped attenuators in terms of usability, because you may want a volume level that is not available. On an audiophile level, a stepped attenuator is supposed to have less effect on sound quality, by using pre-defined resistances in the volume pot instead of a sweeper.

I haven't gotten around to doing much with the white's stepped attenuator yet, as I am only burning it in right now. I will later.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corbet /img/forum/go_quote.gif When it comes to USB vs. Optical, if I have the option of using either/or with my laptop, which one provides the more superior sound?

Optical if the DAC and it's line out quality is up to snuff.

For instance, the Pico via USB sounds better than a stock iBasso D1 fed optical or USB, but the Micro DAC with optical is at least as good (the difference being you can drive headphones or an amp with the Pico while the Micro only drives an amp).

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shomie911 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seems the other amps in the $200-$300 price range are a little better than the Travagan amps. Although none of the amps Skylab thought were better also offered a USB DAC, offered optical and coaxial output or functioned as a speaker amp. So I guess it depends if you are willing to sacrifice a little sound quality for the extra features. Now that I think of it, any of these amps are going to be better than my Minibox-E so I think the Travagan Green is perfect for me. It can be USB powered when using it as a DAC for your headphones. Plug it in, hook up some speakers and you have a highly transportable speaker rig that can be fed from your laptop or other computer. Use it as a USB to S/PDIF converter for your higher-end speaker or headphone rig. (Once I get better gear.) Seems like a great deal to me, but that's only because I could use each one of the features it offers. You can get a lot for $240, even with the Dollar as bad off as it is now. EDIT: Another quick question. Does the stepped attenuator in the White give it some sort of advantage over the Green?

Good chain of reasoning.

 

[Corbet]

One last thing before I decide if I need a DAC or not:

If my laptop's headphone port also does Optical in (with appropriate converter), doesn't that mean my laptop's headphone port is high quality? Would I even really need to pay the extra money for a DAC?

My laptop is a Macbook Pro btw.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corbet /img/forum/go_quote.gif One last thing before I decide if I need a DAC or not: If my laptop's headphone port also does Optical in (with appropriate converter), doesn't that mean my laptop's headphone port is high quality? Would I even really need to pay the extra money for a DAC? My laptop is a Macbook Pro btw.

The sound from Macbook/Pro is decent but it is a better source than it is a headphone amp. Even a cheap home CD or DVD player will have optical out, but it might not have the best analog out. Plug that sucker into your home theater via optical and the receiver's DAC will sound better than analog out. Same with Macs.

Macbook/Pro has a great 24bit/96Khz optical digital out, so connect to a DAC and it will sound better that way. Even a USB DAC can sound better, and that is only a 16/48 output.

 

[daco63]

There are some USB boxes which transport 24/96 (e.g. e-mu 0404), but they are uncommon. Most USB boxes only support up to 16/44.1 (or 48). If you have source flac files of 24/96, you'll want to check the fine print to make sure you can get the data to the DAC without truncating. As stated above, the optical and coax digi transfers typically don't have this restriction.

For those looking into USB, note in particular that the box might list support for higher rates, but sometimes those rates are only across a digi lines, not USB. If your source is only 16/44.1 to start with (CD's for example), than this shouldn't be an issue. (Mmmm, except that some transfers aren't always "bit perfect", but that's another story...)