[Majinwar]

A local music store is having a clearance sale and they have the M-audio Audiophile 2496 for 69.99 and the E-MU 0202 for 99.99.

At that price, should I pick one of these up?

I'm currently using a SB Audigy 2 ZS, but I'm assuming either of these will do a better job?

Setup would then be Dac -> Little Dot MKII -> Denon D2000

Is the 0202 worth the extra $30? I've been hearing external is preferred over internal cards?

Also last but not least... Does my setup 2 lines above make sense? haha

Thanks again for any help/input!

 

[[L]es]

i'd go with the emu over the audiophile..

 

[FallenAngel]

I'm confused, 2496 is a PCI card, 0202 is USB. What do you want to do with them? Transport and DAC?

 

[[L]es]

he's choosing between the two i think

 

[Majinwar]

Yea.. I'm trying to find a relatively cheap, yet decent DAC for my PC. I'm willing to spend $100-150 CAD, but I just don't know what to get really.

I came across Hotaudio40s DACs and people seem to be pretty happy with them.. Was particularly interested in the DAC Destroyer.. I'd grab that and then run it to an amp before going to my headphones..

What do you guys think would be best for my budget? I haven't really decided on an amp yet either, but was looking at the Little Dot MKII.

My headphones are the Denon D2000s.

Thanks for your help!

 

[FallenAngel]

Personally, I really love the AlienDAC (or BantamDAC), just stick some great on the output and listen to wonderful music. It's not expensive and sounds wonderful.

Take a look at amb's Gamma DAC when it comes out, in prototyping now.

 

[Majinwar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally, I really love the AlienDAC (or BantamDAC), just stick some great on the output and listen to wonderful music. It's not expensive and sounds wonderful. Take a look at amb's Gamma DAC when it comes out, in prototyping now.

I'll look into them, thanks for the suggestion!

I'm beginning to wonder if I should just shell out $200-250 for a good USB DAC and then save up for a dedicated amp down the road.

Would anyone have some suggestions or places for me to start looking around that price range?

 

[[L]es]

emu 0404 usb.. then when you get bored with it, spend the 50$ on some good caps.. it uses a "miracle dac". look at the link below..

AudiogoN Forums: Hi-fi Wi-fi device

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by [L]es /img/forum/go_quote.gif emu 0404 usb.. then when you get bored with it, spend the 50$ on some good caps.. it uses a "miracle dac". look at the link below.. AudiogoN Forums: Hi-fi Wi-fi device

Why is AK4396 a miracle? It's OK, I wouldn't go as far as miracle. 0404 USB is nice, just make sure you don't have latency issues with your computer.

 

[[L]es]

fallenangel. it' good but the parts they put in it is well budget parts. upgrade the analog stage with good parts and you've got a good dac.

and according to the thread it's like having 2 physical dac chips per channel, one out of phase and one in phase.. what that does i dunno.

plus

Quote:

I have AKM DACs" don't really mean anything. You really need to have the AK4396 because this DAC, being the AKM flagship, is much more advanced than any other AKM DAC. What they have done in the AK4396 is revolutionary in terms of Digital Filtering, Delta Sigma modulator and output stages. This DAC has up to 10 times less out-of-band noise compared to anything similar on the market today, as well as the capability to accept 216KHz sample rate while keeping the same digital filter oversampling rate and the same speed of the modulator.

 

[FallenAngel]

Total ********, AKM4396 is almost identical to AKM4395, with the AKM4395 actually being a bit better; AKM4396 just supports 32-bit input.

I also don't think the the 0404 has two DAC chips per channel, it's just has differential outputs. If you were to physically have 2 AKM4396 per channel in a dual-mono configuration, that would be something better.

I've had the 0404, it's really nothing special, especially the headphone out. As a DAC for the $200 budget, especially having balanced outputs, it's not bad at all.

 

[[L]es]

fallenangel, did you mod the 0404 usb ?