Cheap but good balanced DAC ?

[DanielT]

Not the cheapest at €219, but I think the SMSL DO100 PRO Balanced DAC is a good value DAC. It has these inputs:

SMSL DO100 PRO Balanced DAC

The SMSL DO100 PRO balanced DAC features two ES9039Q2M DAC chips, an XMOS XU316 USB interface and support 32bit 768kHz PCM, DSD512 and MQA/MQA-CD streams.

www.audiophonics.fr

I bought such a SMSL DAC used last spring. It has worked flawlessly. At first mostly with its LDAC Bluetooth receiver and Spotify. Later this summer with the WiiM Mini, its digital out to the DO100 PRO. It works well too.I have tested both RCA and XLR out. Works as it should.

 

[Roland68]

I don't really insist on balanced input, in fact an unbalanced DAC would save me a lot of money. But I keep reading that there's issues with noise when using unbalanced input. I don't have a lot of things on my desk but I have a lot of cables nearby (like maybe 6-7 cables including power supply for things like TV, console and HDMI, Ethernet etc). Idk I that would create interference.

I'm not sure which speakers to get, I'm looking for that too. If I buy the ZD3 that leaves me with 400€ for the pair of speakers. I could buy Kali LP6-V2 for example or the JBL 305P/306P MKII or Pioneer DJ VM-50 and things like that.

If you have the space, you could also go a completely different route, for example, with a used AVR for €100-150 with full HDMI connectivity to the TV and large passive floorstanding speakers.
Bass, volume, and power handling are significantly superior to any of the active speakers mentioned.

 

[Nytrex]

If you have the space, you could also go a completely different route, for example, with a used AVR for €100-150 with full HDMI connectivity to the TV and large passive floorstanding speakers.
Bass, volume, and power handling are significantly superior to any of the active speakers mentioned.

It could work but floor standing speakers are expensive and there's almost nothing interesting on the used market near me. I don't really have the space either and I don't listen at high volume so the increase volume from studio monitors to floor standing are useless. More bass is nice but I don't live alone so I don't want to shake the whole house and I'd rather have a speaker with good mid/high end and add a subwoofer instead of a floor standing that often have a wider spectrum but are less accurate.
I did look at passive setup and I'm not ruling it out but I believe that I would get better sound and bass from active setup. For passive setup I've seen O-Noorus D3 Pro with Polk ES20. There were also the RP-500M II that were in my price range a few weeks ago but they've gone up 200€, maybe they are discontinued and stocks are running out?

 

[Nytrex]

Not the cheapest at €219, but I think the SMSL DO100 PRO Balanced DAC is a good value DAC. It has these inputs:
View attachment 484802
View attachment 484805

SMSL DO100 PRO Balanced DAC

The SMSL DO100 PRO balanced DAC features two ES9039Q2M DAC chips, an XMOS XU316 USB interface and support 32bit 768kHz PCM, DSD512 and MQA/MQA-CD streams.

www.audiophonics.fr

I bought such a SMSL DAC used last spring. It has worked flawlessly. At first mostly with its LDAC Bluetooth receiver and Spotify. Later this summer with the WiiM Mini, its digital out to the DO100 PRO. It works well too.I have tested both RCA and XLR out. Works as it should.
View attachment 484800

I've seen it and it seems to be good but I don't see what would justify putting 30€ for the same things as the Fosi ZD3 which is well regarded and has been measured here.

 

[DanielT]

I've seen it and it seems to be good but I don't see what would justify putting 30€ for the same things as the Fosi ZD3 which is well regarded and has been measured here.

It is more or less the same performance and functions on them but SMSL DO100 PRO has LDAC Codec which Fosi Audio ZD3 does not have. That was appealing to me. If you do not use Bluetooth or need LDAC Codec then Fosi Audio ZD3 is probably a superb choice. It is physically smaller than DO100 PRO. That is, in my eyes, also a (small) advantage.

Have you investigated whether it is reliable and does not have any problems. You can read about that in the thread about it. Maybe ask a question to users of it:

Fosi Audio ZD3 Balanced DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio ZD3 balanced stereo DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $179.99. The ZD3 manages at the same time to look elegant/modern and cute! The choice of round display is smart as is displaying the level the largest in the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Nytrex]

It is more or less the same performance and functions on them but SMSL DO100 PRO has LDAC Codec which Fosi Audio ZD3 does not have. That was appealing to me. If you do not use Bluetooth or need LDAC Codec then Fosi Audio ZD3 is probably a superb choice. It is physically smaller than DO100 PRO. That is, in my eyes, also a (small) advantage.

Have you investigated whether it is reliable and does not have any problems. You can read about that in the thread about it. Maybe ask a question to users of it:

Fosi Audio ZD3 Balanced DAC Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio ZD3 balanced stereo DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $179.99. The ZD3 manages at the same time to look elegant/modern and cute! The choice of round display is smart as is displaying the level the largest in the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

LDAC is not very important, I might use Bluetooth sometimes but it's just to put music while working. I won't be focused enough on the music to hear a difference.
I've looked at the thread a bit, it seems fine. I have seen that @staticV3 is present a lot on this forum so I think that if he recommended it to me it's good.