[jronan2]

I wrote this in another thread but i wasn't getting much of a response to I thought I'd try here:
 
 
I currently use a fiio e7/e9 combo with either my 2010 imac or an older macbook. I want to eventually upgrade this set up and use the fiio set up somewhere else in the house or maybe at work. I wanted to upgrade the e7 first. I like the fiio combo but I feel the e9 is more valuable to me than the e7. Since I only use a computer or perhaps my ipod touch as a source, I thought the Music Streamer II+ was a good idea. I don't need a multi-purpose dac with all sorts of features, all i need is a quality usb dac. My next amp that i may eventually get might be the Schiit Lyr, to use with my dt990/600 and if i ever decide to get a pair of orthos.
 
I have been in this hobby for a few months and have learned a great deal, but i still find myself very uneducated with dac options. It just seems so confusing to me. I want a quality dac that will work good with my e9 as of now but will also will work well with an upgraded amp like a schiit lyr. I have heard schiit is planning to come out with there own dac but i have no idea when that will be, plus I would like to upgrade my dac soon. At around $349, i just want to know if there are better options out there for my specific situation. Please help.

 

[ttan98]

For the price of a Music Streamer II+ it is hard to beat, if you can to pay a little bit more the Matrix Cube $300 is very good I am listening to one right now.
 
 
Since you are using Mac use Audirvana as your player Version 0.7.2 is very good and FREE, go to this site:
 
http://code.google.com/p/audirvana/
 
 
 

 

[jronan2]

Quote:

For the price of a Music Streamer II+ it is hard to beat, if you can to pay a little bit more the Matrix Cube $300 is very good I am listening to one right now.
 
 
Since you are using Mac use Audirvana as your player Version 0.7.2 is very good and FREE, go to this site:
 
http://code.google.com/p/audirvana/
 
 
 

the MSII+ is $349 everywhere I look, and others are telling me to use an optical dac instead of usb. I didn't even know you could use optical with mac.
 

 

[ttan98]

I am not familiar with MSII+ generally speaking most users choose SPDIF or USB, the latter for most people and the former for older DAC which has USB which does not perform well.

 

[jronan2]

Quote:

I am not familiar with MSII+ generally speaking most users choose SPDIF or USB, the latter for most people and the former for older DAC which has USB which does not perform well.

Are you a mac user? If so do you prefer usb or optical out? I'm really uneducated in this area and the more i read and try to figure what the best option for me the more I get lost. Can you guys help steer me in the right direction?
 

 

[ttan98]

I am using both win 7 and OSX 10.6.6, If you buy MSII+ it can upsample to 24/192 Kbit, via USB, its output goes into your amplifier, because it has a built-in DAC. If you use OSX10.6.6(10.6 is OK too) then use Audirvana 0.7.2, you will be very happy. This combo sounds better than Win 7 with J. River or Foobar combo.

 

[jronan2]

Quote:

I am using both win 7 and OSX 10.6.6, If you buy MSII+ it can upsample to 24/192 Kbit, via USB, its output goes into your amplifier, because it has a built-in DAC. If you use OSX10.6.6(10.6 is OK too) then use Audirvana 0.7.2, you will be very happy. This combo sounds better than Win 7 with J. River or Foobar combo.

I appreciate you helping me out. I have absolutely no knowledge with Audirvana but all my music if apple lossless or 320 in itunes so i'll see if i notice a difference.

 

[a_recording]

I don't have an E7, but hopefully I can chime in. I upgraded from a uDac 2 to a MSII+ recently (going out to a pair of active desktop speakers/monitors) and I can say that it has been a great improvement. It sounds a fair degree cleaner and faster, particularly in the bass frequencies, as well as an extended treble response. I guess at several times the price you would expect so, but I think above this price (and even at this price) diminishing returns really kicks in quite viciously.
 
Doing my own research into this, a lot of people say that optical is superior to USB only because optical is a little more immune to electrical noise (it doesn't travel over glass) and also the interface has lower jitter. However, the MSII uses something called asynchronous USB, an implementation that supposedly can have even less jitter than optical/SPIDIF. I don't really have the measurements or data to back up these claims; all I can say is that the USB uDAC2 I had sounded better to me than my similarly priced optical 2009 version SuperPro 707 (optical) and my MSII+ again sounds better. And yes, Macs can do optical, via the normal headphone out if you plug in whats called a mini-toslink cable. The headphone out will automatically switch to optical.
 
I'm using a 2010 Macbook Pro with 10.6.6 and iTunes, no upsampling.

 

[ttan98]

Compared with your current setup you will DEFINITELY NOTICE  a difference, your upgrade cost is minimal for the sound you will be getting, very good value indeed.

 

[jronan2]

 Thank you guys for your input and helping clarify things. The more responses I get the more I learn and feel more comfortable about what exactly to do. In my situation, I would like to stay in the "mid fi" category I guess you can say. I'm not looking to pay a hefty premium for very slight differences. I respect this hobby and am starting to enjoy it greatly, but i dont see myself "going against the big boys". I thought the Lyr would be a great choice and kind of "future proof" me as i do have dt 990/600 and may get into entry level orthos like the he-4. (and I'm sure more affordable orthos like this will come out since they are gaining popularity, just my guess). I just am very confused/uneducated with mainly with dacs. I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible and only use it thru my computer rigs, i don't listen to music any other way, and really don't have the desire to. I will still have the Music Streamer II+ as a top choice but hope I can get more input before I make a decision.

 

[jronan2]

Quote:

I don't have an E7, but hopefully I can chime in. I upgraded from a uDac 2 to a MSII+ recently (going out to a pair of active desktop speakers/monitors) and I can say that it has been a great improvement. It sounds a fair degree cleaner and faster, particularly in the bass frequencies, as well as an extended treble response. I guess at several times the price you would expect so, but I think above this price (and even at this price) diminishing returns really kicks in quite viciously.
 
Doing my own research into this, a lot of people say that optical is superior to USB only because optical is a little more immune to electrical noise (it doesn't travel over glass) and also the interface has lower jitter. However, the MSII uses something called asynchronous USB, an implementation that supposedly can have even less jitter than optical/SPIDIF. I don't really have the measurements or data to back up these claims; all I can say is that the USB uDAC2 I had sounded better to me than my similarly priced optical 2009 version SuperPro 707 (optical) and my MSII+ again sounds better. And yes, Macs can do optical, via the normal headphone out if you plug in whats called a mini-toslink cable. The headphone out will automatically switch to optical.
 
I'm using a 2010 Macbook Pro with 10.6.6 and iTunes, no upsampling.

Thank you for the info on the MSII+. I never read any of that but just leaned towards it because I've read very solid reviews on it, and have already seen a few using it with the Lyr, which was quite comforting. Why wouldn't you use upsampling?
 

 

[Bones13]

Optical SPDIF is available on most Mac, even the laptop.  The port is actually the headphone out port - which doubles as electrical headphone connection, and a mini-Toslink port if you plug one in.  Unless you find a specific mini toslink cable, you will need adapters for a standard toslink cable.  Headroom, one of the HeadFi sponsors sells the mini-Toslink adapters.
 
It is quite easy to get bit-perfect out of the Optical SPDIF port with iTunes itself. 
 
All that being said, the rise of the USB DAC over the past couple of years demonstrates just how popular Computer based music is now a days.
 
My current budget USB DAC/AMP is the DACPort which is USB powered, does 24/96 Hi Rez and is a decent amp to boot, besides being very small.

 

[jronan2]

Quote:

Optical SPDIF is available on most Mac, even the laptop.  The port is actually the headphone out port - which doubles as electrical headphone connection, and a mini-Toslink port if you plug one in.  Unless you find a specific mini toslink cable, you will need adapters for a standard toslink cable.  Headroom, one of the HeadFi sponsors sells the mini-Toslink adapters.
 
It is quite easy to get bit-perfect out of the Optical SPDIF port with iTunes itself. 
 
All that being said, the rise of the USB DAC over the past couple of years demonstrates just how popular Computer based music is now a days.
 
My current budget USB DAC/AMP is the DACPort which is USB powered, does 24/96 Hi Rez and is a decent amp to boot, besides being very small.

Since both optical and usb do 24/96 what do you prefer? Is optical superior to usb or vice versa? I guess getting a dac with both options is probably the best bet since I can try both connections.
 

 

[JRG1990]

Optical and usb both have there advantages and disadvantages, optical doesn't carry eletrical noise but is high in jitter usb will carry noise but is lower in jitter, the fiio E7/E9 is excellent at it's price point i think you are wasting your time & money trying to find something better for the same price, other dacs will have a different sound character  but probley won't be technically better than the fiio combo they might even sound worse.  but           

 

[jronan2]

I'm not trying to find the same for the same price point...a schiit lyr is $449 and a HRT II+is $349 for example,  being $800 raw. The fiio system is $200. Big difference in price, i can't comment on performance obviously.