[jim580]

Ypoknons'
Thanks. I'm learning more all the time.
Jim

 

[RockinOut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim580 Ypoknons' Thanks. I'm learning more all the time. Jim

I see the "Micro DAC in the wings" in your sig.

You're gonna be amazed when you get it (or any other Head-Fi DAC).

And it will look awesome together with your Micro AMP too.

 

[slwiser]

There is the hagusb at http://www.hagtech.com/

at 130 $us

 

[lolhahaha]

That Yamaha UW-10 that is mentioned earlier isn't just a DAC. Its actually an audio interface which connects to your computer via USB. It has a L-R RCA input and output, a Digital in and out and a 1/8 headphone out with volume control. I guess its supposed to be a recording device for musicians but it can be used to hook up other equipment to a PC like video cameras or home audio equipment.

 

[yeeyy]

Hmm... wonder why EMU 1616m is not included?

 

[granodemostasa]

how about Audiophile USB from M-Audio, which goes from 99-199 online.
EMU 1616 also like the guy above me said.

 

[Ypoknons]

Ah, that is done, plus the Lavry DA10 that has been all the rage lately. Can the E-Mu be used without the external, er, for the lacking of a better term, box?

 

[jim]

Yeah, it can. I've been using the 1616m for a few months now when listening from my laptop, and it sounds great from the break out box. The headphone out on the pcmcia card is better than my laptop's headphone out (Ibm T42p), but definitely not as good as the external one. It's significantly grainier and seems to have a midbass hump. The external headphone output is much more balanced and smooth, liquid in fact.

 

[guzziguy]

I'm a newbie asking these kinds of questions and also wish this thread was sticky. Thanks to RockInOut for pointing it out.

I'm getting a HeadFive to use at work. I'm well set up for my Ipod but still like to pop CDs into my laptop and listen to them. I wasn't sure what to do and asked. I got a lot of answers, all of them good. Then I decided to talk to Dr. Meier too. He said that coming out of the laptop's headphone out jack should work fine, and gave me suggested volume settings. So, until I become disatisfied with the SQ of this setup, I'm going to push off doing anything else.

However, I gained so much info in this thread that I'd like to contribute to it. Here are some more USB dacs from Wavelength Audio (www.wavelengthaudio.com). Gordon Rankin does great work. These are pretty to very expensive. They do come with NOS tubes though:

Cosecant V2 USB tube dac transformer coupled output and Transcendental DAC module $3500, Silver $10,000 NEW!

Cosecant V2 USB with preamplifier option $4000, Silver $10,500 NEW!

Brick USB with Transcendental DAC & tube reactor output $3000 Limited Edition in Silver NEW!

Brick USB with Transcendental DAC & tube reactor output $1750 NEW!

Block SPDIF Toslink & RCA or BNC with Transcendental DAC & tube reactor output $1750 NEW!

Cosine tube DAC with transformer coupled output and Transcendental DAC module $3500

 

[mojo]

Don't forget DIYKITS. In particular, the Diyden SVDAC04-U. I have managed to read a couple of reviews of it thanks to Google and some basic knowledge of Chinese characters, and it looks amazing for the price. I was waiting for Head-Fi reviews but might just get one at that price.

 

[Konig]

I was dead set to get one apogee... But if u guys say there is a whole chunk of stuff people wont need.... Is there another dac that can match apogee in sound and yet do not charge us for the useless crap they offer?

 

[InspectorGadget]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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?

Why is this first post not a Sticky!! This is some good info for noobs like myself!! Dont need the whole thread, just this first post and maybe it could be updated as new products are released...

Thanks for the info!

 

[Riboge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ypoknons How much is the Perraux SXD2 going for? In fact where is it available?

The US distributor for Perreaux is Larry Metcalf l_metcal@bellsouth.net

The stated list price is $1350 but it may be purchaseable for less.

 

[cmirza]

Add the Alien USB DAC to the DIY section. It's an awesome sounding device.

 

[jjhatfield]

So this is an amazing thread worthy of a bump, even more worthy of a bump with a newb question.

The idea of using my laptop as a source intrigues me. Though most of my files are currently AAC 192-320 encoded, I am intrigued at the idea of re-ripping my CD's Apple Lossless (yes, I have committed myself to the brand).

I have a few different sets of cans, per the sig, and my first amp, a Headfive, on order. Problem is we all know the onboard soundcard is awful, and in particular on my HP zd8000 it is horrible. I had been using the in-line soundcard on my Plantronics DSP-500 for playing World of Warcraft, but I'll be shelving those soon as I move to a more integrated audio solution.

So what do I need? I am confused at the difference between "sound card" and "DAC". Is there a difference?

I'm basically looking for something I can plug into my computer via USB or whatever else is available on a laptop, so that I can have a line-out to run to my amp and then run my cans from there. What category in the OP should I be checking out?

My price range is 200USD give or take. I am hoping I really won't have to spend that much though. Any input or linkage to a better succinct explanation would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Portability is NOT an issue. This is a desktop replacement laptop, through and through. I already have a laptop cooler, an external harddrive, an ipod dock, and an external mouse hooked up to it. Plus, the battery life unplugged on this baby is <1hr. My laptop ain't going NOWHERE.