CIRRUS cs4398 VS ESS ES9016K2M SABRE32 Ultra DAC

[John]

Guys im wondering which one is the best dac to power the Philips Fidelio X2, dt 880 250ohm and the hd 598, basically its the SMSL M6 VS creative soundblaster AE-5 (internal sound card).

Cheers

 

[amirm]

Do you already have the Creative card? If not, on the basis of it having to be plugged in, I would go with the alternative SMSL solution. That way you have compatibility forever.

 

[John]

Thats true, the creative card seems the only decent internal soundcard atm apart the asus essence stx II, the external option normally is the best bet. The AE-5 has amazing specs for sure and its about 130 bucks, im just worried if i need to invest 30$ on a usb filter to avoid the noise coming from the coil whine (gpu)

• Audio/DSP processor
: Sound Core3D
• Channels
: 5.1 discrete speaker out
7.1 virtual headphone surround
• Interface
: PCIe
• DAC
: ESS ES9016K2M SABRE32 Ultra DAC
o Max playback resolution
: 32-bit/384kHz*
o DNR
: 122 dB
o THD + N
: 0.00032%
• ADC
: Sound Core3D
o Max recording resolution
: 24-bit/96kHz
• Headphone amp (600 Ω)
: Custom-designed discrete headphone amp (Xamp)
o SNR
: 116 dB
o THD + N
: 0.0009%
o Output impedance
: 1 Ω
o Headphone impedance range
: 16 – 600 Ω
• Connectivity
: 3 x 3.5mm line out (front, rear, center/sub)
1 x TOSLINK optical out
1 x 3.5mm headphone out
1 x 3.5mm microphone/line in
1 x Intel HD audio front panel

 

[amirm]

The numbers seem good. The problem I have had with Creative cards in the past is that the system you plug them into makes a big difference in what the card does.

 

[John]

You mean in terms of software or hardware? im running windows 10 , 8700k and gtx 1080.

 

[amirm]

You mean in terms of software or hardware? im running windows 10 , 8700k and gtx 1080.

The hardware. They sit inside of the computer so the level of interference they get is directly proportional to that system.

 

[John]

Yeah thats kinda bad news for me, im having a huge coil whine from the graphics card, but having an usb alternative like the SMSL m3/m6 or even the fiio e10k could have some hiss sound from the usb itself!?

 

[amirm]

It is possible but much less likely than a device inside the PC. Are you in US and can buy from Amazon and return if you have issues?

 

[John]

EU here, i was thinking of doing that, but i dont really see any "decent" review for the soundblaster AE 5, seems no one "cares" about internal dac/amp.

 

[Jungstar]

I really liked the card, I think it sounded better than Shiit Modi and I had zero hisses from the headphones out, but the speakers out I had lots of hiss and weird noises, but using the optical out I had no issues. It was also almost touching my Vega 64 GPU!
I really liked the headphone amplifier and power!