[donunus]

To the OP,
havent tried the stello but from all my headfi research, they seem to be among the best value in production dacs out there

 

[obobskivich]

another DAC that just came to mind, is the CI Audio VDA-2 (w/VRX-1 cables if you want/need balanced), which is very well regarded and provides excellent performance

 

[donunus]

the only problem with the vda2 is that there is no usb connection

 

[obobskivich]

was that an explicit requirement? seems I missed that bit...


lol, VDA-2 + HT Omega Claro Plus or X-Fi Prelude

basically the same price, and imho more flexible

 

[olblueyez]

You mention the USB connection, reminds me, I prefer the optical connection to the USB. Sound stage is smaller on USB and the optical is slightly smoother. We are not talking night and day but I think its worth mentioning if your looking to buy one. I have not tried the coax yet. I am extremely happy with mine and cant stress enough the usefulness of the bypass and 2 mode up sampling.

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif was that an explicit requirement? seems I missed that bit... lol, VDA-2 + HT Omega Claro Plus or X-Fi Prelude basically the same price, and imho more flexible

Im not sure I understand why he would need a sound card. His computer not have optical or coax?

 

[donunus]

well, if there is no requirement of the usb, the options grow much more

 

[tyrion]

I've deleted a number of posts some of which were in response to another members posts. Many of you reported the posts which is the way to deal with this. Responding in the thread is not the way to deal with this.

 

[obobskivich]

about the soundcard, I was thinking on ~$1k for the entire solution, if you wanted absolute quality, and had no soundcard, pure quality was my point

 

[compuryan]

I think the Lavry DA10 would be a good match for you. No USB option, but any old sound card would do the trick. I picked up my Creative Audigy 2ZS for $30 used I think.

 

[Feather225]

Quote:

Originally Posted by compuryan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the Lavry DA10 would be a good match for you. No USB option, but any old sound card would do the trick. I picked up my Creative Audigy 2ZS for $30 used I think.

X1

 

[ffrr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by compuryan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the Lavry DA10 would be a good match for you. No USB option, but any old sound card would do the trick. I picked up my Creative Audigy 2ZS for $30 used I think.

not true...well, that is... not all sound cards have bit-perfect output.

chaintech av-710 does, esi juli@ does..but not all of them do.

I use the juli@ (as mentioned is bit perfect) with foobar (ASIO/WASAPI output) >>>apogee wyde eye cable>>>mytek dac

 

[compuryan]

yea thats true. not all sounds cards can do bit perfect. I like the creative cards though, pretty much all of them support 24-bit and bitperfect. They low end ones will do just as well as the x-fi series if you're just using it for digital output.

oh and yea chaintech av-710 is good but kinda hard to find nowadays.