[Yogibear91]

After reading a lot of different threads regarding this very subject I could not dig up a review to help my decision, so I need someone with any experience of douk audios dac/amp range and there quality? If possible specifically this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272207990915
For my first dac and price range of under £100 I narrowed it down to either the above douk audio dac with ti' s dsd1796 dac chip and xmos asynchronous or the hifimediy 9018 which is adaptive https://hifime.uk/DACs/Sabre-9018-DAC?sort=p.price&order=DESC
The one I choose will be mainly be used to improve the sound from my laptop to my monitors when using Ableton and listening to music in general.
So any advice on the difference in sound quality, soundstage and accuracy of sound they both produce as Well as any advice on douk audios quality on other devices in general (as I can't find too many reviews online in comparison to hifimediy) would be greatly appreciated. Or even if you feel so strongly on another I should choose in same price range would also be great! There's so many I'm sure I've missed out on looking at a few over the past few weeks.
Kind regards

 

[serman005]

I am confused (it happens a lot)--are you looking for a dac or a dac/amp?

 

[bixby]

I have heard neither of your candidates but they seem well chosen. I might have those on my short list as well. In my experience with 9018 chips in some lower cost dacs (LH Labs) I have been impressed. Focuses on highly resolved and at times a bit bright lower treble and treble. Bass is tight and deep and mids just a bit lean for me. TI based stuff that I have heard like the HRT dacs, tend to be soft up top, warm in the middle and a bit soft in the bottom. And they seem to do mids well with a bit of extra texture. But remember these are generalities form listening to various dacs with same chip or family.

That usb circuit is done right on the Douk may be key. I am not sure how good it can be for the price they are charging. It may be though.

It may take some personal listening to find a champ. You could always do what I do on rare occasion. Buy both and sell one. Taking the 20% or larger hit is not too bad on low priced stuff. Kinda like spending for a few drinks as the price to admission to really audition both.

And hey, then you post your impressions and we all learn!

 

[headpfizer]

I can recommend the SMSL M3 from personal experience. £70 on amazon uk.

 

[Yogibear91]

Fantastic

I have heard neither of your candidates but they seem well chosen. I might have those on my short list as well. In my experience with 9018 chips in some lower cost dacs (LH Labs) I have been impressed. Focuses on highly resolved and at times a bit bright lower treble and treble. Bass is tight and deep and mids just a bit lean for me. TI based stuff that I have heard like the HRT dacs, tend to be soft up top, warm in the middle and a bit soft in the bottom. And they seem to do mids well with a bit of extra texture. But remember these are generalities form listening to various dacs with same chip or family.

That usb circuit is done right on the Douk may be key. I am not sure how good it can be for the price they are charging. It may be though.

It may take some personal listening to find a champ. You could always do what I do on rare occasion. Buy both and sell one. Taking the 20% or larger hit is not too bad on low priced stuff. Kinda like spending for a few drinks as the price to admission to really audition both.

And hey, then you post your impressions and we all learn!

Great first reply thank you very much for your opinion very detailed it will definitely be taken on board. I also am a bit dubious of douks dac with the price it almost seems to good to be true!, hopefully someone on here has had experience with it and replys with there dealings of the product.

 

[Yogibear91]

I am confused (it happens a lot)--are you looking for a dac or a dac/amp?

Well it seems like all the dacs I find in my price range are dac and headphone amp combo rather then just a dac. I mainly want the use of the dac with only moderate to minimum use of the headphone amp itself (I believe the douk has the option to bypass the amp with the LandR output but the hifimediy doesn't). So yes im mainly in it for and after a great dac with minimum focus on the amp.. So if you could advise either way would be awesome.

 

[Yogibear91]

I can recommend the SMSL M3 from personal experience. £70 on amazon uk.

Have you found any issues with over excessive noise ? Smsl is what a close friend of mine has also swears by it but internet says has some awful noise issues. Did you find any excessive noise that bled into the track? Also can you try give me your view of the citrus logic chip? Is the m3 asynchronous?

 

[headpfizer]

I have not had any noise issues. I power it via usb from my laptop (same connection for power and data). It has the option for 5V usb separately but I don't bother. Powers HD600 fine. "24 bit asynchronous USB input, 24bit/ 192KHZ". I think for £70 it represents excellent value for the money.

 

[Yogibear91]

so a bit belated but went for something completely different in form factor but similar if not better specs.
the smsl idea (sabre 9018 and xmos usb dac/amp) managed to get last one from Amazon for a 60 quid steal.
I will write a review when received and listened to for a while. but thanks for the posts again.