[Sean8]

Hey guys.
 
 
So I've been looking into getting a USB dac and amp for a while as most of my music is on my computer and I am not too interested in getting a high end sound card. I also study computer engineering at school (I'm an undergrad) and I'm really getting interested in building my own.
 
I'm not opposed to designing my own from scratch as I know I can probably do it with access to the right specs, but I really think I'd prefer a well-documented kit for my first one.
 
Does anyone know of any good kits? I'm looking to keep my cost between $50-$100. This is a learning experience for me after all and I know once I do one I'll want to keep going.
 
If designing my own is a good idea, I really like the look of Twister Pear Audio's Opus dac but my biggest issue with using that schematic was that it does not have a direct USB interface and the interface that Twister Pear has online is 16 bit, not 24. I don't really see the point of using a 32 bit DAC with only a 16 bit usb interface. And not only would I need help figuring out the best way to amplify the output from the opus.
 
Any ideas would be great.
 
Thanks,
Sean

 

[Sean8]

I was reading around and found this which leads me to believe that I don't actually need 24 bit audio as much as I assumed I would. So now, assuming I can use the USB interface from Twister Pear as well, how should I go about amplifying the output?

 

[Mullet]

I would recommend the grub dac for 16/48 audio. If you want to pay a little more the pup dac is a better move.

 

[DingoSmuggler]

opus dac needs case, power supply, and usb interface on top of the base kit. You will need to go noticeably over budget, one would expect.
 
for beezar sourced options, pupDAC is much better than the grubDAC, get the full kit with case and go slightly over budget, or the short kit (everything but case) to slip in well within budget. Then just gaffa tape it to a piece of cardboard! 

 Case done!
might be joking about the gaffa tape to cardboard thing, might not be