DAC for STAX Headphones

[Don Ghibli]

hello,

first i have to say im from germany, so sorry for my bad english.

i've buyed the stax set 4040 (there is also a tube headphone amplifier included ) and now i need an DAC for my notebook.

i dont want to spend too much money for a dac.

the rme adi-2 is cheap and looks not bad for me, but the only thing what i dont like is, that there is no usb or firewire and only a toslink.

my sony vgn-aw11z/b notebook also has a toslink, but dont i have with firewire or usb better quality because then i am independently from my soundcard ?

does anybody know if my optical out from my sony vgn-aw11z/b (with realtek high definition audio) is "bit-perfect" ?

 

what do you think is an alternative for the rme adi-2?

the apogee mini dac firewire would be great , but there are no more drivers for windows 7.

and i only need the dac for music playback , i dont want to record or something different, i ony need 2 channels and i dont need an amp.

 

for more good dac suggestions i would be thankful.

 

[BobH]

I run the SRS-2050II SE system through a Promitheus DAC. The result is superb. It is very quiet and suits the Stax very well indeed - this, or a similar NOS DAC, would be my first choice.

 

Alternatively a Cambridge DAC Magic may be a good choice. Whatever you do get it needs to be quiet - the STAX are not forgiving of noisey equipment!

 

Hope this helps and good luck!