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Best DAC for the Dollar

drallen27
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I've been searching recently for a new audio solution. Not so much in the line of headphones, but more in the lines of what I'm plugging my headphones into. Right now I don't use rear I/O analog ports but instead I am using the Mix Amp that is included with the ASTRO A40 Gaming headset. I hate to admit it because I know that they are terrible but it allows me to have 7.1 surround when I'm gaming. What I'm really looking for is a good DAC/AMP that isn't ridiculously expensive and instead offers really good quality for the money. Also, as far as having surround sound, is that something that I'll have to sacrifice. Just looking for some input on the subject and would to hear what everyone has to say!

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8 minutes ago, drallen27 said:

I've been searching recently for a new audio solution. Not so much in the line of headphones, but more in the lines of what I'm plugging my headphones into. Right now I don't use rear I/O analog ports but instead I am using the Mix Amp that is included with the ASTRO A40 Gaming headset. I hate to admit it because I know that they are terrible but it allows me to have 7.1 surround when I'm gaming. What I'm really looking for is a good DAC/AMP that isn't ridiculously expensive and instead offers really good quality for the money. Also, as far as having surround sound, is that something that I'll have to sacrifice. Just looking for some input on the subject and would to hear what everyone has to say!

Just keep using the Mix Amp since you already have it, no need to buy anything else. If you want to improve your setup I'd upgrade from the A40.

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Why buy a DAC when you already have a DAC/AMP combo in a way? Just upgrade your headphones. Buying a DAC isn't going to improve quality any. At least with the Mixamp you get 5.1 and virtual 7.1. Just upgrade your headphones, the A40 headset is good but getting a really nice pair of headphones and just buying a mic is a lot better. 

 

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Well I also have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x's and I prefer their sound but they lose their clean sound when plugged into the Mixamp due to the "presets" that you can't turn off on the mixamp and ASTRO doesn't tell you anything about each one. The audio seems cheap to me even with the A40s.

 

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1 minute ago, drallen27 said:

Well I also have a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x's and I prefer their sound but they lose their clean sound when plugged into the Mixamp due to the "presets" that you can't turn off on the mixamp and ASTRO doesn't tell you anything about each one. The audio seems cheap to me even with the A40s.

 

Why don't you just plug your headphones into the pc itself like normal?

[CPU-i5 4690k] [MB-Asus Maximus VII Hero] [GPU-Asus Matirx 980ti] [Ram-8GB Corsair Vengeance ram] [ Cooling-Corsair H100i/ 3 Noctua NF-P12 for intake] [sSD/HDD-120GB evo/ 1TB WB Caviar blue] [Case-NZXT H440] [Dell U3415W]

 

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I was planning on getting a new MIC as well. I was pretty interested in the Blue Yeti it seems like the easiest to set up and use without the need for additional equipment vice an XLR mic.

 

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1 minute ago, drallen27 said:

I was planning on getting a new MIC as well. I was pretty interested in the Blue Yeti it seems like the easiest to set up and use without the need for additional equipment vice an XLR mic.

 

The yeti is a solid stand alone mic for cheap.

[CPU-i5 4690k] [MB-Asus Maximus VII Hero] [GPU-Asus Matirx 980ti] [Ram-8GB Corsair Vengeance ram] [ Cooling-Corsair H100i/ 3 Noctua NF-P12 for intake] [sSD/HDD-120GB evo/ 1TB WB Caviar blue] [Case-NZXT H440] [Dell U3415W]

 

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The monoprice 111567 kinda rocks ..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 No,seriously.

 

 

 Fiio E10 is okay, they are both built at same place supposedly though 

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47 minutes ago, nForcer101 said:

The monoprice 111567 kinda rocks ..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 No,seriously.

 

 

 Fiio E10 is okay, they are both built at same place supposedly though 

 

You're thinking of the old E09K.

 

I agree with the general sentiment here, that no DAC is necessary, no amp either (which is what would actually be useful for heaadphones). If the OP really wants one, the usual suspects are viable.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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3 hours ago, SSL said:

 

You're thinking of the old E09K.

 

I agree with the general sentiment here, that no DAC is necessary, no amp either (which is what would actually be useful for heaadphones). If the OP really wants one, the usual suspects are viable.

 Nah the e09k is for e17 more than anything & has no built in Dac it's JUST an amplifier ..

 

 

 but Okay well something simple & just as quality sq - Massdrop has the DACport slim avail currently though may be older version update firmware upon arrival if anyone does purchase it .. 

  It works with iphone 6 & likely android with micro USB that does usb audio as well

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Just now, nForcer101 said:

 Nah the e09k is for e17 more than anything & has no built in Dac it's JUST an amplifier ..

 

Again, why do people feel the need to blindly question simple statements 9_9

 

The E09K very clearly shares the form-factor, many internals, and even the factory as the Monorpice DAC and amp. There's pictures that strongly support this assertion.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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Does this sound at all like it has a dac as part of it

 

" The QOGIR serves as a dock for the E17 USB DAC-AMP devices. When combined, the QOGIR and E17 become seamless high fidelity audio interface for any computer, bypassing noisy internal sound cards "

 

 QOGIR is an e09k correct bruh?

 

 I mean , I didn't think it did but whatever I'm actually pretty sure it is a standalone, powered amplifier. Nothin more

 

 And an amp kind of IS necessary if you want clean dynamic unclipped music with any headphones over 32ohms especially - Even if the amp has gobs of power it is MUCH cleaner to run it at 3/4 volume of 450mw than clipping it trying to get headphones to play at decent volume cleanly from a computer sound card even my maximus VII only sounds fairly clean loud at 75% with only 32 ohm Iems & that outputs 1.5v or so unclipped

 

 

 

Audioengine D3 Is Also a VERY good choice , with newer technology than dacport & is nicely powered too albeit For slightly more $$

 

  but regardless back to the point of this specific post , There isn't much sense in amping a dirty signal anything with snr under 100-105 is amping noise too so yeah a dac is needed also for clean usb out audio to get the amps full deal goin on dudes HOWEVER if you have some really nice onboard audio high snr no noise etc etc [asus rog boards for example] and don't necessarily need dvd audio high bitrates 96/24 or what not output as usb will likely provide - Then you probably could run just any old amp standalone and it'd be nice enough with just a 3.5mm to rca out but yeah some headphones need an amp no onboard audio is powering anything over 32ohms much 

 

 SSL-->> So uh what is this 'once again people bs' I'm not people for one , for two this is my first post in this thread about this topic what kinda weirdo BLINDLY replies to me like you are over me or something you're not what usual suspects dude YOU'RE real suspect wow wth

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43 minutes ago, nForcer101 said:

le snip

 

Wow.

 

Let me just point out a few things:

 

  • The vast, vast majority of headphone amps are voltage sources. They will not clip unless they have excess gain.
  • When determining the power and voltage requirements for a given listening level you have to know a few things. Blanket statements about needing an amp for headphones over 32 ohms are wrong and NOT good generalizations because they ignore too many determining factors:
    • What the desired listening level actually is
    • The sensitivity of the headphone (db/V)
    • The impedance of the headphone
    • The power output of the amp at the impedance of the headphone
  • Obviously, running an amp into clipping is bad. Why you claim anyone would need to do this is beyond me.
  • Most DACs have a dynamic range in the area of (100-110dB). Don't be fooled by marketing that claims things like 124dB. This is basically at the extreme limit of what it is possible for hardware to do and you will normally pay serious cache for such meaningless specs. 17-18 bits is more than sufficient.
  • Integrated audio can easily provide high bit depth and sample rate output. You don't need a fancy DAC if you want to watch a BluRay.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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The problem with my current setup is that honestly the quality of the mixamp I have (ASTRO Gaming mixamp) is not good. Whenever I change the volume level there is static from a poor quality varister and you can't get pure audio out of the mixamp because you cannot disable the EQ built in. It is always on and can't be turned off.Also, I hate using integrated audio jacks because I having to mess with the control panel selection of audio sources. I'm trying to get away from that by having a separate mic (Blue Yeti) and a decent DAC/amp which will be able to have a preamp out that can got to a speaker system if need be and some good quality headphone support. Does anyone understand where I'm coming from? It's hard to convey what sort of issues I don't want to deal with and still get a nice result without spending absolutely absorbent amounts of money, which you can easily do without blinking on Audio stuff. 

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1 minute ago, drallen27 said:

The problem with my current setup is that honestly the quality of the mixamp I have (ASTRO Gaming mixamp) is not good. Whenever I change the volume level there is static from a poor quality varister and you can't get pure audio out of the mixamp because you cannot disable the EQ built in. It is always on and can't be turned off.Also, I hate using integrated audio jacks because I having to mess with the control panel selection of audio sources. I'm trying to get away from that by having a separate mic (Blue Yeti) and a decent DAC/amp which will be able to have a preamp out that can got to a speaker system if need be and some good quality headphone support. Does anyone understand where I'm coming from? It's hard to convey what sort of issues I don't want to deal with and still get a nice result without spending absolutely absorbent amounts of money, which you can easily do without blinking on Audio stuff. 

I know you don't want to take the 5 secs to go into the control panel for audio but you really don't need a dac/amp for your setup at all and it would be a total waste of money just plug your headphones and speakers into the pc jacks and save yourself some money and get a yeti as a standalone mic and you will be happy.

[CPU-i5 4690k] [MB-Asus Maximus VII Hero] [GPU-Asus Matirx 980ti] [Ram-8GB Corsair Vengeance ram] [ Cooling-Corsair H100i/ 3 Noctua NF-P12 for intake] [sSD/HDD-120GB evo/ 1TB WB Caviar blue] [Case-NZXT H440] [Dell U3415W]

 

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1 hour ago, SSL said:

 

Wow.

 

Let me just point out more SSL 'on paper sounds right' nonsense jargons just top argue with new guy my post high I knowwww what I'm talking about just like I knew the e09k was a Dac also not just an amp

 All amps clip/distort & All amps drive only to a certain level at a given impedance while SOME headphone amps change the level with a given impedance of headphones yeah - all amp circuits clip/distort If they didn't it wouldn't be an amplifier like tf I said amps clip & amps distort & the less noise better snr ratio also equals more clean audio more amperage so to speak a much more pleasurable listening experience regardless..

 

 And op stated he wanted a dac and/or amp to power more than just his gaming headphones , So how is anything a waste of money if it's what he desires and clearly stated I was only pointing out some details that yeah he may not need a dac also though likely would still serve him well & nine times outta ten is better than any onboard audio .

  No onboard audio including rog is better than even an asus DX Idgaf if it's creative fancy so-called top of the line even though creative on gigabyte boards & asus' sonic studio II & ss III on their latest z170 boards is quite nice & really doesn't NEED anything else ..

 But it still improves no doubt 

 

*and impedance is just the resistance JUST AS speakers have a very wide TRUE impedance curve I'm sure headphones do too.. .

 ** A speaker that is rated 8ohms is only 8ohms from maybe 65hz to 800hz , and gradually climbs higher and higher after that point 

  ** a pair of headphones rated 32ohms is only 'full powered' at it's lowest octave or two after that you are getting less and less power no matter the amp it is likely 4x the normal impedance after lower-mid freqs top out so having available 'headroom' no pun tf intended so your music can be more dynamic is never EVER a bad thing

 

 I do some of THE most highly tuned car audio systems & have been ten+ yrs I know my stuff screw what you think you know on paper it doesn't apply it never does after all is said and done it takes me hours & hours to tune systems even guys with very topend equipment to help still take as long and not many can do it right very few can do it by ear totally right I can though smdh

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2 minutes ago, nForcer101 said:

I do some of THE most highly tuned car audio systems & have been ten+ yrs I know my stuff screw what you think you know on paper it doesn't apply it never does after all is said and done it takes me hours & hours to tune systems even guys with very topend equipment to help still take as long and not many can do it right very few can do it by ear totally right I can though smdh

 

As I explained above, you actually don't know your stuff and are either lying about doing car audio or else are ripping off and misleading your victims I mean customers.

 

Some of your statements are not wrong, but then you're using them to draw some very incorrect conclusions because your knowledge is incomplete.

 

For example:

 

5 minutes ago, nForcer101 said:

A pair of headphones rated 32ohms is only 'full powered' at it's lowest octave or two after that you are getting less and less power no matter the amp it is likely 4x the normal impedance after lower-mid freqs top out

 

As far as I can make out from what you are saying, so what? Yes, impedance varies with frequency in any transducer. But, expanding on my point about sensitivity above, the sensitivity of a headphone isn't the same across all frequencies, either. That is why moving coil dynamics do not tend to roll off with increasing frequency due to inductance: they have higher voltage sensitivity that compensates. The cause of this increased sensitivity varies, but is often going to be due to intentional tuning of the enclosure and driver to maximize performance.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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You haven't made any point shuttup . 

  You are doing math in a thread where the op asked for amp suggestions nothing more

 

 Butu since you know so much ok Impedance varies due to how a vc is wound usually & resistance how the driver actually acts in play not much else sensitivity in the desired play range is all else ends up mattering man.

 AND ENCLOSURE ONLY MAKES THE BEST OF IT IF IT'S DESIGNED FORRR THE DRIVER SPECIFICALLY LEVELS IT MORE THAN FREE AIR BIG DRIVERS GET FLATTER RESPONSE USUALLY YEAH, HEADPHONES DON'T USE BIG MOVING TRANSDUCERS HOW MUCH AIR YOU THINK THEY PUSH THERE ISN'T ANY CORRECTING IT . BRAH THIS ISN'T VELODYNE 1999 WE AINT TALKING ARMATURE HEADPHONES OMFG

 

********THE OP SAID HE WANTED ALLLL HIS HEADPHONES TO BE AMPED

 

 

WHAT IS YOUUUR PROBLEM HERE WITH FACT I'M TRYIN MY BEST TO HELP HIM UNDERSTAND IF HE NEEDS ONE OR NOT HIS HEADPHONE LIKELY ARE ALL  DIFF IMP MAY EVEN BE WILD 600OHM SENNHEISERS WHO KNOWS & IF HE JUST WANTS ONE I GAVE VERY SOLID CHOICES OF GOOD ENOUGH THAT HE IS NOOOT WASTIN MONEY ON BUHHBYEE NOW

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23 minutes ago, nForcer101 said:

You haven't made any point shuttup . 

 Dork 

 

 P.S. you are going on & on + throwing out big terms no one cares about ..

 

 Impedance varies due to how a vc is wound usually & resistance how the driver actually acts in play not much else sensitivity in the desired play range is all else ends up mattering man.

 AND ENCLOSURE ONLY MAKES THE BEST OF IT IF IT'S DESIGNED FORRR THE DRIVER SPECIFICALLY LEVELS IT MORE THAN FREE AIR BIG DRIVERS GET FLATTER RESPONSE USUALLY YEAH, HEADPHONES DON'T USE BIG MOVING TRANSDUCERS HOW MUCH AIR YOU THINK THEY PUSH THERE ISN'T ANY CORRECTING IT . BRAH THIS ISN'T VELODYNE 1999 WE AINT TALKING ARMATURE HEADPHONES OMFG

 

********THE OP SAID HE WANTED ALLLL HIS HEADPHONES TO BE AMPED

 

 

WHAT IS YOUUUR PROBLEM HERE WITH FACT I'M TRYIN MY BEST TO HELP HIM UNDERSTAND IF HE NEEDS ONE OR NOT HIS HEADPHONE LIKELY ARE ALL  DIFF IMP MAY EVEN BE WILD 600OHM SENNHEISERS WHO KNOWS & IF HE JUST WANTS ONE I GAVE VERY SOLID CHOICES OF GOOD ENOUGH THAT HE IS NOOOT WASTIN MONEY ON BUHHBYEE NOW

Speaking of amps…you need to switch yours to low gain, because you're a bit on the loud side.

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smsl m2 afforadable dac/amp combo that's said to sound good. i havn't used it personally, but it's one i actually want to try.

SMSL SD793-II another dac/amp combo that i've head performs well. The reviews are neat anyway.

 

Wouldn't hurt to give these a chance, and since they're inexpensive, you won't feel like you wasted your money. Youtube is your friend here too.

 

upgrtade your headphones btw. 

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1 hour ago, nForcer101 said:

You haven't made any point shuttup . 

 Dork 

 

 P.S. you are going on & on + throwing out big terms no one cares about ..

 

 Impedance varies due to how a vc is wound usually & resistance how the driver actually acts in play not much else sensitivity in the desired play range is all else ends up mattering man.

 AND ENCLOSURE ONLY MAKES THE BEST OF IT IF IT'S DESIGNED FORRR THE DRIVER SPECIFICALLY LEVELS IT MORE THAN FREE AIR BIG DRIVERS GET FLATTER RESPONSE USUALLY YEAH, HEADPHONES DON'T USE BIG MOVING TRANSDUCERS HOW MUCH AIR YOU THINK THEY PUSH THERE ISN'T ANY CORRECTING IT . BRAH THIS ISN'T VELODYNE 1999 WE AINT TALKING ARMATURE HEADPHONES OMFG

 

********THE OP SAID HE WANTED ALLLL HIS HEADPHONES TO BE AMPED

 

 

WHAT IS YOUUUR PROBLEM HERE WITH FACT I'M TRYIN MY BEST TO HELP HIM UNDERSTAND IF HE NEEDS ONE OR NOT HIS HEADPHONE LIKELY ARE ALL  DIFF IMP MAY EVEN BE WILD 600OHM SENNHEISERS WHO KNOWS & IF HE JUST WANTS ONE I GAVE VERY SOLID CHOICES OF GOOD ENOUGH THAT HE IS NOOOT WASTIN MONEY ON BUHHBYEE NOW

 

Remarkable.

 

I'm attempting to help the OP as well; unfortantely a large part of that has been correcting the various wild claims you've made. Seems like there is no need for me to continue at this point, but it's been fun.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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3 hours ago, drallen27 said:

The problem with my current setup is that honestly the quality of the mixamp I have (ASTRO Gaming mixamp) is not good. Whenever I change the volume level there is static from a poor quality varister and you can't get pure audio out of the mixamp because you cannot disable the EQ built in. It is always on and can't be turned off.Also, I hate using integrated audio jacks because I having to mess with the control panel selection of audio sources. I'm trying to get away from that by having a separate mic (Blue Yeti) and a decent DAC/amp which will be able to have a preamp out that can got to a speaker system if need be and some good quality headphone support. Does anyone understand where I'm coming from? It's hard to convey what sort of issues I don't want to deal with and still get a nice result without spending absolutely absorbent amounts of money, which you can easily do without blinking on Audio stuff. 

Let's get back on track.  I say you don't need anything, just plug stuff into your onboard and use Windows mixer to control volume, if your keyboard has FN-media keys or built-in media keys that should make your life easier.  If you're really insistent on getting something get a Syba DAC

 

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-SD-DAC63057-Stereo-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B009WN7QT4

AD2000x Review  Fitear To Go! 334 Review

Speakers - KEF LSX

Headphones - Sennheiser HD650, Kumitate Labs KL-Lakh

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What iShad and others mentioned, no reason to buy a dedicated DAC or Amp for something like the A40. Moving into the possibility of better headphones though, the largest difference between spending say $50 on a DAC vs spending $300+ on one is generally going to be aesthetics, built in power supply regulation, better immunity to EMI/RFI, and generally a better assortment of inputs/outputs.

 

+1 on the Syba though for a good and cheap alternative.

MSI Z97M Gaming | i7-4790k | NZXT Kraken X61 | 16GB Kingston Savage DDR3 2400
EVGA GTX1080 Ti FTW3 | EVGA G2 750 | Phanteks Enthoo Evolv | 1TB 850 Evo | 2TB 860 Evo | 22TB DS918+

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21 hours ago, SSL said:

 

Effin Remarkable.

 

Shhh I think I hear thousands upon thousands of pairs of pretty decent cans bein underdriven*huge keyword*,

like crazy like everywhere. .

 

 

 It sure aint over here Mon frairs :P

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8 minutes ago, nForcer101 said:

Shhh I think I hear thousands upon thousands of pairs of pretty decent cans bein underdriven*huge keyword*,

like crazy like everywhere. .

 

 

 It sure aint over here Mon frairs :P

Yup, that's why I hang out here and /r/headphones and only check headfi for news on exotic gears.

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