Cheap DAC or pay more?

[Pigeon]

Has anyone got any experience of using one of the cheap £15-£20 Digital Audio Converters? Or should I be looking more at what the Hi fi websites recommend costing £150 upwards.

We have a new TV arriving tomorrow and there is only a digital audio out and no headphone jack or other audio out. Unfortunately my hi-fi is a little vintage and I only have coax and din inputs. An example photo of the back of it for info!

The DAC would be for the TV audio only, probably just for films and when we have music concerts on. I currently have my music in flac format on a cheap music player that is doing the converting and to my ears it sounds pretty good (although the line out port only works sometimes )

The need for a more expensive DAC might lead me on to a new amplifier instead, a remote control for things other than CDs would be great!

 

[hornetstinger]

You could buy a Wiim Ultra, that has ARC input, coaxial and optical inputs, so is a DAC, plus a decentstreamer as well.

plus it's got headphone amp.

A "cheap DAC" like Topping E30 is about £130-£150, and it's just a DAC/preamp.

A Wiim Pro Plus has digital inputs, so acts as a DAC also, but also a good streamer. Ultra has screen, bass management/room correction and sub out, and headphone out, plus ARC so for a TV setup could be a better option.

 

[Pigeon]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have never heard of that brand and the Ultra seems to be a great box of tricks. It seems to fit in to try to replace my pre amp as above but with a big emphasis on streaming music as well. Unfortunately with it just having one analog input I would have to choose between having the FM, CD player or my MP3(flac) player plugged in.
Reading up on it a little suggests the input sensitivity of my power amp is half that of the output from the Wiim Ultra so I would get full power from the amp at a much lower volume volume level of this pre amp.
It is good to see technology is moving quickly with these devices and there now seems to be affordable audio kit across even more and lower price points. Perhaps concerning for established brands is that the new brands can come out with a new product using the newer Sabre chipset which seems to be able to handle higher bit rates whilst the existing established manufacturers keep products going for longer.
Unfortunately aesthetically and probably in terms of touch and feel the Wiim either through its own controls or the phone will not have the feel or occasion of using the older hi fi. (Although the tactile nature has its downsides and little hands here have played with the volume and filer controls this week and I have no idea where they were set before!)

I am probably going down a different route. “My” hi fi is only on extended loan from my father and he has suggested a swap with an integrated amp he has but isn’t using much which has the optical input. It might all be moot anyway as with the TV mounted to the wall I cannot reach to fit a cable in so that will be a lot of work just to plug it in!

 

[hornetstinger]

afaik you can set the max pre out voltage on the wiim ultra, so as not to over drive the power amplifier.

 

[dowie]

Has anyone got any experience of using one of the cheap £15-£20 Digital Audio Converters? Or should I be looking more at what the Hi fi websites recommend costing £150 upwards.

Nah, just get a cheap one, DAC is a solved problem (for like decades) but as with all things hi-fi there are lots of deluded people. DAC chips cost peanuts and if all you need is a box to convert the output from your TV and send it to an old amp then it shouldn't need to cost £100+ to do that.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Nah, just get a cheap one, DAC is a solved problem (for like decades) but as with all things hi-fi there are lots of deluded people. DAC chips cost peanuts and if all you need is a box to convert the output from your TV and send it to an old amp then it shouldn't need to cost £100+ to do that.

Agreed.