Looking for Balanced USB Dac with XLR Out and a volume KNOB on the front.

[Chet_Jettison]

I specifically want a knob, not buttons.
I want something to upgrade from my Scarlett 2i2, to send signal from my PC to my monitor speakers.
Bring on the recommendations!

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

RME ADI-2 DAC FS

 

[Chet_Jettison]

RME ADI-2 DAC FS

Looks Cool! I might be convinced to spring for something like that, but my ideal budget peaks out at around $500.

 

[Somafunk]

Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M, I owned the previous DacMagic Plus and it was an excellent dac for the money, recently upgraded to the Cambridge Audio CXN V2 to gain streaming duties and remote control.

Review of Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M here

I sold my DacMagic Plus recently for £150 with 2m xlr balanced Neutrik/vandamme cables, audioquest cinnamon usb and the BT100 Bluetooth dongle for £150 so you may find a bargain on eBay or forums such as this

 

[curiouspeter]

I have an iFi NEO iDSD. It has XLR outs and a volume knob on the front. I believe it is connected to an analog resistor ladder volume control, which is the type you want.

My Gustard X16 has a rotary disc on the front for volume control which is permanently set to 0 db. I am sure the digital volume control is decent enough but I use a combination of analog attenuation (on my integrated amp, also resistor ladder) and Roon digital volume headroom/leveling (64-bit floating point).

If I have to adjust the volume constantly I would prefer the knob on my NEO.

For <$500 you should look into the new Cambridge DacMagic 200M. It has XLR outs and a volume knob.

 

[RickSanchez]

Sabaj D5. For <$500 you get a high-performing DAC, XLR outs, volume knob, remote, and a very competent headphone amp.

 

[Linus]

If you don’t mind used, Benchmark Dac 1. New, a bit over 500, SPL Marc One.
But honestly, why do you wanna change? You already own a quit good DAC.

 

[JeffGB]

A little under budget, but I would highly recommend the MOTU M4. It has excellent conversion, separate volume controls for main and headphones, great recording capability. The volume control is digital, using the ESS 32 bit scheme. I have one, which I just hooked up for my wife to use at her computer, and, I must say, I'm tempted to buy a 2nd MOTU M4. It's not quite as good as the RME, but the price is a fraction. If the headphone amp isn't powerful enough for you, the single ended outputs can be connected to a different headphone amp. I'll stop now. I'm not actually selling these things, regardless of how that came off .

 

[Jimbob54]

Smsl m500.

 

[ba7777]

topping d30pro

 

[Chet_Jettison]

If you don’t mind used, Benchmark Dac 1. New, a bit over 500, SPL Marc One.
But honestly, why do you wanna change? You already own a quit good DAC.

I was looking for something a little more HiFi. From reviews on this site, I saw that the 2i2 was OK, but not among the highest ranked dacs. If I recall, the 2i2 was among the green cluster, in the chart, but there were others in the blue cluster that outperformed it by a hair. You have a point though. Maybe I’m just on a wild goose chase.

 

[Chet_Jettison]

A little under budget, but I would highly recommend the MOTU M4. It has excellent conversion, separate volume controls for main and headphones, great recording capability. The volume control is digital, using the ESS 32 bit scheme. I have one, which I just hooked up for my wife to use at her computer, and, I must say, I'm tempted to buy a 2nd MOTU M4. It's not quite as good as the RME, but the price is a fraction. If the headphone amp isn't powerful enough for you, the single ended outputs can be connected to a different headphone amp. I'll stop now. I'm not actually selling these things, regardless of how that came off .

I used to have a MOTU FireWire interface. That thing was a tank. It was so old it still said “Mark of the Unicorn” on it.

 

[Jimbob54]

I was looking for something a little more HiFi. From reviews on this site, I saw that the 2i2 was OK, but not among the highest ranked dacs. If I recall, the 2i2 was among the green cluster, in the chart, but there were others in the blue cluster that outperformed it by a hair. You have a point though. Maybe I’m just on a wild goose chase.

I think you need to define "more hi-fi" in this context. We could recommend loads of very nice, decent DACs but you have given us no budget or functional criteria barring volume knob and XLR output.

EDIT- you have given us budget in the thread.Bothered about size/ shape/ colour / display?

 

[Chet_Jettison]

I think you need to define "more hi-fi" in this context. We could recommend loads of very nice, decent DACs but you have given us no budget or functional criteria barring volume knob and XLR output.

EDIT- you have given us budget in the thread.Bothered about size/ shape/ colour / display?

I have no particular preference as far as those variables go. Budget and sound quality are my main concerns. If I had to choose, I’d say it should be mostly black, and have as few lights/displays as possible, and be on the smaller side.

 

[curiouspeter]

I have no particular preference as far as those variables go. Budget and sound quality are my main concerns. If I had to choose, I’d say it should be mostly black, and have as few lights/displays as possible, and be on the smaller side.

By X16 is black. With the display set to auto-off it barely shows anything. It is quite small too, less than 9 inches wide and less than 3 inches tall. Measures very well. Sounds very good too. I listen to a lot of solo piano and other string instruments.

 

[Kuppenbender]

Soncoz SGD1 seems to fit your criteria, though it’s not that small.

 

[Chet_Jettison]

Soncoz SGD1 seems to fit your criteria, though it’s not that small.

This one does seem pretty solid. Now, I know what I said about the volume knob, but I’ve just had an idea and I wonder if it would work. The Soncoz LA-QXD1 ranks pretty highly among the dacs reviewed on this site. It’s small and black. I wonder if I could just set the unit volume to a good level, then control PC system volume using a USB volume knob.

 

[Jinjuku]

I have the SMSL SU-9 it ticks all your boxes. Also I think it has the higher end ESS chip than the Gustard X16

 

[curiouspeter]

This one does seem pretty solid. Now, I know what I said about the volume knob, but I’ve just had an idea and I wonder if it would work. The Soncoz LA-QXD1 ranks pretty highly among the dacs reviewed on this site. It’s small and black. I wonder if I could just set the unit volume to a good level, then control PC system volume using a USB volume knob.

I would not use the PC volume unless I have verified that USB is properly controlling the DAC digital volume or the preamp analog volume and NOT the Windows mixer volume or the XMOS volume.

 

[Chet_Jettison]

I would not use the PC volume unless I have verified that USB is properly controlling the DAC digital volume or the preamp analog volume and NOT the Windows mixer volume or the XMOS volume.

How would one make such a confirmation? And what exactly would be wrong with using the default windows system volume?