Hello everyone. Long time lurker and I have searched and searched for a definitive solution. I'm seeking a DAC with ideally balanced outputs for headphone amp and desktop powered speakers. What's the best quality implementation for this setup for the money respecting diminishing returns?
Right now, my computer goes into my DAC then into my headphone amp. Volume wheel on my keyboard controls volume up and down. Very happy with this and would it to continue with the addition option to be able to switch to speakers when wish and still control volume via keyboard ideally.
My current setup:
Computer via USB to->Drop Grace SDAC Balanced via XLR to->Drop THX AAA 789 headphone amp to -> Sennheiser HD 6XX headphones
I have JBL LSR 305p MkII powered monitors and JBL LSR310s powered sub-woofer that currently not connected.
I have ordered some cables but have not received them yet to try this setup scenario below:
To explain what I will test when the cables arrive I will use the following cables/connections:
I am perhaps overthinking this and posting this too soon since I have not fully tested this setup. Questions I have:
- any issues with this setup according to what I have described what I am trying to achieve?
- is there a better setup you can recommend that would perhaps clean this up or offer better performance?
- I will never need to use both headphones and speakers at the same time. Just one or the other.
From my research I think the ideal setup would be to just purchase a new DAC such as the Okto Reseach dac8 stereo and run that to my headphone amp and powered monitor setup but it does not appear to be in stock ever and is quite expensive. While the Topping and SMSL options seem to offer high performance for the money I am nervous about their reliability. Hopefully I have not bored you as readers with too much information. Just looking for insight from more experienced audio gurus.
Right now, my computer goes into my DAC then into my headphone amp. Volume wheel on my keyboard controls volume up and down. Very happy with this and would it to continue with the addition option to be able to switch to speakers when wish and still control volume via keyboard ideally.
My current setup:
Computer via USB to->Drop Grace SDAC Balanced via XLR to->Drop THX AAA 789 headphone amp to -> Sennheiser HD 6XX headphones
I have JBL LSR 305p MkII powered monitors and JBL LSR310s powered sub-woofer that currently not connected.
I have ordered some cables but have not received them yet to try this setup scenario below:
To explain what I will test when the cables arrive I will use the following cables/connections:
- 2 XLR Patch cables to connect the SDAC-B Balanced output to the 789 amp Balanced input
- A 2m USB cable for connecting the SDAC-B straight to a USB 2.0 port on the rear panel of my PC
- A Male 3.5mm TRS to Male Dual RCA cable for connecting the SDAC-B Unbalanced output to the 789 RCA Input
- A Male Dual RCA to Male Dual RCA cable for connecting the 789 RCA Bypass to my JBL LSR310s sub-woofer
- XLR cables from the JBL LSR310s sub-woofer to the JBL LSR 305p powered monitors
I am perhaps overthinking this and posting this too soon since I have not fully tested this setup. Questions I have:
- any issues with this setup according to what I have described what I am trying to achieve?
- is there a better setup you can recommend that would perhaps clean this up or offer better performance?
- I will never need to use both headphones and speakers at the same time. Just one or the other.
From my research I think the ideal setup would be to just purchase a new DAC such as the Okto Reseach dac8 stereo and run that to my headphone amp and powered monitor setup but it does not appear to be in stock ever and is quite expensive. While the Topping and SMSL options seem to offer high performance for the money I am nervous about their reliability. Hopefully I have not bored you as readers with too much information. Just looking for insight from more experienced audio gurus.
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