Cheap DAC second hand

B

booqman

New Member
Good morning,

thinking of buying a cheaper second hand DAC to play from my laptop.

The following two DACs caught my eye in my price category (around 200 USD second hand):

VINCENT DAC-1 (not MK, the old one)
https://www.hifionline.cz/d-a-prevodnik ... ent-dac-1/

and

https://www.whathifi.com/cambridge-audi ... gic/review

I know that CA has more inputs, etc., but first of all it's about the sound.

Has anyone heard both? Any advice/opinions would be appreciated. BTW, if someone would suggest something clearly better second-hand in the given price category, the condition is silver and mentioned price.

Thank you

John
 
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booqman said:
Because second hand I can get more expensive thing cheaper. That was the thought process. Ofc I know more expensive doesnt equal better sound… so any particular tips ?
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If you buy 2nd hand look for a newer DAC. The older models have mostly antiquated chip sets in them. Also take a look at the Schiit web site. They have quite a few DACs for not a lot of cash there.
 
If you can DIY consider a Khadas Tone Board. You'll probably want to build a case (cases are available on the aftermarket), but it tests near the top of most DACs and matches the sound quality of DACs costing ten or twenty times more.
 
With just $200 to spend I'd go with a new product. Only minor SQ differences in the sub 500 field.
 
In the last 5 motns I went fromt he only DAC in my hifi arsenal being my CD player to an Intergrated Amp with it's own DAC and a WiiM Pro Plus Streamer.

If we eliminate TV's and Amateur Radio gear the best money I have spent on electronics since Covid-19 hit has been my WiiM Pro Plus DAC/Streamer. Each month that goes by I appreciate it more and more and play with some feature on it I have not played with previously. It sounds better than the Wolfson DAC in my CD player and many orders of magntitude Richter Scale sort of scale better than the built in DAC in my Emotiva BasX TA1 intergrated amplifier. For $219 you even get a voice activated remote and it has built in EQ. The only thing I wish it had was HDMI ARC but you would not get that in older gear either.

It is not just becaue I own it so it must be great I am not one of those fools! People with far more time, money and reputation at stake have basicly said this thing get's 70% to 80% of the way to what $1200 to $5000 units do. It has always cost a lot to get that last 20% in any hobby exponetialy so. What has changed is how little you can spend and get to that 80% mark.

They claim it is a parametric eq but it looks more like a graphic EQ to me. That whole Chinese to English conversion thing is tricky. A lot of older gear does not give you the connectivity, user interface, and flexability that a $219 WiiM Pro Plus gives you. It gives you real time room correction and multi room flexability! Just think you should consider it!
 
Over the past 1-2 years, the budget end of audio has vastly changed for the better. DACs, streamers and class D amps (based on the TI 3255 chip) have made very, very good sound quality available to the masses at price points previously unthinkable. I agree with you that these components can get one to the 80% threshold of higher end gear while spending around $500 (sans speakers) to get there. This price point allows systems to run a dual mono amp configuration too. Fosi is coming out with a DAC, the ZD3, which will allow great connectivity (fully balanced XLR outputs, HDMI ARC, etc.) with a remote for under $150 with a 20% discount offered. It has gotten good reviews so far from the chattering class on YouTube. The pace of advancement coming from the vendors of these highly capable budget devices has been mind boggling. IMO, it won't be long until they either own the $1,000 and under market segment or pressure other audio makers to match their value in this range. It seems like the audio market is getting injected with a healthy dose of competition on the low end which has been needed for quite a while.
 
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