DAC Recommendation

Jimbob88

Jimbob88

Jimbob88

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8 Mar 2016
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6
I'm looking to replace my current Razer headset with AKG k712 headphones as i have been reading a lot of good reviews of them for both gaming and music use. However i need some recommendations of which would be a good DAC to pair them with. I'm not to sure what i am looking for as this is my first DAC purchase. I have looked at Creative's x7 which seems good enough as long as the software holds up. My budget would be about £350, but could stretch it further if it would be 'worth it'.

Thanks
 
O2 + ODAC combo is all you need. Or just the ODAC and an amp of your choice. A DAC is simply a DAC, no matter how much money you throw at it, you might get extra features buying a £300 DAC but it won't sound any clearer than a £100 one.
 
X7 has it all I'd get that especially dolby digital decoding headphone amp and functions as main pc soundcard with eax
 
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The Chord Mojo goes loud enough to destroy my ears and then higher for £400. It could literally cause those headphones to fall apart so has enough power. Also it'll be better than anything mentioned so far as you get to play with DSD and DXD files as well as anything you can find upto 384/768 over usb which is overkill but essentially proofed for a decade. Has an analog input I've used as a preamp from my rega TT which sounds cleaner than through my hifi and has digital so I plug the digital out from my av amp into it so hdmi/optical/coaxial are all processed by the mojo. One output goes back to analog in on the av amp and one to my headphones.
 
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bemaniac said:
The Chord Mojo goes loud enough to destroy my ears and then higher for £400. It could literally cause those headphones to fall apart so has enough power. Also it'll be better than anything mentioned so far as you get to play with DSD and DXD files as well as anything you can find upto 384/768 over usb which is overkill but essentially proofed for a decade.
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He could just get better headphones rather than spend twice the headphone cost on a dac/amp though
 
Angst said:
He could just get better headphones rather than spend twice the headphone cost on a dac/amp though
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That's true. Having originally looked at the creative sound blaster x7, then did some more research and then confused myself even more; i think my best bet is on the Vali and Modi 2. Although i have a daft question though, i get that i can connect the modi 2 via usb, but how would i connect the modi to the vali :confused: ?
 
Its the Vali 2 now by the way, it replaces the older model and is a completely new design.

You would go PC > USB > Modi 2 > RCA(x2) > Vali 2

I bought the Schiit Pyst RCA cable pair for £15 when I bought the original Modi & Vali stack.

Got to love Schiit's product naming :D
 
rids57 said:
Its the Vali 2 now by the way, it replaces the older model and is a completely new design.

You would go PC > USB > Modi 2 > RCA(x2) > Vali 2

I bought the Schiit Pyst RCA cable pair for £15 when I bought the original Modi & Vali stack.

Got to love Schiit's product naming :D
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But but £15 just for the name
 
Some is for the name, no denying that, so if you already have some then they will do fine. I bought them because a) I didn't have any and it was convenient to buy it all at the same time and b) they are decent quality, so should perform well and last a long time. Sure I could have bought a cheaper pair from Amazon but would have ended up paying £8 for delivery as I wanted them ASAP, which would have made them just as expensive as the Pysts.
 
Straz said:
A DAC is simply a DAC, no matter how much money you throw at it, you might get extra features buying a £300 DAC but it won't sound any clearer than a £100 one.
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If a dac is just a dac the basic ones built into every cd/dvd/blu ray player would all sound the same playing music . They aren't . I'll take my arcam i-rdac all day long thanks :)
 
TALON1973 said:
If a dac is just a dac the basic ones built into every cd/dvd/blu ray player would all sound the same playing music . They aren't . I'll take my arcam i-rdac all day long thanks :)
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My Oppo HA-2 blows chunks off anything I've had previously.

Music is amazing
Gaming is amazing

:)
 
TALON1973 said:
If a dac is just a dac the basic ones built into every cd/dvd/blu ray player would all sound the same playing music . They aren't . I'll take my arcam i-rdac all day long thanks :)
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From a certain point, yes. And equalisation doesn't equal a better DAC, as long as there is no noise why would you spend more? Anything else is placebo or higher volume.

And of course you would, you spent £300 on it.
 
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Straz said:
From a certain point, yes. And equalisation doesn't equal a better DAC, as long as there is no noise why would you spend more? Anything else is placebo or higher volume.

And of course you would, you spent £300 on it.
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Because some people want more resolution. Something like the Schiit Bifrost(£300) Chord Mojo(£399) for example is more resolving than the ODAC, Modi and some of the other entry level DAC's. It's not always placebo, I always find some people saying it's Placebo either don't have a good ear for that sort of thing, or just try to justify why they shouldn't upgrade, or simply have not ventured into the high end DAC market.

There are many DAC's out there that do in fact, sound the same and it's hard to tell a difference but when you break away from that little circle and try something that's by a reputable company there is a difference. That said, I personally think the ODAC and Modi is resolving enough for most people, I'd certainly be happy with it and if I didn't have the Chord Mojo which is about on bar with the Bifrost + Lyr Stack in terms of sound quality IMO I would probably have a Modi 2 because it's enough for most headphones but there are DAC's out there that are better overall, price doesn't just depend on the sound quality but brand, features and competition.
 
A DAC isn't just a chip, it includes the circuitry around it, both analogue and digital, multi-layer PCB with effective ground plane, filters and power supply and when you are using the very best components this can boost the cost significantly. Then you have to pay for the housing and a good, well designed housing will cost more to make than a cheap one, specially if it includes a fancy display (and the programming to support it). And then finally there are market forces and if a DAC can provide top quality sound, a good feature set and look good, then the manufacturer can charge considerably more for it than one that can't.

Sadly there are a lot of manufacturers that charge outlandish prices for equipment that doesn't really stand out from the crowd when it comes to technical ability but have a lot of clout when it comes to marketing. It's the job of the end user to weed out the real gems from the expensive also rans. The Chord Mojo is an obvious gem and stands out so much because it is so reasonably priced (£400) compared to the rest of the Chord range. Schiit are well known for making good sounding gear that they sell for very reasonable prices and there is no doubt that the Modi 2 is a fantastic bargain but does that mean there is no need for the Bifrost, the Gungnir or the Yggdrassil? No it doesn't, because they all add resolution and features above and beyond the Modi 2.
 
I understand your comments and take them on board, what I was trying to say was that beyond a certain point the majority of individuals won't notice a difference between a £100 DAC and a £500 DAC. Sure the tuning might be different, but once you have eliminated the noise using good quality components you will struggle to blind test beyond that.

I find it crazy how people place such a high value on a DAC as opposed to the Headphones or Amp which will actually contribute to a noticeable increase to sound quality. I'm only speaking from personal experience, these days I'd say a DAC is more about finding the one that will compliment the Headphones/Speakers you are using, rather than resolution which, lets be honest, is negligible for 99% of users.
 
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