khaos974
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
- Posts
- 2,085
- Likes
- 120
Hi,
My current set up is a lot of flac files played with:
Vista > Foobar Asio (with no DSP) > Edirol UA-25 (at 44100Hz) > Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 > AKG K701.
I'd like to have a better source but mostly a better sound quality, my budget is about 500$ due to the current exchange rate with Euro.
I originally bought the Edirol in a hurry because I was leaving for Beijing and could not bring my cd player with me but now I wonder if I can have a better source than the 24 bit/ 96 kHz DAC of the external soundcard ( no idea what the chip is).
So, to get a higher SQ, several choices seem interesting to me.
1. RSA Predator (if the x-can v3 is int good enough)
2. Headamp Pico
3. Paradisea+ DAC
4. Stello DA100 DAC (which really stretches the budget @ 700$)
My first question is whether I can expect a better SQ with an amp/dac like the pico than with a separate Dac and the x-can (in other words if the x-can will be a strong limiting factor for a 500$ dac and if I would be better off buying a Pico or a RSA Pred than a dac)
Then, how does the paradisea+, the pico rate against the stello and other dacs.
If anyone knows a good dac at around 500 us$, please tell me. Note that while a USB connection would be better, the edirol has an optical out.
PS: I live in Beijing, so the product will have to be shipped there.
Thanks
My current set up is a lot of flac files played with:
Vista > Foobar Asio (with no DSP) > Edirol UA-25 (at 44100Hz) > Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 > AKG K701.
I'd like to have a better source but mostly a better sound quality, my budget is about 500$ due to the current exchange rate with Euro.
I originally bought the Edirol in a hurry because I was leaving for Beijing and could not bring my cd player with me but now I wonder if I can have a better source than the 24 bit/ 96 kHz DAC of the external soundcard ( no idea what the chip is).
So, to get a higher SQ, several choices seem interesting to me.
1. RSA Predator (if the x-can v3 is int good enough)
2. Headamp Pico
3. Paradisea+ DAC
4. Stello DA100 DAC (which really stretches the budget @ 700$)
My first question is whether I can expect a better SQ with an amp/dac like the pico than with a separate Dac and the x-can (in other words if the x-can will be a strong limiting factor for a 500$ dac and if I would be better off buying a Pico or a RSA Pred than a dac)
Then, how does the paradisea+, the pico rate against the stello and other dacs.
If anyone knows a good dac at around 500 us$, please tell me. Note that while a USB connection would be better, the edirol has an optical out.
PS: I live in Beijing, so the product will have to be shipped there.
Thanks