Powered Speakers + external USB DAC for ~450

EndersShadow · March 2011

I am debating switching from my reciever + passives and am looking to see what options are out there for ~450 for an external USB DAC + powered speakers. I prefer Asynchronous USB as the connection method.

I plan to connect my computer ONLY so no secondary inputs are needed. I will be re-ripping all my CD's in FLAC this weekend to my 1 TB hard drive and using either Media Monkey or Foobar to play them on this rig.

I had been using the Zune software and listening to rips recorded @ 320 bps :redface:, which apparently isnt as good as FLAC.

I have been looking hard at the HRT Media Streamer II + a pair of KRK Rokit 5's but the main problem is that I dont want to use Windows to change the volume, I am looking for a external volume control as well as a Headphone input. So if someone can find me a way to get a volume knob and headphone jack in the setup for a decent price that would ROCK!

I am aware of the Audioengine A5's however I really like the true bi-amp ability of the KRK's as they have 2 amps per speaker and an active crossover network (so its true bi-amping :eek:). I also am looking into a pair of Swans.

I have also been researching the Audnst HUD-MX1, which has a decent DAC (not as good as the HRT Streamer though) as well as a powered headphone jack and volume knob. I just dont know if I want to go with a lesser quality DAC......

The setups I have been debating right now are the following:

Music Streamer II + KRK Rokit 5's
Con's: No volume control besides Window?s :frown: and no headphone inputs
Pro's: Best DAC of the bunch IMHO

Music Streamer II + Swan M200MKII
Con's: slight difference in frequency range, less wattage than KRK?s, no headphone jack
Pro's: Bass, Treble and Volume controls

Audnst HUD-MX1 + KRK 5's
Con's: DAC isnt as good
Pro's: Volume control and headphone inputs

Some DAC's I have looked at and decided against are:
Musiland Monitor 02
M-Audio Firewire Solo
Yulong U100

Any suggestions or input on this would be appreciated.

coolsax · March 2011

I've heard good things about the Swans so that might be a great option and I like my HRT for my main 2 channel rig. I saw the Audinst on Headphonia.. they seems to like it a lot for the price and I am considering it for a headphone rig myself along with the yulong.

If you go Swans you could still plug your headphone into the headphone out on the pc and just use the players volume, that's what I currently do on my lap top, I max out the sound card volume and then just use the softward volume control on winamp, foobar or media monkey depending on which one I'm using at the time.

EndersShadow · March 2011

Yeah I could do that with my headphones but would prefer not to.

I guess my other option here is to simply add a good soundcard w/ RCA outs to my computer. Anyone have any suggestions for one that wont kill my budget?

heiney9 · March 2011

One of the biggest problems you could have with an inexpensive dac/pre is poor volume tracking. I've read some of the more inexpensive models skimp in this area and it can be a real problem. So make sure if you are looking at something with a volume control digital or analog you investigate that.

I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils, using Windows to control the volume or going asynchronous and then having a unit with poor linear tracking.

I wouldn't go sound card. USB is really where the best performance is now, so if you can that route that's good.

The HRT gets good reviews and I use the Musiland Monitor 02 in place of a soundcard and it can be used as a DAC as well.

http://www.pacificvalve.us/MusilandMonitor02.html

Good luck

H9

MADGSF · March 2011

I have a HRT MSII and it's a keeper so with that DAC in mind how about the M-Audio Studiophile BX5a Deluxe? I have the AV30 which other than having no bass sound great adn have had no problems. Down side is the BX5a are ~299.00 and you would need XLR to RCA adapters to use them which would put you a little over your budget. I have never heard any of the KRK or Swan speakers.

In case you have not found them Musiciansfriend.com and Sweetwater.com have a big selections of active monitors to research. Let us know what you end up with.

EndersShadow · March 2011

heiney9 wrote: »

One of the biggest problems you could have with an inexpensive dac/pre is poor volume tracking. I've read some of the more inexpensive models skimp in this area and it can be a real problem. So make sure if you are looking at something with a volume control digital or analog you investigate that.

I'm not sure which is the lesser of two evils, using Windows to control the volume or going asynchronous and then having a unit with poor linear tracking.

I wouldn't go sound card. USB is really where the best performance is now, so if you can that route that's good.

The HRT gets good reviews and I use the Musiland Monitor 02 in place of a soundcard and it can be used as a DAC as well.

http://www.pacificvalve.us/MusilandMonitor02.html

Good luck

H9

Yeah I read a bunch about the musiland but with the exception of having an external powersupply where the HRT has a regenerating one there isnt much difference. Also a couple of reviewers that have listened to both liked the HRT more if you were going to use it for a DAC + converter and liked the Musiland more for just a regular converter.

The windows volume control is a real problem since I would prefer to send a full strength signal untouched by my computer to the DAC and then modify the volume from that point onward, which is why the A5's are something I keep looking at.

My main concern with them is the rear port. I plan to put them basically right up against a wall with at max 1-2 inches of space and I dont think thats enough room to let them breath. The KRK's are front ported so thats not an issue at all....

MADGSF wrote: »

I have a HRT MSII and it's a keeper so with that DAC in mind how about the M-Audio Studiophile BX5a Deluxe? I have the AV30 which other than having no bass sound great adn have had no problems. Down side is the BX5a are ~299.00 and you would need XLR to RCA adapters to use them which would put you a little over your budget. I have never heard any of the KRK or Swan speakers.

In case you have not found them Musiciansfriend.com and Sweetwater.com have a big selections of active monitors to research. Let us know what you end up with.

Yeah I looked that the Bx5a's previously and demo'd them next to the KRK Rokit 5's (and also a set of Mackies). They are about the same price but I liked the KRK's better. The Bx5a's dont give me anything the KRK's dont for the same price, and with the KRK's I get RCA, TRS and XLR connections.....

olilugo · March 2011

EndersShadow wrote: »

Yeah I looked that the Bx5a's previously and demo'd them next to the KRK Rokit 5's (and also a set of Mackies). They are about the same price but I liked the KRK's better. The Bx5a's dont give me anything the KRK's dont for the same price, and with the KRK's I get RCA, TRS and XLR connections.....

Just to add to this I also looked into these speakers and they only have XLR or TRS inputs, going from RCA to either XLR/TRS to me was not a good choice.

I would like to add a new set of speakers to the consideration bucket.
Adam Audio A3X 2-way speakers, granted they are 300$ each.
Don't know how do they compare to the KRks, but one thing I found is that they have power and volume control in the front.
Also in the back they have a way to connect them so that only one of the speakers can be the volume control speaker.
I have not had the time to audition them, but these are 1" smaller in hight from the KRKs 5's. and they use ribbon tweeters.
Dimension (Height x Width x Depth): 10" (252 mm) x 6" (150 mm) x 7.5" (185 mm)

compared with the KRKs:
Dimensions (H x W x D): 10 7/8" x 7 1/4" x 9 7/8" 27.6cm x 18.5cm x 25cm

EndersShadow · March 2011

Thanks for the recommendation. Those speakers are quite a bit out of what I am looking to spend.

I am attempting to keep this all a little above what I will end up selling my HK3490 + Infinity Primus 162's for (otherwise I would be looking at the Rokit 6's or 8's and not 5's). I realize 450 is about 100 more than I can get for that gear used more than likely so I dont want to go too overboard here.

EndersShadow · March 2011

I am thinking I am going to go with the Audinst HUD-mx1 as I see a couple reviews that seem to indicate its a lesser DAC than the HRT, but not by much.

In addition it seems the headphone amp is pretty decent as well and it controls the volume in the analog realm for the line outs. Wish it wasnt as fugly as it is thought lol.... I like the look of the Yulong U100

I found a good review here that helped: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/484235/review-audinst-hud-mx1-usb-dac-amp

Notice he mostly uses headphone to judge these, but he does use the Audinst as a pre-amp and liked it decently. He also liked the Audinst better than the HRT + headphone amp.

coolsax · March 2011

well the guys at Headfonia thought the Yulong was better than the audinst b/c i agree the audinst is ugly as sin the Yulong looks way better.

olilugo · March 2011

I found this link from someone that compiled a list of external DACs by price points. very impressive the amount of available devises.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=275123

EndersShadow · March 2011

coolsax wrote: »

well the guys at Headfonia thought the Yulong was better than the audinst b/c i agree the audinst is ugly as sin the Yulong looks way better.

Well you got a couple different competing reviews on those two (and the Yulong is 60 dollars more), and its hard to gauge them since most of their comparisons are with using headphones not powered speakers. So you have to look for parts where they use it as ONLY a DAC and not to power headphones....

Headphonia quotes: http://www.headfonia.com/the-new-recommendation-the-yulong-u100-usb-dac/

Based on the Cirrus Logic CS4398 D/A chip, the U100 clearly gives me a better sound when compared to the Audinst?s. The only drawback seems to be soundstage width, where the Audinst is wider. But for everything else, such as soundstage depth, center focus, ambiance, detail retrieval, midrange quality, the Yulong is better. Those gotta worth more than the $60 difference between the two products.

What about line out signal quality? Passing the signal to a HeadAmp Pico Slim and out to the JH16Pro, again I find the Yulong to give a clearer signal through the line out, better separation, better articulation and such. Perhaps the fact that the line out signal doesn?t get passed through the analog potentiometer (unlike on the Audinst) also adds to the superior line out quality of the U100.

In terms of tonal balance, the Audinst is slightly darker while the Yulong is slightly brighter. ?Slightly? is the word to notice there, as both are still well in the realm of neutral.

One thing that I have to mention is that the USB connectivity doesn?t seem to be as robust as the one on the Audinst, or all the other Mac-compatible DACs. Sometimes, plugging in the Yulong to my MacPro will immediately give a ?bleep bleep bleep? sound on the headphones, the sound that you get when you?re hitting the volume level button on your Mac. Unplugging and plugging the USB cable back would solve the problem, so it?s not a big deal, but I am obliged to tell you about it. It also helps if you?re using a USB cable with ferrite magnet on it. I don?t know why this is, seeing that both the Audinst and the Yulong comes with the same TE7022L receiver chip. Moreover, on my Mac, the Yulong is only recognized as a 48/24 USB device, though the TE7022L receiver should be good for 24/92.

So, if you can handle the extra $60, and you don?t need the extra functions on the Audinst, then the Yulong U100 is the box you should get for your headphones.

Head-Fi quotes: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/540631/review-yulong-u100-compact-usb-dac-amp

The obvious competition here is the Audinst HUD-mx1. If I had not heard those two I would probably be a lot more excited with the level of performance being attained by the U100. Still, just because a few others have achieved it, doesn?t mean it is less of an accomplishment for a small company like Yulong to join them. The good part is that they are different enough to warrant individual recommendations in different circumstances.

The Audinst mx1 is still going strong as the most neutral DAC of the bunch. In comparison the U100 has slightly more authority in the lower regions and a bit of extra fullness and snap in the mids, followed by more gently defined highs. The U100 ends up being simultaneously more laid back and engaging, concerned more with the pacing of the performance rather than the minute details. The Audinst is more focused and has a more intimate presentation, with a nice balance across the whole spectrum. Overall I think the DAC sections are somewhat different but equally good. The amp sections couldn?t really be more different though, and it would be a matter of taste which you would prefer. For many headphones the U100 is better in my opinion.

There?s no real loser in this comparison. Each has a valid application where I would recommend it over the others. For those who just want a solid foundation that is neutral and evenhanded, the Audinst is the way to go. The U100 is my top choice for someone who will likely not be upgrading soon, who simply wants a nice low profile unit that will make anything you pair with it sound good.

Powered Speakers + external USB DAC for ~450

Comments