Usb dac

madmax

Thinking of getting a usb dac to plug into my computer. Any thoughts on which one to get? I have been looking at the PS Audio.
madmax

Face

Add the Cambridge DacMagic to your list. Most dealers are having trouble keeping them in stock due to the demand.

MLZ

What's your budget and what quality rips? If you rip to lossy format or only listen to internet or XM radio streams or you do not need much of a DAC - Though at todays disk storage prices I do not understand why anyone would not use only Lossless, but thats just me
I have a SilverStone EB01 2 channel USB DAC http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_spec.php?pno=eb01&area=usa which I am pleased with I got from Newegg a couple of years ago and it is about $90.00. It has good reviews and specs and I only needed (wanted) 2 channels and my CD rips are 16 bit.

MLZ

Sorry MadMax with my response of an inexpensive DAC - I just googled the PS Audio DAC and it costs more than I paid for my entire 2-channel system (SilverStone EB01 -> Onkyo A-9555 -> Canare 4s11 -> Polk RTi8's) so I have something to aspire to

steveinaz

Benchmark? You knew I was gonna say it...

debussyj

I've got the PS Audio and love it, in fact I like it so much I'm debating getting another one for my family room surround system. I'd like to hear from anyone that has the Cambridge Dacmagic and their thoughts about the sound.

Emlyn

Music Hall has a new one coming out for $595, with a 6922 tube buffer built in, headphone amp, AES/EBU input, USB input, volume control...

http://www.musichallaudio.com/detail.php?p=68

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=57571

BlueFox

debussyj wrote: »

I've got the PS Audio and love it, in fact I like it so much I'm debating getting another one for my family room surround system. I'd like to hear from anyone that has the Cambridge Dacmagic and their thoughts about the sound.

The current issue of "stereophile" reviewed it. The reviewer used a 15 year old Marantz as the digital transport, and said the resulting sound was on par with the Cambridge-Audio 840C CD player. This player has been called the best CD player under $5000 by Robert Harley in "the absolute sound".

I guess the point is, for a modest price, you can get decent audio from it.

zingo

How much of a difference have you guys noticed using USB for your PC DAC vs a digital connection?

madmax

WOW, Lots of good input here!
madmax

dkg999

I'll have the PS Audio DL III, Cambridge DACMagic, and Channel Islands DAC in-house in the next week or so for a comparison.

debussyj

Hey-I can't wait for that review! Some real life experience!! Please keep us updated!! Thanks!

MLZ

dkg999 wrote: »

I'll have the PS Audio DL III, Cambridge DACMagic, and Channel Islands DAC in-house in the next week or so for a comparison.

I am looking forward to seeing your results. Will you be able to do any comparisons from a PC or MAC for 16 bit / USB with the PS Audio DL III and Cambridge DACMagic?

dkg999

It's going to be a pretty simple test. Digital out from a Rotel RCD-1072 CDP into my Rogue 66 Magnum pre. I might have time to test them with my new Dell PC, but I really haven't ever played a CD using my PC in over 5 yrs. I've ripped a few to iTunes using apple lossless so I can load them to my iPod, but that's the extent of music on my PC.

unc2701

This is going to sound like crazy talk, but...

Is this going to be a dedicated computer system? Think about getting a Musical Fidelity X-CAN v8. Yes, a headphone amp. It does NOT have coax or optical inputs, but it does have a USB input and I've seen a number of people raving over it as a preamp.

So if you're just **** around on the computer or it's late at night, you've got an extremely solid headphone amp; if you want to rock out, hook it up to a power amp.

http://www.head-case.org/forums/headphone-amplification/4452-stereophiles-review-musical-fidelity-x-can-v8.html

"
Never mind that the X-CAN V8's line outputs simply pass through the input signal. There are two other line-outs: those two 1/4" headphone jacks. Using an adapter - 1/4" headphone jack to twin female RCA plugs - I connected the X-CAN to a Cary 120S tubed power amplifier, which turned the X-CAN V8 into a tubed line stage. Whereupon Antony performed some measurements to determine whether there was any reason I shouldn't do this.

As it turns out, there was none - other than a somewhat awkward connection from the front as opposed to the rear panel. CAUTION: Be sure your power amp is off before you make any connections or disconnections and before you turn the X-CAN V8 on and off. The X-CAN has no protection delay circuitry. Be sure its volume control is set to a minimum. This is common sense with any line-stage preamp."

madmax

dkg999 wrote: »

I'll have the PS Audio DL III, Cambridge DACMagic, and Channel Islands DAC in-house in the next week or so for a comparison.

I interested in hearing the results.


The X-can scenerio sounds interesting...

m00npie

Face wrote: »

Add the Cambridge DacMagic to your list.

Ordered one today. Picked it up for the office rig.

debussyj

I'm anxiously awaiting the results of the review! Nothing like real-life experience! In the meantime, I've become very intrigued with the new Music Hall DAC, which utilizes a tube in the output stage. I'm a big tube fan for warming sound up and curious what this DAC can do. I reached out to the folks at Music Hall for more info. I've called quite a few audio salons and grilled them about all of these DACS. I'm beginning to get a consensus that the Cambridge is a fantastic buy, but not in the same league as the PS Audio, Benchmark, and Music Hall DACS. I'm hearing these DACS are more articulate, with the PS Audio having more bass extension, the Benchmark neutrality, and the Music Hall being close to the PS Audio, but not being quite as articulate. Naturally, these sales people didn't tell me the configuration of the audio systems they listened to these units on! That's why I'm excited about this demo!

Hobbyguy

I recently went on a quest for a USB DAC. Here is what I purchased.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79272
Look at post #23
I think the sound is amazing but it is pricey....I have version 2

debussyj

Sweet!!!!! I'm jealous!

phipiper10

Along with DAC considerations you guys have my head spinning with all the things I should be buying ....or er um shouldn't be buying.

Can't wait to hear the results of this little shootout!

Mike21

I hate to complicate things:D, but if you haven't alredy done so, you should download 1 or more of these free music players:
> Foobar 2000 (v8 better than v9)
> JRiver Jukebox
> Media Monkey

If you are running Windows XP you should bypass the KMixer w/ an ASIO driver. ASIO4ALL is a free download and works really well w/ the Jukebox.

madmax

Emlyn wrote: »

Music Hall has a new one coming out for $595, with a 6922 tube buffer built in, headphone amp, AES/EBU input, USB input, volume control...

http://www.musichallaudio.com/detail.php?p=68

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=57571

I'm thinking pretty seriously about the Music Hall.
madmax

debussyj

Max, I agree, I'm interested in the Music Hall too. I contacted Roy Hall over the weekend and he's a great guy. I'm just thinking that having a tube on the output stage could sweeten things up a bit. Plus I have a tube preamp in another setup that uses 6922's also and I've got one heck of a collection of different sounding tubes. I wish someone would review the unit!!:)

madmax

I don't really care about the tube because there are many tubes which follow. What I think may be the reason I get the Music Hall over the PS Audio is the MH has the xlr input which matches what my transport has. It could do dual duty with the computer and my transport. Not considering that I really wonder if the PS sounds better than the MH or not. I've always been a fan of PS Audio.
madmax

debussyj

Hey DKG999-How's the DAC comparison going? Any initial feedback for us!! Thanks! DJ

dkg999

I just got a little over 30 hrs of break-in time on the PS Audio DLIII dac, so this weekend I will do the comparison. The line up will be:

Cambridge Audio DACMagic
Channel Islands DAC w/upgraded power supply
PS Audio Digital Link III

I can already tell you that the PS Audio DLIII is a very marginal improvement over the tube output stage (EI Elite gold pin tubes) of my stock Jolida 100 CDP. In fact the positioning of the soundstage is more to my liking with the Jolida's tube output stage than with the PS Audio DAC. The PS Audio DAC was a pretty significant improvement over the internal DAC in my Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, after about 6 hrs of break-in.

madmax

I went ahead and ordered the Music Hall yesterday, should be here Friday. I'm not that much into digital anymore so it doesn't have to be as good as the dac I'm used to, but I'm hoping it is. I notice it uses the same family D-A chip as the PS Audo.
madmax

debussyj

Max, Please keep me posted about how you like it! I'm dying to get my hands on that one! Thanks. DJ

dkg999

Ill post more complete thoughts on the review later, however if you can find ai good deal on the Channel Islands DAC and the upgraded power supply, it would be a really good choice for $799 total cost. With PS Audio now selling the DL III for $695, it puts you about even, with a little more depth and width in the sound stage for $100 less. The Cambridge Audio DACMagic is really good, especially at its price point, but it becomes obvious that spending more on better internal components produces much better sound quality.

The challenge is that the Cambridge Audio DAC is good enough that if you didn't have any other DAC's for direct comparison, you probably wouldn't know what you are missing.

madmax

I received the Music Hall on Friday. I was sick Friday and Saturday and slept all day but I did have the DAC burning in all that time. On Sunday I loaded several more familiar wav files on my Dell laptop (mostly recorded vinyl stuff), connected the USB to the DAC and used Sennheiser HD600 headphones to audition. I have not connected the DAC to my transport or to the main stereo system.

The sound quality is very good through the headphones. It is exactly the same as what I expect when I use headphones on my main system. There seems to be no added noise and the character of the sound is the same. To test the USB speed I tried copying some huge files between two USB hard drives while listening and there was no indication of anything different.

The only problem I have is with the volume control for the headphones. It is noisy when turning and even drops out on the left side in one of the 50 or so detents. It is either a very cheap pot or defective. I could send it back but instead I think I will install an audiophile quality pot instead given the high quality of the DAC. This is something I probably would have done anyway. The case of the unit rings when you tap on it so I think a little dynamat couldn't hurt either. I want to hook it up to the main system but believe using the headphones is probably a better tool to judge ultimate quality of the produced sound without other issues getting in the way. However it sounds I think I will replace my reference DAC with the Music Hall. Using the USB from my laptop with the DAC is just too cool. After all, I'm a vinyl guy anyway. I'll give it two thumbs up and one partially erect.
madmax