[boots n cats]

My level of audiophile listening skills is this: If I'm wearing headphones, I can tell the difference between 128 kbps and 320 kbps mp3 played back to back if I'm listening reaaaally intently. That's it. Almost all my music is in 320 mp3 or 256 aac and I've never felt the need to have any of it in lossless quality.

I'm new to the world of external DACs and lately I've been trying to get a cheap, working DAC to see what it's all about. I've bought a couple optical DACs but it turns out something's wrong with my computer and it won't send the data out optically, so I returned those DACs. This is why I'm specifically looking for a USB DAC. I once bought a Sabre USB DAC but it was making a weird kind of distortion and it seemed like there might have been more background noise too so I returned it. (Maybe I just got a bad one, I dunno.)

Basically, I'm just looking for a cheap USB DAC to buy just so I can see if the world of external DACs is a world I want to get into. I don't want to spend more than 80 bucks on it. Ideally I'd want to spend less than 60 bucks. Even more ideally I'd like to spend less than 30 bucks, but I want to be confident that the DAC is an improvement over my internal one. I also just want a DAC and not an amp because my speakers have a built-in amp. I'm also totally fine with losing the volume control on my computer if I have to.

Other info that might be helpful:
This is for a macbook pro that's 5 years old.
I connect it to A5+ speakers connected to an M8 sub.

Thanks!

 

[liquidzoo]

FiiO E10K (using the line out rather than the headphone out) would work.

If you want to build it, you could go with something much cheaper (the GrubDAC kits start at about $35 from what I can see, and the Skeleton DAC kits are cheaper still at $25).

http://www.beezar.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=44

 

[cel4145]

+1

E10K seems a good fit for your needs

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

  My level of audiophile listening skills is this: If I'm wearing headphones, I can tell the difference between 128 kbps and 320 kbps mp3 played back to back if I'm listening reaaaally intently. That's it. Almost all my music is in 320 mp3 or 256 aac and I've never felt the need to have any of it in lossless quality.

I'm new to the world of external DACs and lately I've been trying to get a cheap, working DAC to see what it's all about. I've bought a couple optical DACs but it turns out something's wrong with my computer and it won't send the data out optically, so I returned those DACs. This is why I'm specifically looking for a USB DAC. I once bought a Sabre USB DAC but it was making a weird kind of distortion and it seemed like there might have been more background noise too so I returned it. (Maybe I just got a bad one, I dunno.)

Basically, I'm just looking for a cheap USB DAC to buy just so I can see if the world of external DACs is a world I want to get into. I don't want to spend more than 80 bucks on it. Ideally I'd want to spend less than 60 bucks. Even more ideally I'd like to spend less than 30 bucks, but I want to be confident that the DAC is an improvement over my internal one. I also just want a DAC and not an amp because my speakers have a built-in amp. I'm also totally fine with losing the volume control on my computer if I have to.

Other info that might be helpful:
This is for a macbook pro that's 5 years old.
I connect it to A5+ speakers connected to an M8 sub.

Thanks!

The E10 will be quite a good option. As liquidzoo said, you would want to use the back of the E10k using the line out for you powered speakers. I have the older E10 and it is very similar. I find that the line out is very effective with my Hi-Fi amplifier and speakers. The headphone amplifier is also good for when you want to use them. You do loose the ability to control the volume from the PC but I really don't mind. On other computers, this may be different.
 
The E10 cuts out background hissing and all that other noise from the PC extremely well. It is the same with the headphone output. You can turn it to max volume while nothing is playing and you hear no hissing at all.

 

[boots n cats]

So when using the line out, the volume control on the E10 wouldn't control anything right?

Also, I'll definitely consider the E10, but I might only want to spend more than 60 bucks if I really have to. If there's a similar USB DAC that's cheaper that you guys recommend I might buy that instead.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

All the volume dial does is control the volume for the headphone amplifier alone. I have been more impressed by the quality of the line out than the headphone amplifier on this DAC. It improved the sound quality a huge amount compared to using my computers inbuilt sound card.

 

[Sam21]

audioengine D1 
 
modi 2 uber
 
HIFImeDIY 9018D

 

[cel4145]

So when using the line out, the volume control on the E10 wouldn't control anything right?

Right. That's how a line out is supposed to work, and it does on the E10K. When the volume controls the signal, it's generally referred to as a pre-amp out.

 

[boots n cats]

Any cheaper recommendations than the E10?

EDIT: Nevermind, I decided to buy the E10.