wbh Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Say $300 is my budget. What DAC is most bang for my buck given my primary source will be USB laptop/PC? I recently purch'd a $100 Hifime S2 USB and SPDIF DAC (Sabre ES9038q2m). Very pleased with the sonics of this simple device. It may be that ESS dac ... dunno?? As far as ASIC dac chips go, AKM and ESS are all the rage these days. AKM seem to be more popular, but I may go for another ESS DAC if the ES9038Pro is found in something in the $300 range. Link to comment
wbh Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 I think I've seen Allo products but never heard of Soncoz until now. So many of these Chinese companies to keep track of! Hmmmm .... well, I do really like the soundof that $90 Hifime S2 USB and SPDIF DAC (Sabre ES9038q2m) . So, maybe a dual Sabre ES9038q2m may be something to look for, Also on the lookout for a top-line ESS dac option 9038PRO. Not sure how much diff there is between the 9038q2m and 9038PRO ... other than $ and the former being a "mobile" device. Also been experimenting with really-cheap NOS TDA1387 x 8 units ... sounds decent for under $50 ... Link to comment
wbh Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 I was also considering ... S.M.S.L M200 Uses AK4497EQ Chip,Support UAT/aptX-HD/AAC/SBC High-Resolution Bluetooth 5.0 Audio DAC ($280) Schid Modi Multibit ($250) With the SMSL, I don't need bluetooth ... so maybe the Modi Multi is a better investment. OTOH, my higher-than-CD-rez library has recently been on the upsurge thx to active vinyl ripping. Dunno ... help me out, folk!!.... on CA (Audiophilestyle), what is the general preference WRT delta-sigma dacs: ESS or AKM? Link to comment
wbh Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 I had a Theta Chroma 396 (that was pre-Schiit Mike Moffat's company). Decent sound but it had no power switch. Before I sold it, I removed the top cover to check everything over. Carbon score makes under cover (lid) and some burnt-out sections on a PCB. Seems one of the tantalums had gone up in flames. Didn't really affect the sound quality, tho. Scary stuff. I hope Mr. Moffat has intro'd some safety into new products. Link to comment
wbh Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 Going with the Modi Multibit. Have several SD-based dacs in my collection. Some old-school Philips "TDA's" as well. If Mass or Amazon had the "AIRIST AUDIO R-2R DAC", still avail., probably would have gone for that. AudioDoctor 1 Link to comment
wbh Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Just got the MM in .... only used a few hours. Sounds decent. Not sure about burn-in time (anyone??). Speaking of "burn" ... the unit runs WARM ... yikes. And the AC adapt. runs warm even with the MM unplugged. Heat is NEVER a good thing for component life ... even vacuum tubes I've heard that this Schiit may actually sound better with SPDIF than USB .... is this true? Anyway ... Feeding the MM a usb signal from a Windows PC running Foobar (Asio drivers). Will be comparing to: $200.00 Asus Xonar sound card (heavily modified) $25.00 eBay 4x TDA1387 Chinese USB dac $90.00 Hifime S2 USB and SPDIF DAC (Sabre ES9038q2m) $700.00 Fiio M11Pro DAP (dac section) $170.00 QLS hifi QA350 MOD V2 (2011 model) Chinese wav player Misc. Chinese ~$130.00 DAPs (Colorfly, Teclast) I have other "higher-end" dacs and CD players in my collection ... compare+contrast to those may come later. Link to comment
wbh Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 2 hours ago, AudioDoctor said: Mine started sounding better (I think) after leaving it on for 2 weeks or so. Anyone have opinions on the SPDIF vs. USB options? Link to comment
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