[Lol999]

As it says really. I've moved into Raspberry Pi3 audio and I have to say after a bit of a struggle it's settled down. I'm running RuneAudio at the moment with some amendments made to the cmd and config files.
I had bought a Sabaj Da2 dac, and comparing it to my initial Signstek/Muse 2704 dac it was that bit clearer, that bit sharper although the soundstage wasn't as good as my cheapy one.

I decided to send the Sabaj back because it had volume control on it which defaulted to 50% on shutdown, and with the Pi set up at home I need a volume control close to hand as I am bypassing the volume control on Rune for bit perfect delivery to the dac.

So today I plugged my old faithful Signstek in and started listening, and for the first time since taking the Sabaj out my feet started tapping to the music!
The Sabaj nay have been a "better" dac but it doesn't in my system possess the musicality of my cheapo one!

Hence the problem, do I stay as I am, which is okay, or do I look for something usb powered for the Pi which also has an amp in it and will handle beyond the 16 bit 44Khz my Signstek is limited to?

Forgot to add, my listening is exclusively through headphones so any dac has to have a headphone out.

All comments welcome, Lol

[Elizabeth]

I have an old used Adcom DA700 I bought for $250.
When I retired I bought (on both Stereophile and TAS praising to the skies) Bryston DAC.($2,300)
I also bought other Bryston gear so adding the DAC seemed to make sense.

Well I was surprised to discover the old DAC and new DAC sounded the same.
I was wondering what I was doing wrong...
Well I got the phono box I ordered and realized finally the (rest of the system was better as I had hoped) system was fine. it was the new DAC which was no damn better at all.
I returned it.
And remembered the truism that just because a magazine says something is the be all end all. It may not be true.
I have $50,000 (retail) worth of stereo stuff.. and STILL use that Adcom DAC.

[TJ-Sully]

cool story Elizabeth. I still have an old Adcom power amp kicking around that I use for my HT setup. it sounds great, and it fires up every time i need it! I bought it used for $300 or so.  as Neil would say...it's old but it's good.

[jimangie1973]

Similar situation for me.  I run a benchmark DAC1HDR direct into a Bryston 4b3. 

I upgraded to a DAC3 and found the tonality in my system inferior.  Gone was the completely natural sound I get with the DAC1.  Treble was very clear but had a slight harsh edge.
The difference was not subtle to me either.  I really wanted the DAC3 to sound better too.

Both DAC3 and DAC1 have almost zero distortion so the only thing I can guess is the slight rolloff the DAC1 has at the top of the band.  DAC3 went back.

[Lol999]

If I do keep to the same dac then the only problem I have is volume control. With the small amount of built in amplification the volume level is just on the edge of the highest I want it to go.
One option is to use the software volume control in Rune, but as I understand that impacts sound quality, how much I don't know.

Option 2 would be to buy a headphone amp and use that to effectively throttle down the sound level, but again that would introduce new tonality to the equation and also the amp, if I understand correctly, would be running at minimum power, not a place where amps perform at their best or so I believe.

[bacobits1]

I have been into audio a long time now. We keep chasing our own tail partly because of audio nervosa.
The nature of the illness perpetuated by especially reviews etc.but that's the purpose of these reviews isn't it? Different  and new is not always better.
I learned just by using some of the USB BS add-ons. You start to fool yourself because of the writings and you purchased it.
Same goes for a lot of wires. So it goes on.....trust your own judgement!!!!
On DACS my upgrades have improved. But there was a jump in price and not from the same manufacturers.
Yup I like to try a lot of stuff too, again, that sickness from reading way too much.
I have had much more costly systems in the past that did not compare to what I hear now.
So it goes, till you educate yourself and return to reality. Keep it in check

Oh yea, last thing, fix your room much more satisfaction! Best thing I have done in 5 years.

[JLM]

Last spring home auditioned a $1250 USD Schiit Gungnir Multi-Bit DAC (and a $700 USD Schiit Freya preamp with nice NOS tubes).  Compared with/against my DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core DAC/preamp/DSP bass processor (street price $850 USD) in every possible configuration with two pair of speakers (discontinued $1400 USD MSRP Dynaudio BM5 MkIII active monitors and commissioned single driver floor standers that use a discontinued driver, estimated current value - $5000 USD with Temple Audio Class D mono-blocks) in a Cardas Golden Cuboid listening room. 

The Schiit gear made 10% of my Redbook collection (the very best of my audiophile recordings) sound better, but 30% (mostly older pop recordings) sound worse.  The fidelity of the DSPeaker wasn't lacking yet it seems to be mellower/more forgiving than the Schiit equipment.  So better isn't always better and the Schiit stuff went back. 

Agree with bacobits1 regarding add-ons/tweaks, haven't found one yet that makes a difference.  Properly designed cables don't make a difference either, don't be deceived.

[Lol999]

Well I wanted a more "in one box" approach so I ordered this board https://www.modmypi.com/raspberry-pi/audio-dacampdigi/dacs-digital-to-analogue-coverters-1044/iqaudio-pi-dac-pro-full-hd-audio-card

It is limited by Linux to 192Khz 24 bit but to be honest
1) i don't have anything above 96Khz/24 bit
2) I don't think my old ears would see much difference on anything above

Should be fun!