[vulc4n]

Hi guys. I'm looking for a DAC and Headphone Amp I can use with my MacBook. I've mainly been looking at the E-Mu 0404. Any other suggestions for what I should be looking at. Also, I'll be using this for light recording use.

Thanks.

 

[Namrac]

Might be a bit more expensive than you're looking for, but the Apogee Duet is held in very high regard for Mac users.

 

[riverlethe]

Hey, Elias... I have a couple quick questions about my DAC1 USB.
Is it safe to plug/unplug headphones without turning the volume all the way down first?
Also, I've been getting a crackling noise in the left channel when I adjust the volume on the DAC1 for the first few times, but it seems to smooth out as I play with the nob. This happens with both headphones and speakers. Do you have any idea what might cause this, and is it anything to worry about?

 

[vulc4n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Namrac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Might be a bit more expensive than you're looking for, but the Apogee Duet is held in very high regard for Mac users.

Hmmm. Yeah, the cost of he Apogee Duet is closer to what I was planning on spending in total for headphones + dac/amp. Kind of out of my budget at the moment.

 

[alxwang]

Get duet! If budget is problem just hold on until.
You will save money at last.

 

[vulc4n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alxwang /img/forum/go_quote.gif Get duet! If budget is problem just hold on until. You will save money at last.

Well, that might mean waiting a really long time. As a college student that only works part time I don't have a lot of money to throw around.

 

[alxwang]

Oh. Zero+MAC will be good too. Zero will cost you around 150$. Do not buy any update then spend another 100 to upgrade the opamp and headphone amp to HADM(sun /earth) you will be really happy too. total will be 250.

 

[DervishD]

Hi

Well, the sound quality of the FUBAR III is very good for the price, and I'm very happy with it. The only problem I've had so far is that the FUBAR III is very sensitive even to the minor current discharges: due to slightly different ground potentials, a bit of current may flow from your power amplifier to the DAC when turning on/off the amplifier, and that causes USB disconnections from the DAC. The only way of solving this is to make sure that all audio ground potentials are the same, which is quite difficult (the FUBAR III uses a kind of floating ground).

Last but not least, you will hear a "pop" in the headphones (or the amplifier, if you connect the DAC to a power amplifier) whenever you turn off the DAC.

I can live with those two problems, because the sound quality of the DAC is ages above the quality of my integrated soundcard, but if you don't want that kind of problems, go for another model. I was on a very tight budget when I bought mine but I'm very happy with the DAC and with the support I got from Audiophile Products.

Raúl

 

[[L]es]

0404 usb pretty good. i use it through the coaxial in with a bunch of digital cables and it's NICER that way