[SV_huMMer]

Given a completely disastreous situation with the availability of external dedicated DACs in Russia, I am currently considering buying an external USB soundcard to use it as a USB DAC only. Hence the criteria:

1) takes USB input
2) able to bypass any of its own opamps
3) has a decent quality DAC chip inside
4) is within 250 price range

The almost perfect example is ESI Waveterminal U24 USB, but it's also unavailable in Russia

What's available: various M-Audio products, some of the ESI products.

Firewire is also an option, if such thing as a firewire DAC exists.

The signal is to be fed to a tube headphone amp.

Thanks in advance

UPDATE:

The firewire choice in Russia turned out to be better. Here's a quick list of around-250 models that I was able to find:

- M-Audio Audiophile FireWire
- M-Audio FireWire Solo
- Terratec Phase24 FireWire

On paper, it looks like Terratec has an edge over M-Audios. The datasheet reports an impressive 114dBA SNR/111dBA typical at 24/192.

Are there owners of Phase24? Impressions?

And most importantly: can it take digital data directly via FireWire, to avoid using S/PDIF?

 

[SV_huMMer]

C'mon, guys, I don't believe noone is using Firewire soundcards!!!

Post something, don't be shy

 

[majid]

I would get one of the Headroom USB DACs if I were you. I have a Coda LE, the predecessor to the current mini DAC, it is very sweet.

If you must have Firewire, you should probably get a MOTU Ultralite, but that's quite a bit higher than your budget.

 

[SV_huMMer]

Thanks, Majid. A headroom DAC is definitely sweet, but, as I said, I have severe availability limitations

Firewire is not mandatory, it's simply the fact that I can find more choices in FW interfaces, than in USB.

 

[Supacon]

I'm a reseller for M-Audio products, and I've personally had a listen to the following products that would probably meet your criteria:

M-Audio Transit USB - A really compact USB unit. Very nice clean sound. I use etymotic ER-4Ps to listen... I thought the bass sounded rather dead on these units, but the sound is very pure and true.

M-Audio Firewire 410 - This unit has great sound, but it's probably way overkill for you... it's got dual headphone outputs with analog controls that work good. At full blast on the headphone outputs (which is very very loud) I could just barely hear a little bit of buzzing or something.

M-Audio Firewire Audiophile - I unfortunately couldn't do a side-by-side comparison of the 410 and the audiophile, but I'd say that they sound comparible. Maybe it's just that the 410 is more expensive, but I almost want to believe that it sounds better. The audiophile has a software volume knob that isn't as responsive as a real analogue knob, and allows you to select the output you're listening to with a configurable soft-switch on the unit, which is nice. I've found that at times, the controls can "lock up" until playback is stopped and restarted, which can be a pain if you need to use the controls on the front a lot. Hopefully a driver update will resolve this.


That's what I've played with. The Transit sounds clean and is the cheapest by quite a bit, and also it's bus powered and compact... the firewire devices might be hot swappable, but it's highly recommended that you do not do that, because on some computers that can cause problems (like burning out the port). If you can use it with a 6-pin connector (not on most laptops) it's bus powered, saving you from having to use the AC Adaptor.

 

[davei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supacon M-Audio Transit USB - A really compact USB unit. Very nice clean sound. I use etymotic ER-4Ps to listen... I thought the bass sounded rather dead on these units, but the sound is very pure and true.

I find the Transit very harsh, bright, and fatiguing to listen to directly. I figured that was normal since the output is labelled "line out" - with a headphone amp, no issues. No issues with the optical out either.

 

[granodemostasa]

How about the Audiophile usb-it had a headphone amp that is capable of driving 600ohm headphones.

 

[SV_huMMer]

Supacon, thanks a lot for your detailed reply! I have a few further Qs, if you don't mind.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Supacon M-Audio Transit USB - A really compact USB unit. Very nice clean sound. I use etymotic ER-4Ps to listen... I thought the bass sounded rather dead on these units, but the sound is very pure and true.

I was looking at it, and it is available in Russia. My only hesitation is the following: I already have an AudioTrak Optoplay USB - a device with exactly the same functionnality as the Transit. The sound is just OK - I want more. So my main Q is whether you'd say transit does sound perceptibly better than the Optoplay?


Quote:

The audiophile has a software volume knob that isn't as responsive as a real analogue knob, and allows you to select the output you're listening to with a configurable soft-switch on the unit, which is nice. I've found that at times, the controls can "lock up" until playback is stopped and restarted, which can be a pain if you need to use the controls on the front a lot. Hopefully a driver update will resolve this.

Volume is not important for me, as I will use the volume control on my headphone amp. The card will most likely be set up to one volume level once and forever. How's the sound quality of Audiophile compared to the Transit? Is the sound quality better enough to justify at least part of the price difference?

 

[SV_huMMer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa How about the Audiophile usb-it had a headphone amp that is capable of driving 600ohm headphones.

I don't really care about the headphone amp quality, as the SOLE use of the device will be to output analog signal to the dedicated headphone amp. In your opinion, does the Audiophile USB have other advantages over the Transit except headphone amp quality?

 

[SV_huMMer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davei I find the Transit very harsh, bright, and fatiguing to listen to directly. I figured that was normal since the output is labelled "line out" - with a headphone amp, no issues. No issues with the optical out either.

I won't plug directly into the Transit it will feed the headphone amp. What amp do you use it with? Are you happy with the DAC quality? Overall sound?

 

[slwiser]

I find with my computer Dell 8100 Intel 2.8 P4 with WinXP SP2 latest updates that the USB connections for devices that required their proprietary drivers to be problems which I have failed to correct. My Transit upsamples everything to 99.6 kHz to have a signal. Nothing else works. Transit $80 dollars US. The Transit drivers are flaky for me.

The HagUSB at www.hagusb.com uses default drivers but requires ASIO4ALL for assured bit perfect transfer. Yes, this comes with a headphone out. I think it uses the base chip to generate the analog out. This one is limited to a max. of 48 kHz signal. HagUSB $130 US dollars.

The Freeway and Offramps from http://www.empiricalaudio.com/ use the M-Audio Transit drivers. Freeway is 550 and offramp is 950 with external power extra.

The USB Select at http://www.redwineaudio.com/USB_Select.html could be a great choice. This also uses the same Transit drivers and he recommends that before you purchase that you purchase the M-Audio Transit to check out if you system will work properly before getting his version. If it works right he will take the Transit in for a discount on his products. The USB Select comes with and without a DAC and its base DAC is the monica 2. Not a bad DAC. You can find this in the DIY sections or search on google. Cost is 399 and 499 with DAC.

Just some options that may be available.