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Dedicated DAC recommendation (up to 300 USD/EUR) to replace Dragonfly Black dongle

But due to developments in the last 10 years, in the audio sector, an expensive/overpriced product is often replaced with a better one that is also cheaper, especially with DACs.
This also works very well with amplifiers such as the PA5 II or Sabaj A30a, even if the other amplifiers are 5-10 times more expensive.
However, companies such as Cambridge and NAD managed to do this in the 90s, and some of these devices are still competitive today.

So this seems to be a problem that only exists in people's heads.

I replaced 2 audio devices this year, one costing several thousand euros with one costing less than 500 euros, and one costing 2000 euros with one costing 260 euros.
And I'm very happy with that, it wasn't downsizing and it doesn't feel like that to me either. ;)
This is indeed what I was pointing out, what more satisfying than knowing to own fully competent and transparent gear at incredibly cheap cost? When features set is enough for one's needing, going up in price is a non-sense for me.
 
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What is your experience with it please? I do like Schiit, but 400+ EUR is a lot compared with 80 or 230 EUR.
Honestly, as a non-us buyer, I'll stay away from Shiit, too much increased costs and too much hassle in case you have issues. I proved it myself with a Magni 3+ , had to do efforts to get it refunded and i was lucky to have shipping cost covered by Paypal, that time it went ok but it could easily turn out in a loss of money, so never more.
 
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This is indeed what I was pointing out, what more satisfying than knowing to own fully competent and transparent gear at incredibly cheap cost? When featires set is enough for one's needing, going up in price is a non-sense for me.
Sorry, then I misunderstood and interpreted it the other way around.
 
Now I'm going to be even meaner to you, the SU-1 is the cheapest device in the Sinad list with these measured values.
So you can spend more money on a device with a better Sinad, which is really not audible, or take one from the lower part of the list. ;)

But what you say applies to many areas today, e.g. food, especially for vegan and processed organic food, medicines, computers, flashlights, 3D printers, clothing, etc. Recently there was a report where clothing for discount chains was sewn by the same employees as luxury clothing from well-known and very expensive brands, one after the other.
I have long been wearing only the better €10 T-shirts and €15 polo shirts from Decathlon, because the branded items that cost 5-10 times as much are often not as well made and, above all, do not last as long. The same applies to the hiking boots that I wear as everyday and work shoes. I used to spend a lot of money on expensive and high-quality branded goods, but the quality has deteriorated so much that it is no longer worth it and the quality is often worse or only slightly better.

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This list is exactly why I need advice; it's overwhelming ;-)
I do like the idea of "dipping my toes in the water" with the SMSL SU-1 at that attractive price.

I'm 100% with you on clothes. Me, I buy my T-shirts/polos/trousers from Marks & Spencer when I'm in England. Much better price/quality ratio than 'name brands'
 
I can be used as a USB DAC, but its primary function is a BT receiver with analog and digital outputs. Don't see the point in arguing here.

A similar device is the Fiio BR13, which does have coaxial and optical inputs. Not SOTA D-A conversion quality, though.
Yeah I just do not get why they made a product who's primary use is as a Bluetooth receiver but it can be a USB DAC. What use are the optical and coax outputs? Surely most people would prefer them to be inputs? It makes very little sense to me.
 
Thank you; good to know

Thank you very much. Here in Belgium it's 429 EUR which is a bit more expensive (but it includes the import duty and taxes so I mustn't grumble.)
The Modi Multi Bit is the one around 400 EUR that I already had my eye on.
But... it doesn't make it onto the ASR recommended list, the 2018 review here is negative and it's at the top of my bduget range :-(
What is your experience with it please? I do like Schiit, but 400+ EUR is a lot compared with 80 or 230 EUR.
If a scientist passes a ABX test between a 90 sinad dac and a 130 sinad dac, I'll eat my hat and shirt. But, if he convinced you that a sinad measurement is all there is to the quality of sound you hear, feel free to get some Topping. You may end up with a good sinad and terrible sound or you may not, doesn't matter either way in the grand scheme of things.
 
If a scientist passes a ABX test between a 90 sinad dac and a 130 sinad dac, I'll eat my hat and shirt. But, if he convinced you that a sinad measurement is all there is to the quality of sound you hear, feel free to get some Topping. You may end up with a good sinad and terrible sound or you may not, doesn't matter either way in the grand scheme of things.
So critical listening is the only way forwards? That seems a good point of view, albeit not so popular on ASR.
Do you have any preferred DAC yourself? In the grand scheme of things?
 
So critical listening is the only way forwards? That seems a good point of view, albeit not so popular on ASR.
Do you have any preferred DAC yourself? In the grand scheme of things?
Don't listen to peoples recommendation based solely on the sound quality. They all sound the same.

 
Don't listen to peoples recommendation based solely on the sound quality. They all sound the same.

Thank you Svend!
I assume that your comment is tongue in cheek :)
Linking to a 528 page thread about DAC sound is very helpful: it suggests to me that not everyone agrees with each other here in DACland, and that it's not all rainbows and unicorns after all!
I *will* try to digest the thread. Perhaps not all 528 pages but I'll try to get a flavour of it.

My original question had two aspects:
i. a specific feature set that I want/need
ii. named DACs with that feature set that are 'better' than what I have now. By this I mean sound better.

My (naive?) POV:
I like the idea of objective measurements. I also like the idea that it has to sound good (critical listening).
And (perhaps this is a heretical viewpoint, in which case I probably deserve to be burned at the stake in DACland's town square:), I don't see that the two need be mutually exclusive. Certainly not to a "crusade versus jihad" level (I'm still thinking "Wow...528 pages...").

May I ask what DAC you use yourself, please?
 
No it wasn't. I meant it literally. And the reason the thread is that many pages, is because posts gets moved into that thread whenever we have doubters. They all get shot down quickly though.
Thank you for the clarification. Quite the devotion to objective measurement only, then? That helps me to understand the forum better.
Although multichannel_guy seems to have a 180 degrees different POV

If everything sounds the same, I find it simply amazing that there is so much choice in this sector.
Each manufacturer has a range and sometimes their more expensive offerings are x10 the price of their entry level ones.
A price difference entirely *unjustified* by feature set only.
I dunno; I would have expected a kind of "thinning out of the herd" by now?
What DAC do you use yourself?

Unrelated question: should I also stop rubbing my interconnect cables with snake oil on a daily basis?
:)
 
What DAC do you use yourself?
I don't think it is interesting what I use since your use case will be different, but since you ask: I have a Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 and a Denon AVR4800 where I use their internal DACs.
I have a pair of Dan Clark Ether I use connected directly to my laptop. It is really all I need. I have a DAC for my in-ears which I think I bought just because it was needed for plugging them to my phone.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pace-portable-headphone-adapter-review.46231/
 
I don't think it is interesting what I use since your use case will be different, but since you ask: I have a Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 and a Denon AVR4800 where I use their internal DACs.
I have a pair of Dan Clark Ether I use connected directly to my laptop. It is really all I need. I have a DAC for my in-ears which I think I bought just because it was needed for plugging them to my phone.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pace-portable-headphone-adapter-review.46231/
Thank you very much. I'm learning as I go along; all input is welcome!
 
How about this one?

There is also the bigger brother B200 with a fancier display but blurred bluetooth reproduction :p

Schermata a 2024-12-29 15-17-25.png
 
If everything sounds the same, I find it simply amazing that there is so much choice in this sector.
Each manufacturer has a range and sometimes their more expensive offerings are x10 the price of their entry level ones.
A price difference entirely *unjustified* by feature set only.
Marketing. As in every other sector, they are companies trying to earn money from selling products. ASR doesn't represent the entire marlet, and there will always be someone willing to spend much more money for whatever reason, being it the illusion of getting better sound, the desire of buying better built\better aesthetics or simply self appeasement thinking that spending less makes one a lower grade audiophile than others.

Unrelated question: should I also stop rubbing my interconnect cables with snake oil on a daily basis?
:)
I'd suggest swapping snake oil with bitumen, much better isolation :cool:
 
Marketing. As in every other sector, they are companies trying to earn money from selling products. ASR doesn't represent the entire marlet, and there will always be someone willing to spend much more money for whatever reason, being it the illusion of getting better sound, the desire of buying better built\better aesthetics or simply self appeasement thinking that spending less makes one a lower grade audiophile than others.


I'd suggest swapping snake oil with bitumen, much better isolation :cool:
Thank you. I'm really learning a lot here.

And yet. And yet...!
Part of me still wants to believe that there is a magic price:quality point or sweet spot that is 'just right' for me.
I know the two are in no way comparable, but imagine we are talking about wine and not DACs for a moment.
I might say: "I find some 5 EUR wines are a bit rough, 15 EUR wines are pretty nice. But I can't taste the difference between a 50 EUR wine and a 500 EUR wine".
So in that case, and for me alone, my 'sweet spot' would be somewhere between 15 and 50 EUR.

The weakness with this analogy is that, in the DAC world, or at least on this forum, most people are saying that all the wine tastes exactly the same.
I am honestly having a hard time getting my head around that concept.

I very much like your analysis of the spurious reasons that people spend more; very nice. Thanks a lot!
 
Next up: all amplifiers sound the same. In fact, don't spend time on electronics. Speakers and room/eq is where the money is at

 
Yeah I just do not get why they made a product who's primary use is as a Bluetooth receiver but it can be a USB DAC.
Perhaps it's because the BT receiver chip (something like the QCC5125) offers a USB interface, so why not?
What use are the optical and coax outputs?
To output the audio received over BT digitally. That's the main function of this device.
 
So critical listening is the only way forwards? That seems a good point of view, albeit not so popular on ASR.
Do you have any preferred DAC yourself? In the grand scheme of things?
I prefer the sound of a modi multibit and schiit Bifrost in nos mode.
I had a more expensive Topping because it got the golfing panther for sinad. It was shrill and fatiguing, sold it.

I am convinced that the sinad measurements serve as placebo for these golfing panther chart watchers. Everytime, it sounds like ass, they run over to the graph and look at the sinad, the placebo dose kicks in and their lives become ok until it's time for the next placebo hit.
 
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