[Lifthanger]

This should be the right forum. I did a great deal of reading, but thought it would be best to start a discussion.

Here is what I want now:

PC -> DAC -> amp I'll build (easy diy amp - pimeta or something) -> HD595

Computer is my only source of audio, as I ripped all my cd's and it's so much more convenient.

The DAC: should work on vista and linux, it could be external or internal, USB or spdif.

I thought about the Zhaolu which could be upgraded with a zapfilter in the future instead of getting obsolete.

There is the emu 1212 with the same CS DAC the Zhaolu uses. Dont' know which implementation is better though.

Another option would be a emu 0404 based card.

I'm willing to spend up to 200€ or 280$ for this DAC and it may well be DIY.
DIY work would be welcome.. which would also point to the Zaolu.. but after a week of reading through the mod your xifi thread I can't get motivated to read the even longer mod your Zhaolu thread..

The last option is my XIFI I already own with the CS4382 DAC. I could mod it rather cheaply but I'm not sure if the effort is justified.

Future upgrades (over the next 2 years maybe) would be building a beta22 and buying HD650 phones, which are "cheap" here in germany.

It would be perfect if the DAC would fit into this highend component chain.

I know this is a bit confused, but I had to write it down for myself to better understand what I need.

 

[mow_the_hawk]

There are many dacs that fit the bill there. One is the modded Lite-AH DAC here or here. There also is the E-MU 0404 USB here( if you want all the faetures.) There also is the monica 2, here

Good luck!

 

[MikoLayer]

guess it depends on what kind of acoustic signature you are fond of?
If you are a fan of effortless, lush, smooth NOS sound and dont mind some DIYing for the case/IO, usb monica is an excellent choice. Mine is miles ahead of the moded EMU it replaced, though I have no experience to compare it to however.

 

[fordgtlover]

I upgraded to a Monica USB from a introductory level Silverstone EB-01, and I am very pleased with it - for the price it seems like a bargain.

 

[jhawk22]

I went from a 0404 to a paradisea dac and the difference is night and day. Wonderful DAC.

edit: ooops didnt see your budget until now.

 

[Lifthanger]

thanks for your input

I'll do some reading and will post my thoughts tomorrow!

 

[jhawk22]

May want to check out the constantine dac from mhdt labs. City pulse is another option

 

[kamal007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhawk22 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I went from a 0404 to a paradisea dac and the difference is night and day. Wonderful DAC. edit: ooops didnt see your budget until now.

can you elaborate more on that? and what kind of 0404 did you use? USB or PCI ?

 

[jhawk22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamal007 /img/forum/go_quote.gif can you elaborate more on that? and what kind of 0404 did you use? USB or PCI ?

E-mu 0404 pci. I noticed the paradisea is better in all aspects. Clearer, bass is more controlled and not bloated like the 0404 can be. The paradisea is a very musical dac. I'm still using the e-mu(spdif) connected to the paradisea DAC running asio.
Below is a review of the DAC
Mhdt Laboratory Paradisea and Constantine DACs Review By Joe Audiophile (Scott Faller)

I've also owned the cal audio labs sigma and alpha dacs, the paradisea sounds better than those as well.

 

[kamal007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhawk22 /img/forum/go_quote.gif E-mu 0404 pci. I noticed the paradisea is better in all aspects. Clearer, bass is more controlled and not bloated like the 0404 can be. The paradisea is a very musical dac. I'm still using the e-mu(spdif) connected to the paradisea DAC running asio. Below is a review of the DAC Mhdt Laboratory Paradisea and Constantine DACs Review By Joe Audiophile (Scott Faller) I've also owned the cal audio labs sigma and alpha dacs, the paradisea sounds better than those as well.

how much is the paradisea? im using an emu 0404 usb and from what i read, theyre really a step up from the pci version

 

[jhawk22]

paradisea is sold on ebay by mhdt labs for $600+ shipping. It also supports usb. I think the constantine(non tube based) is $300

 

[fraseyboy]

Sorry if this is threadjacking but how is the E-MU 0404 USB compared to the Beresford TC-7510 MKIII (or 6)? I really love my TC-7510, but the hissing direct from the headphone jack can be a bit annoying... I hear the 0404 has a nice built in amp. How's the SQ compared to the TC-7510 though?

 

[Lifthanger]

I did my reading and it boils down to the monica 2 usb or the dac-ah.

They seem to be of a very similar design, which makes the monica my favourite because of its unbeatable price.

USB is also a very nice feature as I'll use PC/Laptop as source only.

I guess there's no more information to be found, so I'll just order the monica which would also force me to build a nice amp. A win/win situation

.

A side question for the pros: I tried to find out, what this magic "zapfilter" does, but wasn't successful. Would it be possible to use this device on a monica later on? And would balancing even make sense in this case?

Thanks again for contributing to this thread, very helpful posts!

edit: Now I feel the need to maybe go fully DIY. At the moment I'm searching for the DIY dac list, I also found this DAC: DDDAC 1543 MK2. Does anyone use this dac?

 

[kamal007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhawk22 /img/forum/go_quote.gif paradisea is sold on ebay by mhdt labs for $600+ shipping. It also supports usb. I think the constantine(non tube based) is $300

thanks