Lapfi: A Listing of USB and PCMCIA DACs

[Ypoknons]

With the rise of headphone use, people have seen a natural pairing between computers and headphones as a versatile solution for personal listening. The laptop, too has seen a surge of popularity, partly due to the excellent low power Centrino platform, and partly due to lower prices. Though laptops have great potenial as a portable all in-one solution for audio, most laptops have truly horrific headphone outs. Though my Toshiba M40 is great for gaming, work and graphics, plug in a pair of IEM's and you hear a loud hiss - and that is th least of its audio problems. Part of the problem lies with a truly craptacular headphone amp, but save for a few laptops (the optical-out equipped Acer Travelmate 8200 comes to mind), there is no way to bypass the headphone amp. Nor is the soundcard in most laptops equal to even mid-fi equipment, with a huge number of aging AC97 based products. Hence the need for a USB or PCMCIA solution that can deliever, however cliched it is, a crystal clear headphone signal. So whether you are the business traveller or the space conscious college student, high quality laptop music is now within reach.

USB DACs, of course, can be used with any computer with USB ports and just not laptops, and indeed PCMCIA can be used on PCI equipped desktops with a converter, but the utility of using a PCMCIA card over a PCI soundcard is difficult to justify at best. Sadly, Firewire is in decline and laptops with ExpressCard and ExpressCard products are almost non-exsistant.

I know portability is key for many laptop users, and though lugging around a m902 or worse - glass tubes - is to me a bit of a descent into madness, I will list them regardless both for the sake of home laptop users and the computer as source community as a whole.

Please note that DACs not replacements for headphone amps, but rather complements. You still need a amp to drive headphones. Whilst many sound cards have headphone outputs, they are there as an afterthought and do not approach the quality of dedicated amps. The exception here is the case of the Indigo, which has a decent headphone out, although certainly not the equal of dedicated headphone amps over $150.

USB-Based General Soundcards
There are some solutions that are designed as general purpose soundcards, offering a full range of inputs and outputs. Whilist not specifically designed for headphone use, they are still infinitely better than most on-board laptop solutions.

Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro (Street Price ~$30 as of Feb 8 2006)
Edirol UA-1X ($50-100 street)
M-Audio Transit (Street Price $80-$100 as of Feb 8 2006)
Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Roadie ($100 from Turtle Beach as of Feb 8 2006) Turtle Beach
M-Audio Audiophile ($100-$200, Apr2006)

Profressional and semiprofressional
Edirol UA-25 ($200-250 street)
Edirol UA-101 ($500-550 street)
Apogee Mini Dac with USB (~$1300 street)

USB-Based Dedicated DACs
The products under this catagory use the USB interface but are entirely concerned with audio decoding - they only provide analog audio out from the USB source, and they are designed with this in mind.

Silverstone Ensemble EB01 ($100 from Newegg)
Firestone Audio Fubar II ($120 from Firestone Audio)
ESI Waveterminal U24 ($150-230 street)
Stereolink Model 1200 ($189 from Stereolink)
Stereolink Model 1300 ($219 from Stereolink)
Firestone Audio Spitfire ($250 from Firestone Audio)
Headroom Micro DAC ($300 from Headroom)
Scott Nixon USB tubeDAC ($475) (site)
April Music Stello DA100 (<$700) (site)
Lavry DA10 (~$975; this is said to have an excellent headphone amp)
Sutherland 12DAX7 Pre-amp ($1600 street) (well it's a pre-amp but one with a USB-in)

DIY USB DAC
Hey, if you're good with a soldiering iron and want to have lots of fun, who am I to tell you not to build your own?

DIY NOS DAC ("boards cost $60 to have 3 made, parts are about $50-60, build time is 2hrs if you are good at SMD and probably 5-6 if you are not") (site)
DDDAC-series (site)

Headphone Amplifer and DAC Intergrated
Some dedicated headphone amplifers come with a DAC chip inside - a nice and tidy solution. Headroom's Bithead was the first, and most of Headroom's line can be outfitted with a USB DAC. The Bithead has just been dropped in favor of a $200 Total Bithead with a gain switch and assorted tweaks.

Headroom Total Bithead ($200 from Headroom)
Meier Audio Porta Corda Mk.III USB ($275 from Meier Audio or Todd)
Meier Audio Aria ($450 from Meier Audio or Todd)
Dared MP-5 ($559 from Dared; but e-mail them about introductory offers and such; last I heard it was about $330)
Rudistor NKK.01se ($990)
PS Audio GCHA ($995 from PS Audio)
Grace Design m902 (~$1600)
Headroom's Desktop, Home and Max lines can all be outfitted with an internal USB DAC except for the Desktop Millett Hybrid.

PCMCIA Solutions

Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook ($100 street price)
Echo Audio Indigo (discontinued)
Echo Audio Indigo DJ ($150-$200 street price)
Echo Audio Indigo IO ($150-$200 street price)

E-MU 1616M (upper 300's or low 400's)

(jiiteepee's contributions)
PCXpocket 240 (site)
PCXpocket 440 (~$480)(site)
PCXpocket v3 (site)
VXpocket 440 (site)
VXpocket v2 (~ $349) (site)

Phew. Needs a lot more work. How do you like it though?

 

[granodemostasa]

why not include these?
waveterminal u24
apogee mini dac usb
perraux sxd2 usb dac
sutherland engineering 12dx7 usb dac
Sterolink model 1200/1300

 

[manhattanproj]

this is a good thread. most of the equipments listed are within afforable price range.

the apogee mini dac? that thing costs a chunk and to most users, not that useful. too many functions that most people won't use.

 

[Ypoknons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa why not include these? waveterminal u24 apogee mini dac usb perraux sxd2 usb dac sutherland engineering 12dx7 usb dac Sterolink model 1200/1300

Good point - and the Grace m902 as well. So far I've added the Stereolink 1200/1300 annd m902; will add others soon.

 

[doobooloo]

What about Edirol?

UA-25
UA-101

 

[Ypoknons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa why not include these? waveterminal u24 apogee mini dac usb perraux sxd2 usb dac sutherland engineering 12dx7 usb dac Sterolink model 1200/1300

How much is the Perraux SXD2 going for? In fact where is it available?

 

[RockinOut]

Lapfi indeed. . . .

Most people, myself, included got into all this headphone stuff with the advent of portable mp3 players, and most people, again, me too, start on the wrong end of things.

They start with headphones. Then, they find they need more power and transparency, so they get an amp. Then, they realize how crappy their original source is.

For instance, my Shure E5c's are being repaired under warranty. So I'm using my cheap, but well burned in, Sony "grey" earbuds. But, I'm using it with my iBook, HeadRoom Micro DAC, and Xin SM3: Surprise, they sound pretty awesome for $10 earbuds due to the fantastic and well-coordinated front-end.

The importance of the source file, DAC, and amp, I feel, are very under-estimated. In my opinion, the headphones are only about 25% of the whole head-fi audio package.

The standalone DAC is very versatile compared to dedicated source components. With a DAC, many different types of "transports" can be used: CD, SACD, DVD, laptop/desktop computers, wireless music routers, Iriver H120, etc.

Obviously, this is a laptop, USB, PCMCIA DAC thread, and that's what I use, USB; it's the most flexible with most people's existing hardware. But regarding new hardware purchases I prefer optical inputs so USB power/ground noise (which I have experienced in my personal rig, but fortunately resolved) won't be an issue. For instance, some Apple Notebooks have optical outputs built-in. Also the m-Audio Transit is a good usb-to-optical solution if power/ground noises exist in a particular hardware rig.

Laptops are great sources: Playlists, streaming music, surf the web/multitask while rockin' out. You buy hardware that has multiple functions, not just music. This is good for people who don't have all the money in the world. I should know, I've already spent wayyy too much.

I'm always curious though: Where should DAC posts be put? In the Amps or Computer-as-Source Forums? I guess it depends on the context of post.

It's really good to see this Lapfi stuff getting more popular. Ypoknons, great thread and info. I'm sure it will help many people, especially those who just "look for info" and don't necessarily post.

Just my 2 cents. . . .Cheers!

 

[dsavitsk]

Can I add mine to the list? It is DIY and would require you to buid it, but sound quality is high for the cost of goods. (I don't sell any of this, I just provide info

http://www.ecp.cc/NOS-USB-DAC.html (boards cost $60 to have 3 made, parts are about $50-60, build time is 2hrs if you are good at SMD and probably 5-6 if you are not. It is, however, a pretty diffcult soldering project, so not one you would want to do as a first project.)

There are a few others floating around the DIY area too.

 

[Ypoknons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsavitsk Can I add mine to the list? It is DIY and would require you to buid it, but sound quality is high for the cost of goods. (I don't sell any of this, I just provide info http://www.ecp.cc/NOS-USB-DAC.html (boards cost $60 to have 3 made, parts are about $50-60, build time is 2hrs if you are good at SMD and probably 5-6 if you are not. It is, however, a pretty diffcult soldering project, so not one you would want to do as a first project.) There are a few others floating around the DIY area too.

Honored to. I'll try to cover the DIY DACs but admittingly my first priority is to cover retail DACs - the DIY community is a little bit a community of its own, and the quantities it can put are out are limited. That said, the line between retail and DIY is quite blurrred these days - for example, what exactly is the Gary with his PA2V2 amp? He makes quite a few of them, but he doesn't actually have a shop.

 

[Solitary1]

Thank you for the comprehensive list. I'm in the DAC market now, and you've saved me a lot of leg(finger)work.

 

[Ernie II]

Don't forget: PS AUDIO - GCHA G-SERIES HEADPHONE AMP

 

[hyamaiata]

Thanks for the list Yopkons. I was wondering if anyone has ever compared any of the following DACs:
1. HeadRoom Micro DAC.
2. Firestone Audio Fubar II (or Spitfire).
3. Stereolink Model 1300.

Or maybe if just anyone could tell which of the 3 is a better value for the money.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bearwise]

I have both the MicroDac and the Fubar II (without upgraded power supply) and do like the tonal balance and imaging of the Microdac more. However the Fubar is close to 1/2 the price. Search around here, I know that someone has done a review of the Fubar with the upgraded power supply.

I had a StereoLink 1200 and was never that thrilled with the sound, have not heard the 1300 tho.

 

[Ypoknons]

Added the Dared mp-5 hybrid. It seems that every piece of high audio gear is adding a usb input these days. Phew. Thanks for the knowledge, btw, bearwise. No one's really compared them directly that way.

 

[claymon]

My source is lossless out of a dell inspiron 9300. I am using some grado sr-80s, and i have heard that the onboard soundcard out of the 9300's often compare, if not surpass, the quality of dac' such as the m-audio transit:

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...highlight=9300

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...=inspiron+9300

I was considering the usb TBAAM for its little amp to be a cheap way to upgrade the already stellar performance the 9300 presents. Would this be wise? Could anyone else using a Dell Inspiron 9300 give me any suggestions as to how they improved their setup, considering the stock sound card performs so well?

peace