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Bargain DAC Suggestions?

HeadphoneFan

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Amir I'm surprised you still want to hear recommendations :)

You could try a Neoteck dac (there is a variant that purportedly decodes audio up to 192Khz), though I saw you already planned to test prozor's cheap dac. The thing with Neoteck is that its amplifier seems to have some pretty decent specs and an audio engineer who reviewed it said that it used some pretty high quality components (from texas instruments I believe). I could double check.

Given that their amp seems pretty decent (though it strangely lacks a gain switch), I have more confidence in the quality of their dac than Prozor's dac or linkfor's dac. Definitely wouldn't recommend Linkfor. They copy-pasted neoteck's headphone amplifier description to be used with their own amp, and when I ordered said amp all I got was lithium batteries (though shipping fulfillment was by amazon so wasn't necessarily Linkfor's fault). Neoteck is also quite good in terms of providing quality customer service, judging by amazon reviews and the many comments on amazon indicating they have decently long warranties for their products and will usually replace models reported to be defective.

I'd have to double check but I can't recall Neoteck providing SNR or THD +N measurements for its dacs, which is discouraging/disappointing.
 
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Veri

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Interesting, D20, another Loxjie product...this time also sold by the Sabaj store. You are quick, google has not even found it yet.
Yeah the store mailed me about the item :D for once I'm not annoyed by 'spam'.
 

Veri

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At that price point, they are talking about twin-chipped AK4497 DAC's over in Taobao though.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...c6oPmN&id=564639502276&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail

Or if you prefer a portable DAC amp for about half the price:

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...c6oPmN&id=561362493221&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail

OK but do we have any real idea about who is behind the manufacturing of products such as these? I know there's many interesting boards out there like these, but personally don't have a lot of trust in the assembly or the weird no-name capacitors used at times.
 

maxxevv

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Its the same question with Loxjie products right ?

In any case, YinLuMei are an OEM factory that branched into their own make and brand not to long ago as far as I know. As for the other one, I'm not sure if the board is a custom one. My ES9038Pro DAC from them was a unique custom board that I have not found on any other generically boxed ES9038PRO DAC yet. But their stuff seems well received from the buyer feedback. (Pinch of salt of course as its never completely transparent on such stuff. )
 

Veri

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Its the same question with Loxjie products right ?

Yep, ofcourse. The case looks much less diy and much more commercial though imo. plus they are an umbrella under SMSL (for what it's worth).
 

HeadphoneFan

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What about Creative's X G6? The specs on Creative's website say its dac has a dynamic range of 130 db, and a THD+N of 0.0002%. It also has a built-in headphone amplifier that can apparently drive anything from 16 ohm earbuds to 600 ohm over ear headphones, though Creative doesn't seem to list any specs for its amp. They do say that the amp uses "Xamp technology," which apparently means it amplifies audio channels individually/separately as opposed to amplifying both simultaneously. Not sure how I feel about that, I feel like that could degrade sound quality. Creative's x G5 doesn't use the Xamp tech and its dac seems to be only slightly worse than that of the X G6.

Clearly it's intended primarily for gamers. but perhaps it is a good choice for audiophiles as well. (Creative certainly thinks it is) You could try the x G5 or e5 instead if you wished.

What's that you say? You're broke and cannot currently afford any of the products I suggested? Just tell Creative to lend you one, asserting that if it's as good as Creative's specs say it is you'll drool all over it and give it a glowing review, which Creative can later reference in an attempt to win over the world's many audio-obsessed, science-loving rational skeptics.
 
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DrFlimFlam

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So you don't need it to be tiny like DF and Sabaj are?
Not at all, it just happened that I saw everywhere that those were the "best" in their price range, but I wouldn't mind at all another big brick totally non-portable dac if it sounds better for the price.
 
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amirm

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Not at all, it just happened that I saw everywhere that those were the "best" in their price range, but I wouldn't mind at all another big brick totally non-portable dac if it sounds better for the price.
Then pick up a Topping DX3 Pro. People have been buying it from asia for $180 or so but should be in Amazon US soon too assuming you are in states. It has proper line out for your speakers, nice display, very good performance, lots of power to drive headphones, etc.
 

DrFlimFlam

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Then pick up a Topping DX3 Pro. People have been buying it from asia for $180 or so but should be in Amazon US soon too assuming you are in states. It has proper line out for your speakers, nice display, very good performance, lots of power to drive headphones, etc.
Thanks!

Id take a look at the reviews, It's even being sold on my local amazon at the same price it have on aliexpress, so could be a winner.
 

helloworld

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well loxjie d20 is actually smsl’product which means trustful while this guy’s product, I bet he only uses oscilloscope to do the measurements.
At that price point, they are talking about twin-chipped AK4497 DAC's over in Taobao though.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...c6oPmN&id=564639502276&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail

Or if you prefer a portable DAC amp for about half the price:

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...c6oPmN&id=561362493221&ns=1&abbucket=7#detail
 

GGroch

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I think this is the first "cheap" product I've seen that uses an AKM4497 Pro chip for its DAC :D
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KMPKTDV/

There suddenly appeared a 15% coupon code for these so $225 - W8PRGS7S - They are apparently Sabaj/SMSL products though the remote is not the standard remote of the brands. The board looks a lot like the Sabaj D4 board, except they add Bluetooth to everything.
 

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pos

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Thanks for the detailed write-up. :) You did such a nice job there that you enticed me to order it. :) I got it from Amazon which turned out to be more expensive since they charged sales tax! Total was $114 so I hope it does a lot better than SMSL IDEA (which is $85 including prime shipping).

It is also on slow train from China claiming delivery well into August....
It is on massdrop right now: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/audirect-beam-portable-dac-amp#overview
Did you get a chance to measure it?
 
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amirm

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KR8NUX

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I feel we are lacking a bit on the SMSL products, given how frequently they appear on massdrop and also readily available elsewhere. Can we see a few like the M3, M6 etc ?
 
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