Author Topic: budget friendly DAC  (Read 13729 times)

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Offline johndrueco

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budget friendly DAC
« on: Feb 02, 2015 at 10:43 PM »
good day mga sir. if Im going to use my laptop as my music player anong bang for the buck na DAC pwede nyo recommend? ty

Offline zram18

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #1 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 10:59 PM »
magkano po ba budget nyo sir sa external DAC?

eto sample, musiland 01= 6k
NAD USB wireless DAC=15k
Cambridge DAC=25K

pero im not an expert
ako rin kc naghahanap ng DAC.
wala bang built in DAC yang laptop mo?

Offline robot.sonic

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #2 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 11:01 PM »
Musiland. Mas mura. Mga 5 to 6k lang ang price nya dati.

Offline johndrueco

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #3 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 11:03 PM »
may nakita ako ditto SMSL Sanskrit DAC @5k. hindi ko lang alam kung pwede sya. newbie.....ty
 wala yata DAC laptop ko.

Offline fredreadrick

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #4 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 11:23 PM »
may nakita ako ditto SMSL Sanskrit DAC @5k. hindi ko lang alam kung pwede sya. newbie.....ty
 wala yata DAC laptop ko.
Sanskrit happy owner here sir. pwedeng-pwede, meron Coaxial/Optical/USB inputs.
Ultimately, musicality—not dissecting the sound
—is what high-end audio is all about. - R. Harley

Offline zram18

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #5 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 11:34 PM »
pag nakabili ka sir, balitaan mo kami kung ok yun...

Offline dodie

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #6 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 11:48 PM »
magkano po ba budget nyo sir sa external DAC?

eto sample, musiland 01= 6k
NAD USB wireless DAC=15k
Cambridge DAC=25K

pero im not an expert
ako rin kc naghahanap ng DAC.
wala bang built in DAC yang laptop mo?


may nakita ako ditto SMSL Sanskrit DAC @5k. hindi ko lang alam kung pwede sya. newbie.....ty
 wala yata DAC laptop ko.

lahat po sirs ng nagplay ng digital audio may DAC inside. pag sa laptop malamang naka hook sa headphone jack. yun pong mga walang DAC, dedicated transport lang po yun.
WCH CM U?

Offline docelmo

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #7 on: Feb 02, 2015 at 11:53 PM »
Used to have a muse dac and was contemplating on upgrading to a 20k dac. Then i tried the sanskrit dac  the difference was night and day! i never looked back! Bang for buck sanskrit dac sir!
HTH
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Offline JoeyGS

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #8 on: Feb 03, 2015 at 10:01 AM »
iFi iDSD nano - less than 10k

portable also cause of the internal rechargeable battery power
with head phone amp also
can play hi res music including DSD format

http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/nano-idsd/

Offline JoeyGS

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #9 on: Feb 03, 2015 at 10:05 AM »
Meron sa Listening Room sa SM Megamall

Saan po sir nakaka bili ng iFi? :)

Thanks

Offline sientobente

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #10 on: Apr 10, 2015 at 10:09 PM »
magkano po ba budget nyo sir sa external DAC?

eto sample, musiland 01= 6k
NAD USB wireless DAC=15k
Cambridge DAC=25K

pero im not an expert
ako rin kc naghahanap ng DAC.
wala bang built in DAC yang laptop mo?

I'd recommend Musiland over those NAD and Cambridge models. I find Cambridge to be clinical(thin-sounding) while NAD for me only kinda like increased the volume. Plus I believe among the 3, only Musiland can fully utilize DSD and DXD formats.
« Last Edit: Apr 10, 2015 at 10:11 PM by sientobente »

Offline timber715

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #11 on: Apr 11, 2015 at 03:03 AM »
Wondered why the superpro dac hasn't been recommended... Good dac for the money too.

Offline JoeyGS

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #12 on: Apr 11, 2015 at 03:07 AM »
No more local seller

Wondered why the superpro dac hasn't been recommended... Good dac for the money too.

Offline timber715

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #13 on: Apr 11, 2015 at 03:30 AM »
No more local seller

Oh, too bad....

Offline nogo

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #14 on: Apr 11, 2015 at 06:34 AM »
Try musiland 1 sir.  Mura na, maganda yung tunog.
If you want to use the DAC in your Android phone as well, get the fiiO e17 just use OTG cable and a paid player (usb audio player).
« Last Edit: Apr 11, 2015 at 06:49 AM by nogo »
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Offline DTNS

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #15 on: Apr 11, 2015 at 10:19 AM »
Try musiland 1 sir.  Mura na, maganda yung tunog.
If you want to use the DAC in your Android phone as well, get the fiiO e17 just use OTG cable and a paid player (usb audio player).


yup. I was about to suggest the Fiio E17 as well. if you can stretch your budget, go for the iFi iDSD nano. I'm using this for both my headphones and pc audio. ;)
Acer | Samsung | Harman Kardon | GoldenEar | NAD | Emotiva | SVS | iFi | Grado

Offline sientobente

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #16 on: Apr 11, 2015 at 10:02 PM »
Took home a NAD Wireless DAC1 for review. Will post my feedback once I get a couple more hours listening to it.
« Last Edit: Apr 12, 2015 at 08:25 AM by sientobente »

Offline sientobente

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #17 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 08:51 AM »
Woke up as early as 4AM and started testing the NAD Wireless USB DAC 1.

Associated gears:
Sonus Faber Toy Monitors on B&W S2 stands
REL T5 subwoofer
Cambridge Audio 550A Integrated Amplifier
Macbook Pro
Van den Hul 3T RCA
Chord Silverscreen Speaker wires
Various High-res files from Audiophile Voices, Focal, Chesky, Jennifer Warnes , Toto etc.

Likes:
Ease of installation. Just plug it in, you're ready to go. No need to install any drivers or additional software.
Compact size(easy to hide from the wife's questioning eyes)
Compatibility on both Mac and PC
DAC works even when playing movies

Dislikes:
It's a 24/192 DAC but the USB dongle downsamples everything to 16/44(CD Quality)

Impressions:
As I mentioned on my previous post, I kinda felt it just made the volume louder. It is a positive thing though, because it means less THD from the amplifier because you don't have to crank up the volume that much to get your desired loudness. This should actually result to a cleaner sound.

The sound? It has that typical warmish sound associated to NAD with a good amount of bass weight. I have a lot of high-res files. It plays them, but I don't appreciate the downsampling of my files. I feel it lacks the open-ness of the Musiland 01 I own. I also felt that the sound is a bit laid back, good for folks who loves a relaxed sound, but for me, I associate it to being slow. I am a fan of high dynamics, slow does not work for my taste.

Overall, in what it does, it's a bargain for it's price of P15.5k SRP.

Credits:
Thanks to sir Rex of Watts Hifi for letting me audition these.

« Last Edit: Apr 12, 2015 at 08:52 AM by sientobente »

Offline kranoz

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #18 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 09:15 AM »
iFi iDSD nano - less than 10k

portable also cause of the internal rechargeable battery power
with head phone amp also
can play hi res music including DSD format

http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/nano-idsd/

Pwede ba to sir from phone usb otg to ifi idsd nano?

Offline Courage

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #19 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 09:50 AM »
Woke up as early as 4AM and started testing the NAD Wireless USB DAC 1.

Associated gears:
Sonus Faber Toy Monitors on B&W S2 stands
REL T5 subwoofer
Cambridge Audio 550A Integrated Amplifier
Macbook Pro
Van den Hul 3T RCA
Chord Silverscreen Speaker wires
Various High-res files from Audiophile Voices, Focal, Chesky, Jennifer Warnes , Toto etc.

Likes:
Ease of installation. Just plug it in, you're ready to go. No need to install any drivers or additional software.
Compact size(easy to hide from the wife's questioning eyes)
Compatibility on both Mac and PC
DAC works even when playing movies

Dislikes:
It's a 24/192 DAC but the USB dongle downsamples everything to 16/44(CD Quality)

Impressions:
As I mentioned on my previous post, I kinda felt it just made the volume louder. It is a positive thing though, because it means less THD from the amplifier because you don't have to crank up the volume that much to get your desired loudness. This should actually result to a cleaner sound.

The sound? It has that typical warmish sound associated to NAD with a good amount of bass weight. I have a lot of high-res files. It plays them, but I don't appreciate the downsampling of my files. I feel it lacks the open-ness of the Musiland 01 I own. I also felt that the sound is a bit laid back, good for folks who loves a relaxed sound, but for me, I associate it to being slow. I am a fan of high dynamics, slow does not work for my taste.

Overall, in what it does, it's a bargain for it's price of P15.5k SRP.

Credits:
Thanks to sir Rex of Watts Hifi for letting me audition these.



Brader, did you change the properties in Windows Sound devices for that DAC to play 192? Kasi if not, everything will be downsampled to 44
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Offline sovrain

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #20 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 10:30 AM »
Brader courage, how to do it? Ganyan din kasi ang nangyayari sa dac ko e.....akala ko nasa file lang...
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Offline Courage

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #21 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 10:53 AM »
Brader courage, how to do it? Ganyan din kasi ang nangyayari sa dac ko e.....akala ko nasa file lang...

1. If windows 7 ka, right click on the speakers icon sa right side(this is where you adjust volume of your laptop/desktop in windows)
2. After right clicking, click on playback devices. You should be able to see your DAC as one of the devices.
3. Click on your DAC device and properties.
4. In properties, click Advance Tab
5. From Advance tab, you will be able to see the default sample rate that windows assigned to your device.(2 channel, 16bit, 48000 hz(DVD Quality)
6.Click the sample rate and choose the highest available. If your DAC doesnt support 192khz, then it will not show there. IT will only show the highest rate your dac can support.

Hope this helps brader..

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Offline sovrain

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #22 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 11:27 AM »
Ayos, nakuha na! Nasa 192 na yung indicator, pero si ko madifferentiate yung tunog, ha ha ha...thanks brader
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Offline Courage

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #23 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 11:41 AM »
Ayos, nakuha na! Nasa 192 na yung indicator, pero si ko madifferentiate yung tunog, ha ha ha...thanks brader

He he he... nice brader.. enjoy...
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Offline sovrain

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #24 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 11:53 AM »
He he he... nice brader.. enjoy...
after several songs, mayroon palang diffrence....mas detailed sa high, pero paminsan minsan nagkakaroon ng parang pause or wave, yung hihina then back to normal level, pero saglit lang, very short, parang cut, noticeable pa naman. Set ko sa 192/32
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Offline Stagea

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #25 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 12:43 PM »
after several songs, mayroon palang diffrence....mas detailed sa high, pero paminsan minsan nagkakaroon ng parang pause or wave, yung hihina then back to normal level, pero saglit lang, very short, parang cut, noticeable pa naman. Set ko sa 192/32

I suggest using ASIO or Wasapi to set the device's sample rate to match the source material (sample-rate switching). That way you evade resampling errors and losses from windows' audio path (which does resampling, mixing, stream management, etc.). Let your audio device do the internal upsampling/oversampling, if it is designed to do that well (otherwise, there are software plug-ins that do this better than Windows).

Mac users have the same problem, as OS X also does sample rate conversions (and mixing) by default. Aside from sample-rate switching, integer mode support is generally desirable for Mac users.
« Last Edit: Apr 12, 2015 at 01:00 PM by Stagea »

Offline sientobente

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #26 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 02:23 PM »
Brader, did you change the properties in Windows Sound devices for that DAC to play 192? Kasi if not, everything will be downsampled to 44
Mac sya idol. Unfotrunately walang ganyan na option dun. Plus there wasn't an additional software installed. Plug and play talaga yung NAD.

Offline sovrain

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #27 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 02:25 PM »
^ thanks sir stagea, I checked on it, wasapi naman (although nosebleed ako sa mga bagay about drivers ;D ). Pinahinga ko yung vintage amp (na may sakit sa overheat) then play again, ayun, nawala, pero i test ko pa rin bukas (para full ang pahinga ni amp) to confirm kung si amp nga ang culprit...

brader johndrueco, sensya ka na kung medyo na hijack ko itong thread mo....

input din ako...1 high-fi street sells a teac UD H01 dac @ 12k + , i think the price is fair, kasi, 12k + din ang bili ko considering na it was hand carried by my cousin from the US...
« Last Edit: Apr 12, 2015 at 02:33 PM by sovrain »
Marantz SR5005/PM90/SA8260
Mission Mx5/C2/1/S
Klipsch RW12D
TEAC UD-HO1|Trio TT|Asus O'play|MED1000X

Offline deist

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #28 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 02:33 PM »
What audio player are you using? From my experience OS X handles sample rate matching & switching easier since you wont need additional drivers like asio or wasapi, you just have to click activate the "integer mode" option on your audio player software (present in jriver mc,amarra,audirvana etc). I think all new DACs support integer mode.


Mac sya idol. Unfotrunately walang ganyan na option dun. Plus there wasn't an additional software installed. Plug and play talaga yung NAD.

Offline sientobente

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Re: budget friendly DAC
« Reply #29 on: Apr 12, 2015 at 02:37 PM »
What audio player are you using? From my experience OS X handles sample rate matching & switching easier since you wont need additional drivers like asio or wasapi, you just have to click activate the "integer mode" option on your audio player software (present in jriver mc,amarra,audirvana etc). I think all new DACs support integer mode.


Just using VLC. Is there an option there I can change? I checked preference and audio, couldn't find them.
« Last Edit: Apr 12, 2015 at 02:40 PM by sientobente »