Do I need a DAC?

[jetson22]

Ok guys don't blast me. I have been out of the hifi loop for awhile. I just got my old Tanberg 2045 receiver and Altec Lansing model 17's out of storage. Everything sounds great . I did have to get a couple of wires fixed on the speakers. Anyway, my son is using the system now and he wants to be able to use IPod, spotify, cd etc. The Tandberg has the 5 pin din jacks and I have one that splits to four RCA jacks that I probably used with the old Nakamichi cassette. So help me out here. So do I need a DAC and if so is there something cheap?

 

[money4me247]

how cheap?
 
at sub-$100 off the top of my head, there is the schiit modi, diy hifimediy sabre, stoner acoustic ud120, audioquest dragonfly v1, multiple portable fiio dacs or dac/amp combos...
 
i made a giant comprehensive list about a year ago, so not currently super up-to-date, but if interested, you can look here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/696401/giant-list-of-sub-200-portable-dacs-w-their-chips-price

 

[jetson22]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes less than $100 would be great. I'm not sure what the difference is between portable. I will check out your list. I read a little about Fiio F3? But is that just for headphones? I'm having a tough time wrapping my mind around how the DAC would be hooked up, between what and what!

 

[money4me247]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes less than $100 would be great. I'm not sure what the difference is between portable. I will check out your list. I read a little about Fiio F3? But is that just for headphones? I'm having a tough time wrapping my mind around how the DAC would be hooked up, between what and what!

ahhh... most of the dacs on my list are usb-input dacs. not sure about other input connections. i was researching for dacs to use with my laptop and/or my smartphone.