Dirt Cheap DACs

Bob Clobber

Bob Clobber

Quid carmen vultis audire
I'm looking for a DAC to connect to my Squeezebox Touch to an old receiver. Currently I'm using the RCA outputs, sound is pretty good.

These little units are selling dirt cheap ebay right now. What am I missing in terms of sound quality, etc. over something in the $300-$400 range?
 
Bob Clobber said:
I'm looking for a DAC to connect to my Squeezebox Touch to an old receiver. Currently I'm using the RCA outputs, sound is pretty good.

These little units are selling dirt cheap ebay right now. What am I missing in terms of sound quality, etc. over something in the $300-$400 range?
Click to expand...

You'll achieve nothing by putting a cheap dac between your touch and receiver.

The DAC in the touch is quite good and you need to spend a little more money to get a bump in sound quality.


.02
 
Good point, but how much? I wouldn't be too disappointed if one of these cheapies didn't pan out, but I'd be pissed if I bought something more expensive. Has anybody here added a DAC that didn't improve the sound?
 
Bob Clobber said:
Good point, but how much? I wouldn't be too disappointed if one of these cheapies didn't pan out, but I'd be pissed if I bought something more expensive. Has anybody here added a DAC that didn't improve the sound?
Click to expand...

Each person's system and ears are different. I'll say my Rega dac made a major difference in my system to my ears. You might get the exact opposite results.

Your best bet is finding a dealer that will let you test drive a dac or 2, and then you can decide if the results are worth the $$$.
 
I was thinking the same thing. There's no way of telling without listening. Still, any experiences people care to share are welcome. Grant Fidelity has an audition program, I only have to pay shipping if I don't like it. I miss the days of brick and mortar stores.
 
Being that GF is closer to you, thats the route Id take. Give it a shot. Im thinking you wont end up sending it back ;).
 
Great cheap DAC for my use

I do a lot of Karaoke music for family & friends using a Dell Laptop with zipped files 1 mp3 audio & 1 video and a program call RoxBox that plays them. Have been looking for a USB DAC to improve sound. I have an upcoming wedding of my niece that I am to play music & karaoke at wedding & reception so I went to Ebay and found a few, one after going to their website Hotaudio.com caught my eye. The DAC Destroyer hand made in Canada with the guarantee if I did not like it I could return it. Checked completed listings the were sold at auction for $45 to $60 made a last minuet bid on one got it for $50.00. Received it 5 days later. First tried it on my computer which has Realtec HD built in sound hooked up to Lepay (cheap $22.00) amp to Bose 141 speakers. Made a great improvement.
Then to by basement sound system with Audigy sound card BI Amped Peaveys & sub. Plugged it in (plug & play) it took over sound no driver required. I brought out detail like nothing I have ever heard on MP3's. So for for a low budget DAC for people like me (Cheap) its great.
 
Hey Dave....I'm glad to read about your experience with that DAC as I've been looking at them myself to add to a Gateway laptop that will tie in to my rig and access music from a NAS HD. I just want something basic (and inexpensive) for now and it seemed like that was a decent option to work with. As soon as I sell a few things off, I may just go ahead and order one to try out.
 
Dave62 said:
I do a lot of Karaoke music for family & friends using a Dell Laptop with zipped files 1 mp3 audio & 1 video and a program call RoxBox that plays them. Have been looking for a USB DAC to improve sound. I have an upcoming wedding of my niece that I am to play music & karaoke at wedding & reception so I went to Ebay and found a few, one after going to their website Hotaudio.com caught my eye. The DAC Destroyer hand made in Canada with the guarantee if I did not like it I could return it. Checked completed listings the were sold at auction for $45 to $60 made a last minuet bid on one got it for $50.00. Received it 5 days later. First tried it on my computer which has Realtec HD built in sound hooked up to Lepay (cheap $22.00) amp to Bose 141 speakers. Made a great improvement.
Then to by basement sound system with Audigy sound card BI Amped Peaveys & sub. Plugged it in (plug & play) it took over sound no driver required. I brought out detail like nothing I have ever heard on MP3's. So for for a low budget DAC for people like me (Cheap) its great.
Click to expand...

I purchased one recently, and they are very good. This guy in Canada with lots of time in his hands takes a cheap chinese DAC and modifies it. Works great for PC and everyday applications. Some people here have purchased and are very happy with it. Better sound quality is immediately noticeable. I use it for my wife's PC with a Dayton T-Amp and Realistic Minimus-18 Full Range Speakers; great sound from the PC. This DAC does not go for looks, as it is really ugly and not much workmanship. But. the guy truly knows his electronics, which is what matters to me, as the unit is hidden behind the LCD screen of the computer.
 
Hmm... so some of you guys have had good results with cheap DACs. I'm already running a DAC on my main system, because my computer audio comes from an M Audio 2496 sound card. The Squeezebox Touch in my bedroom system has a relatively good DAC built in. Maybe I'm already there and maybe the DAC Destroyer and such won't give me a noticeable improvement. The more I read about the Tube Dac-11, the more I like.
 
I'm all about cheap dacs, but I agree with the poster who noted the internal dac in the Touch is quite good. I doubt you'll hear much improvement, if any.

s.
 
schiit bifrost is $350 direct from schiit audio, and mine arrives March 7! After 100 hours burn-in and time to evaluate (compared to what I don't know...it will be my first DAC) I'll prepare an intelligent (!) treatise on what makes it tick. Reports preceding cause me to believe I'll be pleasantly surprised at how this unit presents music files and redbook CD's, as those are my front ends.
 
Remember that before any DAC can make a difference you must first have to have to source be first rate. If you are just sending 128k mp3 rips thru your SB, then no DAC will make a difference. But if you are sending lossless high quality files, then yes, an external DAC could make a difference - depending on the rest of your system.

Like has been said before, try it first.

Jimmy
 
There is an entire (multi-page) thread dedicated to DACs, and it slants toward the high value units. Check it out!
 
Just pulled the trigger on the Grant Fidelity Tube DAC-11. Curious about the Schiit, too but sooner or later a guy's got to shciitt or get off the pot!
 
Will do. It's also going to be tested on my main living room system, so I can see how the SPDIF output from my sound card and CD player sounds. I've been reading how the power cord upgrade further improves the sound, but I'll leave that for another day.
 
Bob Clobber said:
Will do. It's also going to be tested on my main living room system, so I can see how the SPDIF output from my sound card and CD player sounds. I've been reading how the power cord upgrade further improves the sound, but I'll leave that for another day.
Click to expand...

Tell me about the power cord upgrade. I am interested.
 
The Tube DAC-11 arrived this week. Not sure how it sounds with the Touch, because I made the mistake of hooking it up to the living room system first. It sounds pretty good! Using the computer as a source, I had some static connecting to the sound card via coax. So, I went USB. The 320k stream for Linn Radio via USB is incredible.
I'm listening to SoulTrane now using a NAD CD player hooked up via coax. The flexibility of inputs is a great feature.
It might be a while before it ends up in the bedroom system!
 
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