DAC with physical output selection switch?

[m8o]

I am currently looking for a USB DAC with a physical output selection switch.
The goal is simple: switch between my headphones and speakers without having to manually unplug the headphones.
The Micca OriGen G2 was my best bet until I read the review here.
Are you guys aware of any alternative?

McIntosh MHA-100 or MHA-150.

 

[GGroch]

How does the Micca sound compared to some of your better measuring DACs? Is there an audible difference? The ONLY reason I haven’t bought the Origen G2 is due to the measurements here (which Amir could have just got a bad sample of one). I am looking for the exact same functionality as the OP.

Good Question.

On the one hand.....the G2 measured very poorly compared to other DACs Amir tested. IMHO you might be able to hear a difference between this and a better measuring DAC if you switch between them quickly and listen very closely.

BUT....There are lots of Youtube and Owner reviews (see Amazon) who focus on listening & ease of use rather than measurement...and almost none of them complain about the sound quality. In the Amazon reviews, in a cursory look at all the 3 stars and less reviews I found none of them that complained about sound quality. And, most owners rated the DAC 5 stars.

The negative reviews on Amazon and elsewhere mostly complain about:
- Reliability....some owners said certain functions did not work.
- channel imbalance, some owners noticed one channel being louder than the other (Amir's and Mine do not do that)
- I saw a couple of reviews that complained about audible noise/hum through the USB input but not the Toslink Optical Input. I do not hear this on mine, and Amir's measurements show Toslink and USB with about the same 76dB noise level. My guess is either they got a bad one, or the USB source they were using was unusually noisy. Perhaps using a separate 5V power adapter would have helped.
- The built in headphone amp is not very powerful....which is fine for most headphones...but if you have harder to drive headphones than normal (like Sennheiser HD650 or Beyerdynamic 300+ ohm headphones) then not the best choice if you play loud.

SO...If you have medium quality gear I doubt you will hear any problems. If you have high end gear or difficult to drive phones you probably should choose something else. Or, if like me, you obsess over numbers, choosing something else will make you feel better (so....expectation bias kicks in).

 

[ansx]

I am definitely a victim of expectation bias!
This whole DAC universe is like a pandora box to me: so many options, so many variables, and very little knowledge on my side to figure out what's best.
I don't usually like combo products (dac + amp + headphone amp or speakers + amp) but I also have a limited budget and available space, meaning I have to accept at least one combo.
So far I haven't found the perfect match, good thing I'm not in a hurry.

 

[Sin Hizer]

Good Question.

On the one hand.....the G2 measured very poorly compared to other DACs Amir tested. IMHO you might be able to hear a difference between this and a better measuring DAC if you switch between them quickly and listen very closely.

BUT....There are lots of Youtube and Owner reviews (see Amazon) who focus on listening & ease of use rather than measurement...and almost none of them complain about the sound quality. In the Amazon reviews, in a cursory look at all the 3 stars and less reviews I found none of them that complained about sound quality. And, most owners rated the DAC 5 stars.

The negative reviews on Amazon and elsewhere mostly complain about:
- Reliability....some owners said certain functions did not work.
- channel imbalance, some owners noticed one channel being louder than the other (Amir's and Mine do not do that)
- I saw a couple of reviews that complained about audible noise/hum through the USB input but not the Toslink Optical Input. I do not hear this on mine, and Amir's measurements show Toslink and USB with about the same 76dB noise level. My guess is either they got a bad one, or the USB source they were using was unusually noisy. Perhaps using a separate 5V power adapter would have helped.
- The built in headphone amp is not very powerful....which is fine for most headphones...but if you have harder to drive headphones than normal (like Sennheiser HD650 or Beyerdynamic 300+ ohm headphones) then not the best choice if you play loud.

SO...If you have medium quality gear I doubt you will hear any problems. If you have high end gear or difficult to drive phones you probably should choose something else. Or, if like me, you obsess over numbers, choosing something else will make you feel better (so....expectation bias kicks in).

Thanks for the reply. I would only be using 58X’s at the moment.

 

[ansx]

Let's just say I just found powered speakers that perfectly fit my needs.
What would be the best DAC with an output-selection switch, pre out (fixed volume), 6.5mm headphone plug?
Bonus point for: one 3.5 headphone plug + 6.5mm headphone plug

Both SMSL M6 (new version) and Tempotec iDSD are disqualified because their volume knob affects pre out.
SMSL M9 is disqualified because it's over budget unless I find it at Massdrop price ($140).
SMSL T1 is disqualified because it doesn't physicaly fit in my setup with the aformentioned speakers.

 

[Dana reed]

The dx7s can toggle between fixed DAC out, HP only, and Preamp+HP. If you skip the third setting, you have your fixed output to powered speakers and HP amp. You just double click the volume button to change output modes, and single click it to change inputs.

If you want to spring for more, and also get the 1/8” and 1/4” HP, then the rme DAC has that.

 

[ansx]

Should I have said my max budget for the DAC is $150-200?
Probably.
The DX7s sounds amazing but I won't be needing any of this XLR goodness anytime soon.

About the RME: stop torturing me man... it's not fair.

 

[ansx]

@daftcombo's suggested the Audinst HUD-DX1 which does have a physical output switch but no fixed-volume pre-out.
While checking Audinst's DACs lineup I stumbled upon the Audinst Hud-Mini which has all the features I am looking for, plus optical out.
My only concern is that the model is from 2012 and is still selling at the same price as it did when back when it was launched ($120), although its components are pretty oudated.

Do you guys know about any similar product (outside of the Micca OriGen G2 of course)?

 

[Sin Hizer]

@daftcombo's suggested the Audinst HUD-DX1 which does have a physical output switch but no fixed-volume pre-out.
While checking Audinst's DACs lineup I stumbled upon the Audinst Hud-Mini which has all the features I am looking for, plus optical out.
My only concern is that the model is from 2012 and is still selling at the same price as it did when back when it was launched ($120), although its components are pretty oudated.

Do you guys know about any similar product (outside of the Micca OriGen G2 of course)?

I think between those two I would go with the Micca OriGen G2. It is constantly in and out of stock on Amazon. Not sure about the comparison between the actual DAC components though.

 

[ansx]

I understand what you are saying but at the same time I am having hard time settling for any of these solutions.
They are basically two sub-par solutions to my initial problem. I would rather go for something better if possible.

 

[Sin Hizer]

Unfortunately they are pretty much your only choices. I feel the pain too as that is exactly what I want. I have heard a lot of people say the Micca Origen G2 sounds fine and it ticks all the buttons, except for one person measuring one sample out of what appears to be A LOT of them made since they are always going in and out of stock. I really want something like the DX3 Pro, with that feature, that is made by someone like JDS Labs.

 

[Sin Hizer]

Had an Amazon credit. Bought the Origen G2. Guess I will see if it sounds better than the UMC202HD I am currently using.

 

[raeljon]

@ansx

Whichever DAC/headphone amp you end up choosing, and given your particular requirements, I think that you'd benefit from powered monitors, as opposed to passive speakers. With powered monitors you eliminate the need for your DAC/headphone amp to do extra duty as a speaker amp. This means that all you really need is a DAC/headphone amp with line-level RCA outputs and not a headphone/output switch. The use of powered monitors also means that you can use any DAC/headphone amp with RCA outputs, even if those outputs are controlled by the volume knob (though that would possibly mean that you'd need to unplug your headphones when using the RCA outputs. But that's not the end of the world).

You mentioned that you found a Sony soundbar that you believe will suit your needs. And maybe it will, given all of your considerations. However I would like to make an alternative suggestion: I suggest that you consider a pair of Edifier powered speakers.

Edifier makes a range of powered bookshelf speakers, ranging from under $100 to nearly $1100. Given the price of the Sony soundbar (at $250), I highly - and I do mean HIGHLY - recommend that you consider the Edifier R2000DB speakers. In fact, I feel so strongly about this recommendation that, despite lurking on this site for several months, I created an account solely for the purpose of recommending these speakers to you.

I own three pairs of Edifiers, including the R2000DBs, which I use as my computer speakers in my home office, and I can tell you that they sound outstanding (especially for the price), and that they are very well built. Here is a YouTube review of the (more expensive, at $400/pair) Edifier S2000Pro speakers. I included a link to a review of those speakers, despite them being beyond your current budget, because it is a comprehensive review that will give you a good idea of the care that Edifier puts into building their speakers. (Here is a much more amateurish, less comprehensive review of the R2000DB speakers.)

Of course, these are bookshelf speakers, which means that they will take up more space than the Sony soundbar that you are considering. However the speakers will be off to the side and not right in front of you, on the desk (mine are actually 50" apart and angled slightly in, since they are acting as near-field monitors). But if you have some room off to the side of your monitor (and pushed all the way back on the desk, of course) then powered monitors (and not a crappy soundbar) are something that you should strongly consider.

As to your original question: a output switch shouldn't be necessary when using powered monitors. So look for any DAC/headphone amp that's capable of driving your headphones and that has a pair of RCA outputs.

Good luck!

 

[n2it]

Pick any DAC that outputs to both headphone and line out and get 2 a/b switches, 1 for each output. Put the outputs from A on each switch and nothing from B (i.e set A for on B for off). When listening to headphones, you'd set the headphone a/b switch to A and the line out a/b switch to B. To switch, you'd set the headphone switch to B and the line switch A.

 

[dropbear]

Should I have said my max budget for the DAC is $150-200?
Probably.
The DX7s sounds amazing but I won't be needing any of this XLR goodness anytime soon.

About the RME: stop torturing me man... it's not fair.

And yet you have for some reason disqualified DX3 Pro.

And to your question you asked two centuries ago (I am very sorry, I am not that frequently around here), TP32EX+ is first and foremost speaker AMP (which with budget devices it means compromises elsewhere and expensive devices don't do that at all), then one of the reason I suspected it to be an obsolete device is because there is no mention of it on SMSL web page, it uses CS4392 DAC, which I don't know, but I really need to see only the date in the manual (bottom of the page)
http://elcodis.com/parts/6109661/cs4392.html
and that is more than enough to suspect it is a very old part.

By the way, pre out stands for pre-amplified output, which stands for an adjustable gain of the pre-outs. What you want is a line-out.

 

[Sin Hizer]

So the Origen G2 came in today and it seems to do what it says it will do. I plugged my cheap CA desktop speakers in the rear out and the physical switch does cut off the headphones and immediately plays on the speakers. While it is easier than the three clicks it takes to change to them when they are hooked up to the computer itself I don't see the benefit, since they aren't very good speakers to start with. I think if I had better desktop speakers I would get something with RCA outs. To Micca's credit it did come with a 3.5 to RCA cable, which I wasn't expecting.

I can't really tell a difference between it and the Behringer UMC202HD as far as sound quality though.