Hi!
So, I have a 2018 LG Smart TV and love it but was unhappy to find that it didn't have analog audio out (RCA) so I could directly connect it to my stereo receiver (straight stereo, Rotel RX-1050 with floor standing Infinity tower speakers). I miss having my TV show audio (source: cable) go to my stereo and I recently started streaming FLACs and mp3s over wifi from my computer (w/ Media Monkey) direct to the TV (bye bye PS3!) and want this audio redirected to my stereo as well.
I've been putting this off but have had the following DAC in mind for a while (I think because Fry's carries it but never had it in stock):
Kanex Pro Digital to Analog Audio Converter
which is about $35 online.
In the last few days, I've got closer to actually buying and started to shop around. So, now I see that there are DACS for as cheap as ~$10 and going up to $100 (about my upper spending limit and surely as much DAC as I could possibly need for this purpose (right?)) and much higher. I don't really need to future proof much here, I just need to convert the TOSLINK (set to PCM output) digital audio out to analog / RCA.
I am not a super picky audiophile but I do appreciate the best quality I can reasonably get in a particular situation. How much should I spend to get good results?
I won't bother listing any of the $10 DACs I saw (I'll be really surprised if anyone advises me to buy one), but some of the others I've looked at in the last couple of days are:
SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC Ak4490 USB/Optical Fiber/Coaxial to Analog Audio Decoder (Blue) ~$94
Pro-Ject DAC Box E Digital to Analog Converter (Black) ~$70
Dilvpoetry SMSL M100 AK4452 Analog Digital Converters DSD512 32Bit/768kHz USB/Coaxial/Optical/OTG HiFi DAC Decoder(Black) ~$100
I noticed the Dilvpoetry and the Sanskrit have multiple input types.... USB, that means I can do direct from my computer with a cable to this box and to the stereo? I take it I would get better SQ than streaming over my (5 GHz) wifi? I'm curious why the price difference between the Sanskrit and the Dilvpoetry is only around $6 dollars. Are the purposes that different, what am I missing? Maybe the Dilvpoetry 'has more power' or something, i.e. I wouldn't notice having to turn the stereo up an inordinate amount when going through that DAC as compared to a cheap/er one?
Looks like the Pro-ject is the only one with Bluetooth input.. I don't care much about future proofing, but now proofing would be good (stream to my stereo from my phone as a bonus? Cool!)
In the end my first concern is sound quality. Any input stuff is secondary.
All answers appreciated and if something I said didn't make sense let me know and I'll try to clarify.
Thanks so much,
Chris
So, I have a 2018 LG Smart TV and love it but was unhappy to find that it didn't have analog audio out (RCA) so I could directly connect it to my stereo receiver (straight stereo, Rotel RX-1050 with floor standing Infinity tower speakers). I miss having my TV show audio (source: cable) go to my stereo and I recently started streaming FLACs and mp3s over wifi from my computer (w/ Media Monkey) direct to the TV (bye bye PS3!) and want this audio redirected to my stereo as well.
I've been putting this off but have had the following DAC in mind for a while (I think because Fry's carries it but never had it in stock):
Kanex Pro Digital to Analog Audio Converter
which is about $35 online.
In the last few days, I've got closer to actually buying and started to shop around. So, now I see that there are DACS for as cheap as ~$10 and going up to $100 (about my upper spending limit and surely as much DAC as I could possibly need for this purpose (right?)) and much higher. I don't really need to future proof much here, I just need to convert the TOSLINK (set to PCM output) digital audio out to analog / RCA.
I am not a super picky audiophile but I do appreciate the best quality I can reasonably get in a particular situation. How much should I spend to get good results?
I won't bother listing any of the $10 DACs I saw (I'll be really surprised if anyone advises me to buy one), but some of the others I've looked at in the last couple of days are:
SMSL Sanskrit 10th DAC Ak4490 USB/Optical Fiber/Coaxial to Analog Audio Decoder (Blue) ~$94
Pro-Ject DAC Box E Digital to Analog Converter (Black) ~$70
Dilvpoetry SMSL M100 AK4452 Analog Digital Converters DSD512 32Bit/768kHz USB/Coaxial/Optical/OTG HiFi DAC Decoder(Black) ~$100
I noticed the Dilvpoetry and the Sanskrit have multiple input types.... USB, that means I can do direct from my computer with a cable to this box and to the stereo? I take it I would get better SQ than streaming over my (5 GHz) wifi? I'm curious why the price difference between the Sanskrit and the Dilvpoetry is only around $6 dollars. Are the purposes that different, what am I missing? Maybe the Dilvpoetry 'has more power' or something, i.e. I wouldn't notice having to turn the stereo up an inordinate amount when going through that DAC as compared to a cheap/er one?
Looks like the Pro-ject is the only one with Bluetooth input.. I don't care much about future proofing, but now proofing would be good (stream to my stereo from my phone as a bonus? Cool!)
In the end my first concern is sound quality. Any input stuff is secondary.
All answers appreciated and if something I said didn't make sense let me know and I'll try to clarify.
Thanks so much,
Chris