[jjacq]

Hello.

I'm looking for a good cheap DAC for my friend as a gift and I stumbled upon the UCA202. It's $29 and I heard it's pretty good as a DAC and it has a 50 ohm output impedance. However, the Creative Aurvana Live! headphones that I've already bought are known to have a 32 ohm impedance so with that said, should I choose another DAC? Is there even a cheap alternative that's just $35 or below? I heard that the CAL! doesn't really need an amp which is why I wanted a DAC...

I've also heard wonderful things about the O2/ODAC combo and I'd like to know if anyone has any experience with it paired with the Denon D2000's. I am also looking for a pair of open headphones though, so does anyone know which headphones sound great with them? I was considering the Grado SR325i's since I had the 125i's and wanted to upgrade. But if someone can direct me to good headphones that would go with the O2/ODAC that would probably be even better.

Thanks!

 

[lorriman]

Hello.


I'm looking for a good cheap DAC for my friend as a gift and I stumbled upon the UCA202. It's $29 and I heard it's pretty good as a DAC and it hasa 50 ohm output impedance. However, the Creative Aurvana Live! headphones that I've already bought are known to have a 32 ohm impedance so with that said, should I choose another DAC? Is there even a cheap alternative that's just $35 or below? I heard that the CAL! doesn't really need an amp which is why I wanted a DAC...

The output impedance is definitely too high; the CAL's bass will suffer badly and likely rolled off treble also. The UCA202 has been put through its paces, as you probably know, and is effectively hifi whereas you'd have to find another DAC (other than the ODAC, which needs an amp in any case) that has had a similar review. It does seem unlikely. Putting a Fiio E5 amp between them would fix the output impedance on the UCA202, but AFAIK it doesn't function when plugged in to USB for charging.

 

[stv014]

How about a FiiO E10 ? Better DAC than the UCA202, and better amplifier than the E5. It costs more than $35, though, but still not expensive.

 

[Mrtn77]

Quote:

How about a FiiO E10 ? Better DAC than the UCA202, and better amplifier than the E5. It costs more than $35, though, but still not expensive.

 
The E10 is a lot more than 35$. Since OP is considering an headphone upgrade later on, I'd keep the 70$ the E10 cost and put that money towards the O2/ODAC he's considering. 

 

[jjacq]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm going to try to see if there are high impedance headphones for $80 or less and then maybe I can get the UCA202. It's just that I can't find a DAC for that price point..