watchnerd
Grand Contributor
My wife keeps giving me grief because of the butch-looking rack mount ADDA I've been using in the living room in the main system, en lieu of a more 'domesticated' DAC, wondering when I'm going to move it back to the man cave. She wants something either invisible or cuter.
When thinking of gear I could swap in, I decided to do an inventory of DAC or similar gear I have bestrewn between office, home living room, home office / studio, and portable recording gear I keep in my car. I get the following list of DACs and ADDAs lying around:
ADDA Interfaces:
TASCAM DA-3000
UA Apollo Twin Solo
Roland Super UA DSD
Desktop DAC/headphone amp combos:
Nuforce Icon HDP
Schiit Fulla 2
DIY computer / streamer / DAC combos:
Raspberry Pi 2 + HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro and DAC+ Pro
In the closet:
California Audio Labs Sigma II
Observations:
1. I have too many
2. None of them are sufficiently cute for a living room, but some can be invisible
3. As DACs (as opposed to as headphone amps), I really don't have a strong listening preference for any of them. I've tried doing ABX tests between them and consistently fail, except for the CAL Sigma II, which I can identify every time (it has tubes inside).
What DACs have you owned or have lying around?
What caused you to upgrade, if ever?
When thinking of gear I could swap in, I decided to do an inventory of DAC or similar gear I have bestrewn between office, home living room, home office / studio, and portable recording gear I keep in my car. I get the following list of DACs and ADDAs lying around:
ADDA Interfaces:
TASCAM DA-3000
UA Apollo Twin Solo
Roland Super UA DSD
Desktop DAC/headphone amp combos:
Nuforce Icon HDP
Schiit Fulla 2
DIY computer / streamer / DAC combos:
Raspberry Pi 2 + HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro and DAC+ Pro
In the closet:
California Audio Labs Sigma II
Observations:
1. I have too many
2. None of them are sufficiently cute for a living room, but some can be invisible
3. As DACs (as opposed to as headphone amps), I really don't have a strong listening preference for any of them. I've tried doing ABX tests between them and consistently fail, except for the CAL Sigma II, which I can identify every time (it has tubes inside).
What DACs have you owned or have lying around?
What caused you to upgrade, if ever?