[ubermang]

i need a usb dac which i will be using with my hd600 and gilmore lite.
no need for any extra features or built-in amplifier. i just need something that does a good job of usb dac.
my budget is $150, might be able to stretch it out to $200.
my music taste is mostly modern rock, metal, punk/emo rock.
other than emu 0202/0404, what other choices do i have?
thanks in advance.

 

[MichaelPublic]

If I may suggest a budget stretcher.
I use a
SoundBlaster Live! 24-Bit USB External (own/have)
Which has analogue and spdif/coax outputs, 1/8 minijack etc and actually seems to sound pretty good. can be found for $50 and under. (I guess that includes a headamp and 5.1 decoding in software but close enough)

From there the only others I have experience with is the SUPER Pro DAC 707 USB that is about $110 and is very small but also sounds good (to me) for it's price. (don't own, just heard)

 

[ww2]

If you're considering optical the Zero DAC has great cost-benefit, from what I've read. It includes a headphone amp though. If you don't have a sound card with optical output, the Chaintec AV-710 is a cheap solution that will do a great job.

 

[Operandi]

How about the Firestone Fubar II?

 

[brainsalad]

This is a great little DAC. Check the reviews. It's ugly but does the job.

DAC707 Super Pro USB

 

[Dorito123]

Pacific Valve & Electric Company - DAC

Here is a good place to start.

KECES DA-151, USB DAC never sounded so good on computer - eBay (item 160203350476 end time Feb-06-08 23:30:11 PST)

Slightly over your budget but its certainly worth consideration.

 

[strangedaze39]

I'm in the same boat as you Ubermag. How about an alien dac those are only 50 dollars how do they compare to there other choices ? I'm assuming all these are better.

 

[rustbucket]

I have the SuperPRO DAC mentioned above. It's the only dedicated DAC I've listened to, so I can't comment critically, but for the money it comes with and AC adapter, SPIDF cable, coax cable, all decent quality. I've been upgrading other components in my system, and I don't feel the DAC is holding me back at all.