[BillC]

I'm starting to lust for a DAC, preferably one with USB connectivity. The Headroom MicroDAC is enticing because of it's pricepoint. But I don't want to buy something and then have the urge to upgrade right away. So I'm also looking at something like the Apogee MiniDAC. Can someone who has heard both tell me what I give up with the MicroDAC? How much better is the sound from the higher end sources?

Anything else I should be looking at? DACs with USB connections seem to be an up and coming product. Is someone about to release a killer product?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillC I'm starting to lust for a DAC, preferably one with USB connectivity. The Headroom MicroDAC is enticing because of it's pricepoint. But I don't want to buy something and then have the urge to upgrade right away. So I'm also looking at something like the Apogee MiniDAC. Can someone who has heard both tell me what I give up with the MicroDAC? How much better is the sound from the higher end sources? Anything else I should be looking at? DACs with USB connections seem to be an up and coming product. Is someone about to release a killer product? Thanks in advance.

What is the rest of your gear? Deciding how high to go on the source ladder depends on that.

 

[grawk]

The apogee minidac uses custom written usb drivers to allow 24/96. The microdac uses standard usb audio, and is limited to 48/16.

 

[BillC]

I've seen and understand the spec differences of the MicroDAC and the MiniDAC but I haven't had a chance to hear either of them so I was hoping someone could help me convert spec differences into what I'd hear.

With regards to my other gear, I'd primarily be using a computer as transport via USB. Current amps are an SR71 and an SM3. Current headphones are Senn 595s at home and UE super.fi 5 pros or Shure E3s on the go.

 

[jiiteepee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk The apogee minidac uses custom written usb drivers to allow 24/96. The microdac uses standard usb audio, and is limited to 48/16.

NOTE:
Apogee MiniDAC - USB ASIO drivers (bundled with device)

Quote:

Originally Posted by usb-audio "Ever thought about using your laptop as a synthesizer or digital effect-box? Did you notice there's some delay related to the computer's soundprocessing? The USB ASIO driver is the solution. It enables buffersizes down to 32 samples (0.73 ms) and does an ultra highspeed USB audio connection, bypassing the operating system's audio. This does not only give you low latencies but better sound quality also. SoundManager (Mac) and MultiMedia Extensions (MME / Win) use non-highend sample rate conversion in order to sync the different audio signals from applications to the sample rates used on the external soundcard. And sometimes there's not even a way to control the rate to be the prefered one. (E.g. 48kHz instead of 44.1kHz.) Using ASIO it's possible to do direct "one to one" hardware connections and even use higher bitrates (e.g. 20bit or 24bit) if supported by the device. Plus this driver can further increase quality by adding dither. But of course, you need an ASIO compatible application like Cubase / Cubasis, Logic Audio / Micrologic, Reason, Live, Digital Performer, Sonar 2.2 ->, BPM Studio, etc. If the app supports ASIO2 you'll be able to benefit from more features."

jiitee