DAC or sound-card for live playback? help please!
Mar 23, 2014 at 9:30 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 14
lovemehate

lovemehate

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I have a very short amount of time to decide on rather to buy a DAC or a sound card for my laptop. am trying to imporve the quality of the playback track that my band plays to (I do voice/keys friend plays guitar/keys) and the back track is drums/effects. bass....more of a EBM industrial sound.
 
however i will only be visiting my home-town a short amount of time, in which ill have to buy what i need.
 
any help, feedback, suggestions?
 
thanks!!!
 
Mar 23, 2014 at 10:24 PM Post #2 of 14
lovemehate said:
  I have a very short amount of time to decide on rather to buy a DAC or a sound card for my laptop. am trying to imporve the quality of the playback track that my band plays to (I do voice/keys friend plays guitar/keys) and the back track is drums/effects. bass....more of a EBM industrial sound.
however i will only be visiting my home-town a short amount of time, in which ill have to buy what i need.
any help, feedback, suggestions?
 
Click to expand...

 
 
What is your budget?
What headphones do you have?
 
Mar 23, 2014 at 10:32 PM Post #3 of 14
oh i dont care about headphones, i connect my lap to a mixer and well from there speakers. am trying to push a better sound out of my lap for live shows. my balance? for a DAC? maybe 50$ ish sound-cards I have not even looked in to
 
Mar 23, 2014 at 11:21 PM Post #4 of 14
lovemehate said:
  oh i dont care about headphones, i connect my lap to a mixer and well from there speakers. am trying to push a better sound out of my lap for live shows. my balance? for a DAC? maybe 50$ ish sound-cards I have not even looked in to
Click to expand...

 
So it sounds like you have no need of a external sound card, just need need an external DAC ($50 budget).
So I'm thinking of an external USB DAC with the PCM2704 (16-bit/48k) DAC chip.
 
ELE EL-D01 USB DAC (2704), $14.29, ships from China
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELE-EL-D01-MINI-HIFI-USB-DAC-SOUND-Audio-CARD-PCM2704-BOARD-ELNA-Capacitor-bla-/290908894610?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43bb857592
 
Muse AudioX5 USB DAC (2704), $11.99. Ships from China
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-AUDIO-X5-MINI-HIFI-USB-DAC-PCM2704-SOUND-CARD-BOARD-BLACK-/130907884865?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item1e7ab7cd41
 
DAC Destroyer USB DAC (2704), $46.88 (or make offer), ships from Canada
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAC-DESTROYER-HAND-SOLDERED-USB-DAC-w-LINE-HEAD-OUT-/260882726892?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbdd27fec

 

 
Mar 24, 2014 at 1:17 AM Post #7 of 14
Mar 24, 2014 at 1:30 AM Post #8 of 14
so let me make sure i have this right... it goes laptop ---> USB--->USB DAC ----> MIXER ----> SPEAKERS ?
so  I will no longer be using the same audio-out as the headphones for playback? Ill be using USB? and this is better?
 
Mar 24, 2014 at 1:47 AM Post #9 of 14
lovemehate said:
  so let me make sure i have this right... it goes laptop ---> USB--->USB DAC ----> MIXER ----> SPEAKERS ?
so  I will no longer be using the same audio-out as the headphones for playback? Ill be using USB? and this is better?
Click to expand...

 
 
Correct.
Laptop, USB cable from laptop to USB DAC, analog audio cable from USB DAC to Mixer, then mixer connected to speakers.
Which is better for plugging the headphones into, USB DAC or mixer, have no idea, just use whichever sounds better to you.
 
Mar 24, 2014 at 1:50 AM Post #10 of 14
and this will give a better sound when connected for live play? (via usb dac). cause i dont really have much use for headphones. am more worried about the audio out for when I play live.
 
Mar 24, 2014 at 2:03 AM Post #11 of 14
lovemehate said:
  and this will give a better sound when connected for live play? (via usb dac). cause I don't really have much use for headphones. am more worried about the audio out for when I play live.
Click to expand...

 
Just about any external DAC is going to produce better audio quality then the DAC feature build into your laptop.
 
Sorry, I did not read the previous question correctly.
You will not be using the headphone (analog audio) output jack on the laptop.
As your mixer will be getting it's analog audio signal from the USB DAC and the USB DAC getting it's digital audio signal from the USB port on the laptop.
 
Mar 24, 2014 at 2:07 AM Post #12 of 14
awesome thanks, that really clears it up , thanks a lot for the help! one last question is there going to be any big advantage between then one you suggested :
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-AUDIO-X5-MINI-HIFI-USB-DAC-PCM2704-SOUND-CARD-BOARD-BLACK-/130907884865?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item1e7ab7cd41
 
from this one I found? cause the price is higher but i read good things about it:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-HiFi-PCM2704-USB-to-S-PDIF-Converter-DAC-Sound-Card-Black-Silver-/261184542392?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3ccfcfd6b8
 
thanks again!
 
Mar 24, 2014 at 2:45 AM Post #13 of 14
lovemehate said:
  awesome thanks, that really clears it up , thanks a lot for the help! one last question is there going to be any big advantage between then one you suggested :
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-AUDIO-X5-MINI-HIFI-USB-DAC-PCM2704-SOUND-CARD-BOARD-BLACK-/130907884865?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item1e7ab7cd41
 
from this one I found? cause the price is higher but i read good things about it:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-HiFi-PCM2704-USB-to-S-PDIF-Converter-DAC-Sound-Card-Black-Silver-/261184542392?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3ccfcfd6b8
 
thanks again!
Click to expand...

 
It's really hard to say if it's worth buying the Hi-fi over the Audio X5
There might be some advantages with the Hi-Fi, but I have no idea what those advantages might be.
Where as you can buy two of the cheaper Audio X5s, so if one breaks you still have a spare.
 
Or buy one of each, you can see if the Muse Hi-fi works better then the audio X5 and you have something to use (Audio X5) if the Hi-fi breaks,
The Muse audio X5 seller also sells the Muse Hi-fi, for $17.98, but this seller is in China, so it will take longer to ship to you.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSE-HiFi-PCM2704-USB-S-PDIF-Converter-DAC-Sound-Card-Black-/130854717585?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item1e778c8891
 
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