WTB: Up to $300 USD DAC with good enough USB Input, plays nice with SW51+

I'm feeling a little fat, so let me try something different. I don't follow all the DAC news as of late. As some of you may know, on my computer desk I'm running the Eitr > Airist RDAC to SW51+. RDAC is great, but not the SPIDF dropouts from my Eitr which drives me up the wall. Also, I'm looking for a little cleaner setup on my desk.

Here are some of my goals (which I know I won't hit all of them):

• $300 USD DAC price if possible.
• USB not poo.
• Works great with SW51+ SE input and play nicely.
• DAC not bright crap which is what @ChaChaRealSmooth have a fetish for.
• Must sound good and I don't care if R2R or SD.

What I'm not too crazy for:

• I heard the Modius SE works great with the SW51+, but I kind of wanna see if there's anything else out there besides Schitt. I'm not feeling the Modius 100% ATM, but if no luck here I might order one.
• Crap USB.

I guess let me know what you might have if you wanna unload anything. I think I won't meet my goals here so I might just suck it up and get the Modius. However, I kind of wanna try different things. I do enjoy my RDAC, but if there's a good sounding SD DAC that doesn't sound like trash, I might be game.

Thanks guys.....

 

Have you checked out any of the ifi stuff? (already sold mine though, sorry)

 

Only one that I was interested was the ZEN Signature from Drop. I canceled that order today since they will not meet their shipping date and also they don't have an idea when they will get the orders in. Not going to waste my time on additional months waiting with no idea when they will get them in. The cheaper Zen DAC, not too interested in that if I have to be honest.

 

PM sent

 

If you like the RDAC and only issue is drop out then why not use that $300 to get Pi2AES and get reliable SPDIF connection.

 

Good point, but I need USB audio for my videos/porn/other audio to stream into my setup. PI2AES is only for wireless streaming, which I have in my living room setup.

 

Does Windows / Android not have an option to use Pi2AES with all video and audio sources?

 

I don't think it does. Also, trying to make the setup simple as much as possible.

I'm going to laugh if I decide to keep what I have or snap and upgrade my BF2 in my living room and put that on my computer desk.

 

Why not new Modi MB? Stacks with your Eitr, meets your price target. @robot zombie pairs one with SW51+ and likes it a lot, I think there's someone else in that thread has the same pairing.

 

Eitr to RDAC (what I'm running) surpass the Modi MB by multiple people here perviously.

Someone the Eitr on my desk stop doing audio dropouts....Trying to figure out why...

 

They can act as a bluetooth receiver and work with all audio with some delay(50ms I think). Watching youtube is fine for me, but perhaps not porn as one needs some real time engagement factor.

 

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

The more I'm thinking about it, the more I realized that this thread was kind of a bad idea.

So far I think I figured the Eitr audio-drop out issue....for now.....

Still not 100% feeling Modius SE to SW51+. Maybe I can dream in my fat rolls that they will be a Modius MB one day....maybe....

I'm so dumb on impulses at time. Alright, time to go back to the drawing board. I'll keep the Eitr > RDAC for now on my computer desk until something interesting catches my eye/wallet.

@shotgunshane, do your magic.