Chaintech av-710 vs. Silverstone EB01

[dougmwpsu]

hey sports fans!
i just bought a silverstone eb-01 the other day off amazon real cheap. i've been hearing alot of buzz regarding stand along sources for computers, dac's, external soundcards and the like, so i figured that i'd give it a try with what i see as the budget external computer source. there's also been a ton of talk about the eb01, but almost noone ever seems accually own the device. the av710 is a powerhouse of a budget sound card as well and there are no decent comparisons of the two that i've been able to find, so sinc ei have both in my possession i figure i;d better put up some impressions/reviews. this thread will get more posts as i spend more time with the eb01, i havn't had much chance since i'm in the middle of finals and trying to pack up my stuff to go home. but from what i've heard so far i'll try to give you guys an idea of what we're working with here.

the silverstone is a very solid feeling usb dac with rca outputs. it required no drivers and shows up as usb speakers. i've been messing with asio4all to try and bypass kmixer, but so far i havn't figured out what i'm doing. the chaintech on the other hand it bassically the standard budget computer source. it's a pain in the butt to get working, but once set up there's hardly a better price-performance curve for a soundcard. it supports kernal streaming, so most people use foorbar to get the best sound out of it.

on the most obvious level, the silverstone has hiss. i tried plugging it both into my desktop and mu powered usb hub, and both produces different hiss and hum levels. whereas the chaintech is almost completely black, once i get my amp knob past the halfway point i can hear hiss. that said, it doesn't effect litsening terribly as my comfortable litsening levels are almost always below the halfway point on my volume knob. the second thing i've been able to notice so far is that the sound of the silverstone feels more "full" than the chaintech. the av710 has a very even precise sound, but can deffinatly lack warmth at times. the silverstone on the other hand has nice fresh midtones, almost bloated. as a result the silverstone is proablly the more enjoyable litsening expericnce, thouch to be honest the two are extremely close in sound, deffinantly less than the difference between a sr-80 and a hf-1 let's say for instance. of course, as i paid 70 for the silverstone and 20 for the chaintech, i'd have to reccomend the chaintech as a first computer source, unless of course the person diddn't have a free pci slot. upon hearing the silverstone i imediatly considered returning it, but considering that it free's my headphone litsening from my noisey desktop, i'll proablly keep it. besides, the heavy metal enclosure looks great on my desk.

once i spend time with the two sources i'll be able to decide for sure which sound i prefer. at this point, aside from the hum issues, it's almost neck and neck. thouch i like the warmth and fullness of the silverstone, the evenness of the chaintech has it's merrits as well. once i have more opionions of the two i'll post my thoughts here.( oh, and i'll edit this for spelling and grammer when i don't have an 8am final to be studying for<sigh>)

Happy litsening!
Doug

 

[Aryolkary]

dougmwpsu, thanks for taking the time to comment.
What's your setup? Cans and amp I mean.
I'd like to add what's already been stated in this thread:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=176105

According to what I read, the reviewer from that page considered the Eb01 to be a step up from the Av-710
This is the page:
http://www.firingsquad.com/print_art...rticle_id=1809

"The simple design of the SilverStone EB01 is what gives it its performance. It is more transparent and more natural sounding. With a pair of high-end PC speakers such as the Swans M200/T200 or a vintage Sirocco Spirit, the improvement over the Envy24 is immediately noticeable."

"For the small group of you who want even better audio quality than the Envy24 has to offer for your music, your best option comes from one of two solutions: 1) Using the Envy24 SPDIF to a high-end receiver or 2) Using the an external USB soundcard powered by a chip such as the Burr Brown PCM2702."

 

[dougmwpsu]

thanks alot for the comment. this is really just a rough draft of my impressions. i've had the time to compare the two side by side for about an hour, tops. i am still very undecided about which sound i like better or which sounds more natural, so keep all that in mind. i'm litseining with hd580's and hf-1's with a Headsave classic w/ burr brown b 620 somthinging or others in it as a middle man. i't not my intention to trash the eb01, but at this point the chaintech has been making a good argument against its being sold. ok really time to go to bed now, night all!

Edit: i just read the second link you posted. interesting information, especially about the jitter stuff. also i just tried the two unamped, and let me just say that amp is worth every penny.. thin, no soundstage, harsh.

 

[dougmwpsu]

hmm, ok so i'm using asio4all and the new version of foobar to output into the silverstone now. however, the volume control in the sound control pannel still effects the dac volume. am i bypassing kmixer? is there any way to tell for certian?

 

[cclragnarok]

The main volume control works even when I am using real ASIO (Foobar ASIO with Echo Indigo DJ).

Try this:
1. Play something using Foobar with ASIO4ALL.
2. As song #1 is playing, try to to play something else at the same time with Windows Media Player or some other program like iTunes.

I think if you hear only song #1, and not song #2, you are bypassing kmixer. Not 100% sure though.