[iamthecheese]

My soundcard in my computer started getting a little crackley, outputs on the back of the card intermittently working, so its time for a new source. I was thinking about getting a xonar essence, but I thought it would be nice to able to use an external DAC on any of my computers(through USB or Optical).

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to DACs... I'm pretty new in the hifi scene

I'd like to spend around 150 on it, but if the extra $50 would get me alot better I should be able to put that down.

My main headphones are my k601s driven by my little dot 1+ (on stock tubes).

 

[joe_cool]

The problem with many cards in that price range is that the DRIVERS are not acceptable for reasons of instability or inadequate functionality.

What about a driverless solution, a USB interface with a good DAC and line out?

 

[iamthecheese]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe_cool /img/forum/go_quote.gif The problem with many cards in that price range is that the DRIVERS are not acceptable for reasons of instability or inadequate functionality. What about a driverless solution, a USB interface with a good DAC and line out?

I think I would prefer that with my lack of PCI/PCIe slots(graphics cards taking up too many slotssssssss)

 

[joe_cool]

Maybe the Cube.

 

[iamthecheese]

That seems like a good option, pretty nice price too on ebay.

Is there a big difference between USB and Optical(my motherboard has coax and toslink out)

 

[Bones13]

Depends on many factors. Usually "good" optical/coax SPDIF with proper software implementation is considered better than "good" USB.

Many motherboard based optical/coax connections are not "good" though. Many cannot produce the 44.1 hertz for CD native recordings.

You might have "good" optical/coax out of your sound card though.

 

[iamthecheese]

Well if it was "good" the card is all crackley now and no longer in my computer(tested it in another machine same thing)...For the sake of expansion would I be better of getting a DAC with USB and opitical/coax?

 

[joe_cool]

Tell us about your motherboard and we can research the audio system.

 

[Currawong]

You can end up hearing a lot of noise using USB and cheap DACs, such as the Audiotrak, so optical tends to be a better option in those cases.

 

[MikeW]

wow, that prodigy cube is a cool looking product, i've not seen it before, but it looks like attention was paid to quality parts, often missed on consumer grade equipment, wonder how it stacks up to the EMU 0404 usb.

There's a Gamma1 in the fs forum right now for 110 bucks, that's probably pretty hard to beat.

 

[iamthecheese]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe_cool /img/forum/go_quote.gif Tell us about your motherboard and we can research the audio system.

Newegg.com - DFI LANPARTY DK 790GX-M2RS AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can end up hearing a lot of noise using USB and cheap DACs, such as the Audiotrak, so optical tends to be a better option in those cases.

Can anyone verify this with the cube specifically?

 

[joe_cool]

According to the datasheet, the hardware "16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-OUT supports 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate".

IMO this is the newer "HD Audio" hardware and could do a good job of SPDIF output if the clocking is stable.

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamthecheese /img/forum/go_quote.gif Newegg.com - DFI LANPARTY DK 790GX-M2RS AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards Can anyone verify this with the cube specifically?

The reason optical gets rid of switching noise is because it electrically decouples the computer from the sound output. So it should be an advantage regardless of the DAC.

 

[joe_cool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by barleyguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif The reason optical gets rid of switching noise is because it electrically decouples the computer from the sound output. So it should be an advantage regardless of the DAC.

IMO this is incorrect. SPDIF is a flawed format due to the encoding method, which introduces data-related jitter to the data stream. With Toslink (optical), there is an additional jitter component added when encoding and decoding to/from optical to electrical. This can be minimized, but never eliminated.

In addition, the "standard" practice is to use pulse transformers when transmitting SPDIF on coax which galvanically (electrically) isolates the transmitter from the receiver.

In practice, FireWire, USB, Toslink or SPDIF coax can be implemented in a way which minimizes the problems of data transmission. Since no clock is perfect there will always be time-domain inaccuracies, but the common method of "streaming" audio data and recovering the clock at the DAC is fraught with problems (which may or may not be audible).

<edit> IMO the common reports of "static" and "noise" when using USB to transmit audio are problems from the transmitter end (the computer). These terms are not adequately descriptive to draw conclusions, and many of the reporters simply don't understand the possible problem areas and the associated symptoms.<edit>

 

[iamthecheese]

So for flexibility I think I want a DAC with USB, Coax and Optical?

Any suggestions there?

EDIT:

I did some digging in the FS Section, I found a couple DACs that might fit me, anyone have input on them?
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs...ldwide-444071/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs...-model-444414/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs...-price-446143/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs...43-dac-447603/