DAC Recommendations?

[Emilime75]

Looking for something relatively specific if anyone can help me finding this... Maybe it doesn't exist.
1. Budget - Up to $120. I realize I may need to go used here, and I am OK with that.
2. Performance - Sinad of 115 or higher.
3. Features - Must have volume knob on front. Anything additional is a bonus.
4. Input Connectivity - Must have USB input with C being preferred. Anything additional is a bonus.
5. Output Connectivity - Any chance I could find the above with balanced line level outputs? Anything additional is a bonus.

 

[JamesYeomans]

Perhaps this one second hand? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-d-6s-balanced-dac-review.48813/
Not sure you'll find cheaper with the features you're after.

 

[RosalieTheDog]

SMSL M300 SE?​

SMSL M300 SE DAC Amplificateur Casque 2x CS43131 XMOS Double Horloge NDK Bluetooth 5.0 32bit 768kHz DSD256 MQA - Audiophonics

Le M300 SE de SMSL est un DAC performant et compact au format atypique. Intégrant des composants de haute qualité, il est l'allié parfait pour offrir à votre système audio HiFi un convertisseur numérique / analogique de grande qualité.

www.audiophonics.fr

 

[JeremyFife]

Physical volume control and balanced output is challenging. Any reason for the arbitrary requirement for 115 dB SINAD? Anything better than ~90 is inaudible so you can relax that a bit? 110 would be very safe, as would anything better than 100.

Single ended only

SMSL D12 DAC & Headphone Amp Review

This is a review, listening test and detailed measurements of the SMSL D12 stereo USB DAC with Bluetooth support. It was sent to me by the company and is selling for US $126. The D12 deviates from typical SMSL DAC by using a 7 segment display. It is white and get hyper bright (there are many...

audiosciencereview.com

A bit over budget

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...

audiosciencereview.com

Check out the Review Index here, lots of near-options

 

[Timcognito]

Topping E30 II Lite DAC review and measurements

Here is a review and measurements of the recent Topping E30 II Lite DAC Here you see it on top of the gorgeous Topping A70 Pro, to give an idea of its size. Yes, it's a very small DAC. I purchased it new from Audiophonics for around 100€. This is one of the cheapest DACs with SPDIF inputs...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Chippyboy]

Hope you don't mind me piggy-backing this thread but I was about to start a near-identical one since my existing DAC that I use with my computer setup has just died.

A replacement must have XLR balanced outputs and a volume knob. These are my only two requirements. Although I have no specific budget, I'd like it to be as cheap as possible whilst being "decent".

What's your thoughts?

Edit: scrub that - just saw the Fosi Audio ZD3 review and it looks perfect for what I need.

Thanks

 

[antcollinet]

Looking for something relatively specific if anyone can help me finding this... Maybe it doesn't exist.

Looks like you have your answer....

Edit: scrub that - just saw the Fosi Audio ZD3 review and it looks perfect for what I need.

Slightlly above budget but you are not going to get your spec new for $120

 

[Emilime75]

Physical volume control and balanced output is challenging. Any reason for the arbitrary requirement for 115 dB SINAD? Anything better than ~90 is inaudible so you can relax that a bit? 110 would be very safe, as would anything better than 100.

Single ended only

SMSL D12 DAC & Headphone Amp Review

This is a review, listening test and detailed measurements of the SMSL D12 stereo USB DAC with Bluetooth support. It was sent to me by the company and is selling for US $126. The D12 deviates from typical SMSL DAC by using a 7 segment display. It is white and get hyper bright (there are many...

audiosciencereview.com

A bit over budget

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...

audiosciencereview.com

Check out the Review Index here, lots of near-options

Yes, the 115dB SINAD requirement was quite arbitrary, just didn't know how else to put a "sound quality" requirement on it. Primarily looking for something with inaudible levels of distortion and noise and flat 20-20kHz.

The SMSL M300SE was looking like a winner for a minute, but I must say I am liking the extra features of the Fosi ZD3. I'd obviously have to up my budget, but the HDMI and 12v triggers could really come in handy.

 

[Charles E Flynn]

Yes, the 115dB SINAD requirement was quite arbitrary, just didn't know how else to put a "sound quality" requirement on it. Primarily looking for something with inaudible levels of distortion and noise and flat 20-20kHz.

The SMSL M300SE was looking like a winner for a minute, but I must say I am liking the extra features of the Fosi ZD3. I'd obviously have to up my budget, but the HDMI and 12v triggers could really come in handy.

From Audiophile Snake Oil, by John Siau of Benchmark Media Systems (bold style added):

Walk up to your speakers. Do you hear a hiss, hum, or buzz. Your system should be dead quiet. With the current state of the art, the electronics should not be producing audible noise. If you hear noise, then you need to consider replacing some of your electronics. You are never going to cure this noise problem with a new fuse, or a new power cord. It is unlikely that you will even reduce it with a power conditioner. Instead, you will need to identify the offending component or components and make plans to replace them. Start by replacing components that only support unbalanced (RCA) analog interconnects. Replace any component that cannot deliver at least a 115 dB SNR.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Replace any component that cannot deliver at least a 115 dB SNR.

SNR different to SINAD.

 

[Charles E Flynn]

Google's AI overview:

Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-noise and distortion (SINAD) are both used to measure the performance of a system, but they differ in how they calculate noise:

SNR Calculates noise without including harmonics, so it's sometimes called SNR-without-harmonics. SNR is used to measure communication reliability.

SINAD Calculates noise including harmonics, distortion, and all other noise components. SINAD is used to measure audio quality in situations with low signal-to-noise ratios, like radio communications systems.

SINAD can be calculated using the following formula: \(SINAD=-10\bullet log(10-SNR/10+10THD/10)\)

SINAD is always positive when quoted in decibels (dB), unlike SNR, which can degrade at high input frequencies.

 

[unpluggged]

From Audiophile Snake Oil, by John Siau of Benchmark Media Systems (bold style added):

Walk up to your speakers. Do you hear a hiss, hum, or buzz. Your system should be dead quiet. With the current state of the art, the electronics should not be producing audible noise. If you hear noise, then you need to consider replacing some of your electronics. You are never going to cure this noise problem with a new fuse, or a new power cord. It is unlikely that you will even reduce it with a power conditioner. Instead, you will need to identify the offending component or components and make plans to replace them. Start by replacing components that only support unbalanced (RCA) analog interconnects. Replace any component that cannot deliver at least a 115 dB SNR.

This is debatable. Why would I need to walk up to the speakers if I don't hear their hiss at my LP, even if they do hiss noticeably up close? Any active speaker would have more or less audible hiss at 10 cm distance. My HEDDs annoyed me when I used them on my desk, but now, when I use them for my living room setup, I don't hear them (or don't notice, which is the same in practice) being constantly on from 2−2.5 m distance.

Now, the 115 dB SNR does not say anything about gain structure or transducer sensitivity.

Google's AI overview:

Uh-oh.

SNR-without-harmonics

It looks like this AI is even more creative than ChatGPT.

 

[antcollinet]

Indeed. I wish people would stop trying to use arbitrary Incomprehension generators as research tools.

At least Perplexity.ai as used in another thread references its sources. Neither Chat GPT nor whatever Google is using are that transparent.

 

[Emilime75]

I ended up ordering the ZD3 through Fosi's ebay store. $152.99 plus a 20% coupon code made it $137.31 all in.