Howdy, Sup Forums, could anyone give any ideas of a decent $200 or less DAC I can pair with my A20 amp? Currently I have the Amp plugged into the laptop and headphones in the Amp but I get a bit of static distortion from the laptop's built in DAC, so I'd like to get an external one that would be suitable. I was looking at schitt but didn't know if their hardware holds up over time.
What do you folks use ?
I heard Schiit is good
schitt modi 2
Do you use one yourself?
Yes, no issues.
Cool, thanks.
Do you use USB A to B for your connection to the source?
>USB A to B
yeh, I just used a USB cable that came with my printer.
I gotcha
Did you notice an overall improvement to sound, or does it mostly just remove any static and distortion?
Not really, but it helped remove noise I was getting on my onboard sound
Alrighty, thanks user
why are you head-fi shills still spamming this garbage
>2017
>falling for the DAC meme
I gotta ask in all honesty, why is it so bad and what do you want to recommend that's better?
This
What's your solution?
Micca Origen+, it has a preamp out.
I use the FiiO K1, it's $40 or less, small, doesn't need external power or drivers, works with Windows, Mac, and even Android and iOS phones/tablets if you have the right cable. Sounds great, way better than anything on-board or any other mid-high-end USB sound cards I've tried.
this is one dedicated marketing team
You should buy some contact cleaner first. Clean up all the connections between the laptop and your headphones and see if that saves you some DAC shekels.
Has anyone tried out anything by SMSL? I can get one of these for less than $100 aus.
Its an SMSL M3.
I just wan ta little headphone amp with enough inputs so I don't have to fiddle around to switch between my pc and my ps4. Not really an audiophile.
Anything more expensive than Fiio chinkshit and you're getting memed.
The DAC is literally the weakest link in the audio chain, followed by the amp.
Don't fall for the shiit meme.
I'll check out these options, thanks.
I really don't need anything fancy, I just want to get rid of computer distortion. I know it's the source, as I plug the amp into my phone and it's dead quiet, so a dac to eliminate these hissy static chips every few seconds is all I need.
Such as?
So you are saying that is the most irrelevant part and that you are getting 0.1% improvements while paying lots of money more than a Fiio AMP + DAC?
Ideally you don't even need a dedicated DAC. Usually running a regular 3,5mm cable from your PC to your dedicated amp will be good enough.
Sometimes though, particularly in laptops, the sound output is contaminated with various issues caused by several different things. Usually poor shielding on the components. My laptop for example introduced an audible hissing noise at high volumes. I fixed it with a $50 Fiio Q1.
Now what you do in these cases is get the cheapest DAC you can get and run it to your amp. Digital to analog conversion has been around for ages, and I even dare say has been perfected up to a point where, at least talking about DACs, you won't notice a difference between a cheap chinkshit from Fiio and whatever military grade DAC schiit sells you for 2500 dollars.
So yeah. Usually it goes headphones>amp (if needed, most headphones don't)>music source (properly ripped at least V0 MP3s)
tl;dr don't get a fucking DAC unless you can hear bullshit from your current sources.
Good post
Would you recommend a cheap DAC that can be connected directly to the amp via 3.5mm, or connected via RCA?
I don't know, nigger. Just go to a jaycar or whatever your equivalent is and ask for a can of contact cleaner.
link me one pls
...
I hear it's schiit
Fiio Q1. You don't even need AMP unless your headphones really hard to drive.
>needing an amp
at this point just get speakers
The DAC in the Q1 is shit. I use it as a dedicated amplifier.
This desu.
You don't understand high end headphones. High impedance headphones need to have an amplifier between them and your average source, like your motherboard or phone.
My motherboard can only properly drive good headphones because I got a high end motherboard with a proper audio section. Asus' SupremeFX audio implementation is actually really good.
