[n2413]

Hello everyone.

Looking for any advicein terms of an audio interface (to do the odd big of recording) but mainly to just listen to music in my office. I have a steinberg ur22c which sounds stale compared to a Qutest on my main rig (perhaps it is supposed to)... I guess the other option is to just get another dac, and switch when I do some guitar recording...

Anyone have any recs in the sub $1,000 mark, or does anyone have any opinions on the steinbergs dac...

Monitors are Neumann KH 120 if that matters...

Cheers!

Nick

 

[redrol]

I use a Motu MK5 Ultralight and its VERY good. The M2 and M4 are also very good. I would say though mainly for music listening, I'd suggest not getting an interface and just a dac/amp. And the Gishelli JNOG2/3 and Archel 2.5/3 Pro are AMAZING.

 

[n2413]

I use a Motu MK5 Ultralight and its VERY good. The M2 and M4 are also very good. I would say though mainly for music listening, I'd suggest not getting an interface and just a dac/amp. And the Gishelli JNOG2/3 and Archel 2.5/3 Pro are AMAZING.

Thanks for chiming in, I'm likely going to keep the Steinberg UR22c for production and then a standalone DAC for when listening to music - only looking for a DAC as my monitors are powered. I'm still not 100% sure I can tell the difference between DACs but hey, thats part of the fun!

 

[redrol]

The JNOG2 has xlr outputs and thats what you need!

 

[Roseval]

Balanced on a budget
Balanced within your budget
Balanced and stretching the budget

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I have the Behringer https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0BJZ and I had an Edirol UA-5 before that.

Based on the quality of hifi DACs vs. USB interfaces, I can't see any reason to use a USB interface unless you're recording- and even then, there are crossover products (hifi/pro) like the RME Pro that have ADC.

For your budget, buy the RME ADI-2 DAC FS and done. It's a hugely capable DAC and very musical.

 

[redrol]

I was able to a/b test the Gishelli Archel 2.5XL against the Topping A90-Discrete. Both are amazing and you can save a bunch of moolah doing the Gishelli with less features. As far as the RME.. The Jnog beats it in musicality, but hey thats up to you.

 

[gregorio]

Based on the quality of hifi DACs vs. USB interfaces, I can't see any reason to use a USB interface unless you're recording …

There is a reason: USB interfaces can be more accurate than some hifi DACs, even audibly more accurate in some cases. So this has obvious implications for just playback and even more so for recording/mixing.

G

 

[hakunamakaka]

Hello everyone.

Looking for any advicein terms of an audio interface (to do the odd big of recording) but mainly to just listen to music in my office. I have a steinberg ur22c which sounds stale compared to a Qutest on my main rig (perhaps it is supposed to)... I guess the other option is to just get another dac, and switch when I do some guitar recording...

Anyone have any recs in the sub $1,000 mark, or does anyone have any opinions on the steinbergs dac...

Monitors are Neumann KH 120 if that matters...

Cheers!

Nick

Chord DAC's manages to portray stage depth better than majority of delta sigma dac's, but If you are streaming from PC/Laptop in this price range I would look into source itself, you will yield far better results than dac upgrade.