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Cheap DAC Off

Discussion in 'General Audio Discussion' started by purr1n, Apr 20, 2018.

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  1. EagleWings

    EagleWings Friend

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    My cousin tells me that he reads that the D50 measures very well, and that some folks on Reddit who tried it say it is quite good. Massdrop had it for $200. But right now it has to be purchased on eBay and it ships from China. May be you could check with Massdrop if they might be secure an additional unit.
     
    EagleWings, Apr 20, 2018
    #21
  2. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Meridian Explorer 2 / Director?
     
    Elnrik, Apr 20, 2018
    #22
  3. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Ross Martin is definitely in the price range but it's the size of a Bifrost. Seems like a rather large addition, although if you are already including 5 dacs it might not matter much. I have been really interested in pcm1794 lately so curious how this sounds. The only other options I know of are super expensive(Modwright Elyse) or various DIY kits(Beezar and Twisted Pear)

    Meridian Explorer 2 seems notable because its the cheapest MQA you can get. I really like it with my MD Plus IEMs.
     
    Cspirou, Apr 20, 2018
    #23
  4. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Didn't I read in another thread that you thought Douk/Nobsound were decent for the money? Wouldn't one of them be appropriate? There's some really inexpensive ones, like $60 - $80; or was that comment for their amps? Wasn't a direct post of yours, someone else posted you had listened to some.
     
    ergopower, Apr 20, 2018
    #24
  5. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    The Ross Martin @Torq reviewed came from my collection. I can send it to @purr1n if Marv wants.
     
    atomicbob, Apr 20, 2018
    #25
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Nope. I got the Douk because Dr. Kevin Gilmore recommended it over the Schiit stuff as an inexpensive solution. It sounded like ass. Waste of SBAF funds. I let @Luckbad keep it.
     
    purr1n, Apr 20, 2018
    #26
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Let's keep it simple for now. Too many items makes comparison difficult. This item can be supplementary after the loaner goes through a few people.
     
    purr1n, Apr 20, 2018
    #27
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The D50 seems ridiculously priced at $250. I ain't wasting SBAF funds on overpriced ChiFi gear. If the JDS EL can come in under $200 for b-stock, I expect designed and made in China stuff to come in much lower given their labor and materials prices. I know for a fact that some of the DACs chosen also measure very well. We all know the Modi Multibit is going to measure the worst of the bunch.

    What is Reddit? I have no idea what Reddit is.
     
    purr1n, Apr 20, 2018
    #28
  9. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    Two or 3 things I'd add (all of the same vein):
    Macbook
    iPhone
    Android something
    PC something

    Basically my thought is, there are all of these cheap DACs, but do they really move the needle past what you might already have? Like could I just plug my iPhone into my amp, turn the volume all the way up and have as good if not better experience than some of these DACs?

    The only reason I think this is because sometimes, I really love my IEMs out of my iPhone. The one with a headphone jack.
     
    drfindley, Apr 20, 2018
    #29
  10. Ziva

    Ziva Friend

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    iPhone headphone jack is really underrated. I have not upgraded the 5SE for that reason alone.
     
    Ziva, Apr 20, 2018
    #30
  11. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    The 5S was the peak of the Apple iPhone SQ imo.
     
    shotgunshane, Apr 20, 2018
    #31
  12. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    My enquiries with a person who I trust said not to waste my time with the Meridian

    The Ross Martin dac I reviewed ages ago on Hf. Nice dac but again the El Dac gives me more satisfaction (less nervosa about a dac doing something annoying). both decent for sure.
     
    bixby, Apr 21, 2018
    #32
  13. Josh83

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    The E2 is such a small, sleek unit. It’s a shame it uses a minimum phase filter rather than a linear phase one. I ended up selling mine. For that reason, hard to believe it could top the iFi BL already in the mix.
     
    Josh83, Apr 21, 2018
    #33
  14. Type35

    Type35 New

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    Going back to DrFindley's remark, it might be interesting to throw in a Chromecast Audio / Amazon Echo Dot / Apple Airport Express because of their widespread availability. Granted, nobody expects miracles from these DACs but it'd be interesting (too me at least) to see how far off they are from the good entry level DACs already on the list.
     
    Type35, Apr 21, 2018
    #34
  15. Scubadude

    Scubadude Almost "Made"

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    Nuprime uDSD is worth the money as a USB bridge only but adds a solid DAC and emergency headphone amp as well. I would suggest you add this.

    If you want to look at mini computers the Allo Boss is cheap, versatile and unexpectedly good.
     
    Scubadude, Apr 21, 2018
    #35
  16. Jerda

    Jerda New

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    Maybe a DFR and a MoJo?
     
    Jerda, Apr 24, 2018
    #36
  17. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Folks just to point out, @purr1n has said the current set of DACs for this is locked in.
     
    rlow, Apr 24, 2018
    #37
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    If an MOT wants to throw something into the mix, I'm fine. But I don't want to use up more SBAF funds for this.

    Chord Mojo has been covered already in many other posts - the problem is that I do not consider the Mojo to be a cheap DAC. We can get a USB->SPDIF converter AND a one of the above DACs for still less than the Mojo.

    Anyone on the loaner program who has other DACs is welcome to chime in how those DACs might relate to any of the above. The D30 and Nano BL came in yesterday.
     
    purr1n, Apr 24, 2018
    #38
  19. Sunflower_sutra

    Sunflower_sutra Acquaintance

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    Im not on the loaner program and might get laughed at but till I can afford a more hefty dac highly recommend the budget yamaha wxc 50 has been doing me well. It streams tidal, dsd and does optical but no usb from a pc.
     
    Sunflower_sutra, Apr 24, 2018
    #39
  20. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    I can throw one of these in the mix: SMSL Idea
    Got a spare one laying around. I like it better than most portable/phone dacs.
     
    neogeosnk, Apr 24, 2018
    #40
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