[jaykarnik]

I currently have a pair of LSR305 studio monitors and am planning to add the LSR310s soon.

I am looking at the Scarlet 2i2, but I feel I might be able to get something better or cheaper in that budget as I am sure I am never going to produce any music, hence I do not need an audio input or the recording capability.

I have a budget of about 100-150$ for the DAC or Audio Interface and I was hoping for suggestions on the same.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hifimediy DACs, starting at $42.
https://hifimediy.com/DACs/ready-made-dacs?sort=p.price&order=ASC&limit=100

 

[theveterans]

DAC + preamp for me. Makes my studio monitor speakers sing like a high end speaker when listened 2 ft away from my ears (nearfield)

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hifimediy DAC?
https://hifimediy.com/DACs/ready-made-dacs?sort=p.price&order=ASC&limit=100

 

[jaykarnik]

DAC + preamp for me. Makes my studio monitor speakers sing like a high end speaker when listened 2 ft away from my ears (nearfield)

What DAC + preAmp?

 

[theveterans]

The one on my sig

 

[jaykarnik]

The one on my sig

Looking for a 100-150$ solution not a 600$ one.

 

[orangefridge]

Way above your budget, but I'm using a Dangerous Source and Apollo Twin. There's a noticeable difference in sound quality which I'm sure would be true to some comparisons at lower price range.
Just be careful with latency issues if you DAC has any latency it can be a pain when tracking.

 

[teknorob23]

If you don’t need any of the studio or midi features then you’re probably wasting your money on buying a unit like the Scarlett, because you’ll end up with an inferior dac. I would focus your budget on the best usb dac/pre-amp you can get, at this budget you’re probably looking at something like the ifi iDSD nano le
https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/nano-idsd-le/ For £129.