[XENOPHOS]

I'm thinking of buying a DAC, but if USB is the only way I would be able to hook it up to my PC, then it rules out alot of my choices. my soundcard is just a soundblaster and it doesn't have optical or coxial and well, the stuff that I would need. Should I get another soundcard to remedy this? would a cheap one be fine because of the DAC or is there an adapter I could use.
any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[justin2net]

hagusb does usb to sp/dif, but its way too expensive for its purpose, imho. an av-710 would do good.

 

[warrior05]

There a lot of USB DACs available so I wouldn't worry about limited choices. I had the MHDT Constantine which was a very nice unit. Headroom has some choices. Meier Audio offers a terrific choice of DAC/Amp combos. Firestone Audio has nice USB DACs. Also take a look at the prosumer stuff from M-Audio, Edirol, E-MU.

Yes, if you are shooting for the higher end stuff most look for coax, toslink or BNC but I wouldn't just automatically discount not getting one fed by USB.

 

[XENOPHOS]

what are some good usb dacs then? I was thinking micro dac but its just a bit too expensive. I was thinking along the lines of fubar II, or maybe the emu0404. I don't need an internal amp but I guess I could just use it for the DAC. or the squeezebox 3 i guess. what is better anyways, the sb3 or emu0404?
thanks for the replys

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin2net /img/forum/go_quote.gif hagusb does usb to sp/dif, but its way too expensive for its purpose, imho. an av-710 would do good.

The HagUSB now has an option for having an XLR out. So if you got that and a DAC with XLR input then you will have a very clear signal into your DAC. I don't consider that it is that expensive since it performs to a very high level.

 

[Gatticus]

Didn't know what a HagUSB is so looked it up.

http://www.hagtech.com/hagusb.html

Personally, I would go for the EMU 0404 USB as that gives you the most options down the road. In fact, I did go with the EMU 0404 USB and am happy with it. I use SPDIF coax on my X-Fi though to connect to the SPDIF in on the EMU 0404. That's what I mean by options down the road. Later you may get something like an X-Fi for games and use the digital out to the EMU but for now you can use it via the USB. Later you may get a soundcard with digital optical out and can still use that with the EMU. EMU has XLR out too.