[mhconley]

I am ready to make the plunge and purchase a hirez DAC.  (I sure wish my Parasound Halo D3 had digital inputs.)

I am looking for a two-channel DAC for my primary stereo system that will take inputs of up to 24-bit and 176.4/192khz via toslink or coax that won't break the bank.  I want to keep the cost of entry under $500 with a hard stop at $600.

I've read through some of the other DAC seeking threads but few if any will take 176.4/192khz input, although many will upsample to that rate.

Does the Channel Islands Audio VDA-2 accept 176.4/192khz input?

Can anyone suggest others worth considering?

Thanks,

Martin

[Atlplasma]

I bought this one a few months ago:

http://www.cryo-parts.com/pop_pulse_1796_dac.html

The price was right at $260, and so far I have no complaints about its performance. Of course, you might be able to find a better DAC within your budget ceiling.

[mhconley]

I bought this one a few months ago:

http://www.cryo-parts.com/pop_pulse_1796_dac.html

The price was right at $260, and so far I have no complaints about its performance. Of course, you might be able to find a better DAC within your budget ceiling.

Thank-you for that recommendation, it looks to be a good candidate.  I have also read surprisingly good things about the $119.95 Pop Pulse USB DAC Pro 707 and I know I like the sound of it's Cirrus Logic CS4398 chip.  (The same one used in Bryston's $2,150.00 BDA-1.)

The Zhaolu D3 and D3.5 both look interesting, especially at $229 and $399 respectively.  Does anyone have experience with these DACs?

What about the CI VDA-2?

Martin

[Kenobi]

Hi,

I bought a few Zhaolu D3s for friends and family a while back.  They enjoy them. 
If I was in your shoe though, I would seriously consider stretching the budget and get the Eastern Electric Minimax DAC @ $750 with the Saber 32 ES9018 DAC chip that has gotten crazy rave reviews right now.  Switchable between tube and SS, volume control, a variety of inputs.  Check it out.

Kenobi

[mhconley]

Hi,

I bought a few Zhaolu D3s for friends and family a while back.  They enjoy them. 
If I was in your shoe though, I would seriously consider stretching the budget and get the Eastern Electric Minimax DAC @ $750 with the Saber 32 ES9018 DAC chip that has gotten crazy rave reviews right now.  Switchable between tube and SS, volume control, a variety of inputs.  Check it out.

Kenobi

Being a DIYer the Twisted Pear Audio Buffalo II DAC looks to be an inexpensive way into a Saber 32 ES9018 chip based DAC...  Lot's of alternatives...  I hope to hear some of these various chips at RMAF.

Martin 

[etcarroll]

I heard some DACs a few months back when the NY Audio Rave folks had a DAC shootout, the EE was my fave.

But like the OP, I'm looking to keep the expenses down, I've followed the Twisted Pear group at diy site, looks very intriguing.

[Atlplasma]

I've heard good things about the Buffalo II DAC and even considered it as an option. Unfortunately, life is a bit too hectic at the moment for anything new. But Martin, you may want to consider it if you're at all inclined to DIY.

Steve

[firedog]

The new Arcam rDAC would be near the top end of your range.

You might also try the used market. There are so many people upgrading DACs these days you can get a really great used DAC for a modest sum, but something better than you could otherwise afford.

[mhconley]

I decided to try the least expensive solution I could find.  I just popped for a PopPulse SuperPro USB DAC 707 from Cryo-Parts.  It takes up to 24/192 input via S/PDIF utilizing the same Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC chip that is on the E-MU 1212M PCIe card I have in my PC.  I bought a 1 ft. Belden 1694A coaxial digital audio cable from Blue Jeans Cable to run between the Squeezebox and DAC.  I'll disable the volume control and FLAC file processing in Squeezecenter and pass 24/96, 24/176.4 and 24/192 straight through to the DAC.  Once everything is in place I'll post my impressions.

Martin

[firedog]

I decided to try the least expensive solution I could find.  I just popped for a PopPulse SuperPro USB DAC 707 from Cryo-Parts.  It takes up to 24/192 input via S/PDIF utilizing the same Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC chip that is on the E-MU 1212M PCIe card I have in my PC.  I bought a 1 ft. Belden 1694A coaxial digital audio cable from Blue Jeans Cable to run between the Squeezebox and DAC.  I'll disable the volume control and FLAC file processing in Squeezecenter and pass 24/96, 24/176.4 and 24/192 straight through to the DAC.  Once everything is in place I'll post my impressions.

Martin

Interested to hear your impressions of the DAC.

I don't know which Squeezebox you have, but note that only the SB Touch and Transporter natively pass on 24/96. For the other SB units any file above 24/48 or above is downsampled in SOX software (built into all recent versions of SB Server) to 24/48 and passed along to the digital out of the SB unit in that form. Even the Touch and Transporter will get an SBS downsampled version of any file above 24/96 (e.g.,176, 192) to 24/96.

I suggest you try the slimdevices forum if you want to know more about this.

[mhconley]

Interested to hear your impressions of the DAC.

For the other SB units any file above 24/48 or above is downsampled in SOX software (built into all recent versions of SB Server) to 24/48 and passed along to the digital out of the SB unit in that form. Even the Touch and Transporter will get an SBS downsampled version of any file above 24/96 (e.g.,176, 192) to 24/96.

Well that sucks...  for some reason I thought I had read somewhere that you could get Squeezebox server to pass up to 24/192. 

Martin

[mchuckp]

Well that sucks...  for some reason I thought I had read somewhere that you could get Squeezebox server to pass up to 24/192. 

Martin

Yeah, pretty sure that is right.  The Touch will do UP TO 24/96 and older models can read this rate but will downgrade the signal.

I'm not sure if there is any devices on the market like the SB that does 24/192.  Be interesting to know if there is.  You may have to go directly from computer to DAC via USB if you really want that high.

[firedog]

yes, you will need something like the HiFace usb>spdif out if you want 192 to your DAC.

The descriiptions of SB stuff is a little confusing to the uninitiated. Yes, they will play 24/192, but not at native res. The devil is in the details.

I have doubts SB will ever go to native 24/192. Little demand for it, and they are clearly repositioning the line toward mid-fi and  low end audiophile market (Touch), not the true hi-end. Transporter is no longer being made.

[mhconley]

yes, you will need something like the HiFace usb>spdif out if you want 192 to your DAC.

The descriiptions of SB stuff is a little confusing to the uninitiated. Yes, they will play 24/192, but not at native res. The devil is in the details.

I have doubts SB will ever go to native 24/192. Little demand for it, and they are clearly repositioning the line toward mid-fi and  low end audiophile market (Touch), not the true hi-end. Transporter is no longer being made.

My PC has an E-MU audio card that does 24/96 via S/PDIF.  I utilize the balanced outs to run my Ferrari red KRK Rokit 6's in my office.  I guess I could run a 50' S/PDIF cable out to the DAC and use foobar2000 via ASIO. 

Kinda defeats the purpose of the Squeezbox though...

Martin

[doctorcilantro]

Let's go bowling...

Which EMU card do have btw? 1212? You've got the digital i/o so you can keep it as a transport no doubt to an external DAC (but quite a few are happy running balanced out of those AKM-based EMU). Solid drivers in my experience and Patchmix is really flexible.

I still feel there is no substitute for having a PC front end gui like J. River, for organizational and usability reasons when compared to SB, but cost is an issue there. I run from my office/master server an ethernet cable (problems with with Intel 5300 [300MBps] drivers for wifi right now).

You might also look into JRMC's new Event mode WASAPI; solved lots of problems for external DAC users over the basic WASAPI mode used by a lot of players.

[mhconley]

Let's go bowling...

Which EMU card do have btw? 1212? You've got the digital i/o so you can keep it as a transport no doubt to an external DAC (but quite a few are happy running balanced out of those AKM-based EMU). Solid drivers in my experience and Patchmix is really flexible.

I still feel there is no substitute for having a PC front end gui like J. River, for organizational and usability reasons when compared to SB, but cost is an issue there. I run from my office/master server an ethernet cable (problems with with Intel 5300 [300MBps] drivers for wifi right now).

You might also look into JRMC's new Event mode WASAPI; solved lots of problems for external DAC users over the basic WASAPI mode used by a lot of players.

I have the 1212M PCIe card.  I run my Rokits off the balamced outputs and they sound darned good.  I just installed foo_out_wasapi yesterday and got it working sending bit perfect streams to my soundcard.  Amazing difference between it and the standard I/O.  Listened to some of my 24/96 DVD-A rips some 24/96 and 24/176.4 material I downloaded from HD Tracks and other places.  Very nice!  I guess I could run 50' balanced cables out to my stereo.    (Heck, they're only $30.38 a pair from Monoprice.)

I've read good things about J. River Media Center; is it that much better than foobar2000?

Another thing I am considering is the Dugood DAC-W3 wireless DAC.  I have a question into the manufacturer about the supported resolution over wi-fi.  I am also pondering building an Intel Atom based box with a fanless power supply, SSD and wi-fi to either feed a standalone DAC or an internal soundcard.

Lots of options...

Martin

[lcrim]

I've been doing PC based audio exclusively (at least in the digital realm) for more than five years and the amount of hi-rez that I own is a very small proportion of the music I own and listen to.  I have 2 Squeezebox Touch(es)  w/ Bolder Cables analog mods and the quality of sound is ridiculously good for a total investment at the music listening spots way less than the OP's $500-600.  The Touch plays 24/92 natively as well as Red Book. 
The SqueezeBox software has proven reliable and mostly foolproof over a long period.  There is an active online community for help. 
The noisy parts are distant from the playback environment and once the commitment was made and the ethernet cables were run, connectivity is absolutely sturdy.  Having this format of digital playback has absolutely changed my listening habits for the better.

[doctorcilantro]

@ lcrim

Same here. Still ripping my CDs even after all these years. Life happens. Hi-res stuff sounds good but so does 16/44 if recorded and mastered well. Funny, 120,000 file library - 1.8TB (mainly FLAC) and 72.6GB of high-res digital, 110GB of 24/96 or higher vinyl rips but.....only 3,000 tracks fall into these two high-res categories. 

Good to have so many choices these days.

@ mhconley

I find JRMC essential for organization, display, track info, overall usability and their playback engine with event mode WASAPI to me does sound better than ASIO in JRMC.

Some screenshots which may give insight or ideas here.

I've been doing PC based audio exclusively (at least in the digital realm) for more than five years and the amount of hi-rez that I own is a very small proportion of the music I own and listen to.  I have 2 Squeezebox Touch(es)  w/ Bolder Cables analog mods and the quality of sound is ridiculously good for a total investment at the music listening spots way less than the OP's $500-600.  The Touch plays 24/92 natively as well as Red Book. 
The SqueezeBox software has proven reliable and mostly foolproof over a long period.  There is an active online community for help. 
The noisy parts are distant from the playback environment and once the commitment was made and the ethernet cables were run, connectivity is absolutely sturdy.  Having this format of digital playback has absolutely changed my listening habits for the better.

[firedog]

I have the 1212M PCIe card.  I run my Rokits off the balamced outputs and they sound darned good.  I just installed foo_out_wasapi yesterday and got it working sending bit perfect streams to my soundcard.  Amazing difference between it and the standard I/O.  Listened to some of my 24/96 DVD-A rips some 24/96 and 24/176.4 material I downloaded from HD Tracks and other places.  Very nice!  I guess I could run 50' balanced cables out to my stereo.    (Heck, they're only $30.38 a pair from Monoprice.)

Martin

Have you tried the Kernel Streaming plugin for Foobar? I got noticeably improved sound over ASIO and WASAPI. YMMV, of course. These kinds of things seem to be system dependent.

[gkinberg]

I have the 1212M PCIe card.  I run my Rokits off the balamced outputs and they sound darned good.

Martin

Martin, I am in the market for an external soundcard and saw your post. I use a laptop and want to move to digitl music exclusively and believe that I need an external soundcard. My limited understanding is that the sound card connects to a preamp, correct? Your soundcard has balanced outputs? What are the Rokits that you mentioned above. Is a soundcard kind of like a DAC or can a DAC be put inline between a soundcard and preamp? Thanks for any help you can offer.