This is a review and detailed measurements of the Peavey USB-P balanced DAC. It was kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me for testing. The retail cost us US $79 but it is on Amazon for US $49.75. And for sale currently with a couple for $4.95 bringing the cost to around $45.
The enclosure and connectivity seems surprisingly nice for this price point:
It even has nice stereo/mono which can come in handy at times. Back panel shows the balanced XLR connections which are transformer coupled and hence provide full "galvanic" isolation:
Unit is self-powered with the USB connection and works plug and play with Windows.
There are some 227 reviews on Amazon with average of 4.5 stars. Just about everyone had a ground loop/buzz/hum that they could not get rid of and were ecstatic when the USB-P did the job.
Peavey USB-P Measurements
I was quite surprised by the results of our dashboard measurement:
My expectation is 4 volts output. Even when companies miss this, they don't usually sink so low to just 0.5 volts output. I looked up the spec and the unit is only rated to -9 dBu which translates to even less (0.28 volts). Maybe that is measuring one leg of the balanced output. Regardless, what we have is correct then. You better crank up the gain on your preamplifier to get enough volume out of this DAC.
Regular readers know that this type of distortion & noise as combined in SINAD score ranks poorly in our book:
I measured the signal to noise ratio and despite the low output, the result wasn't half bad:
I don't think we need to keep going.
Conclusions
The very low output level of the USB-P and high distortion (likely due to the transformer output) objectively puts it at the bottom of the barrel for high fidelity use. However, if you have a practical application in the field for example and are plagued by ground loops, this cheap device will do the job for you. After all, the best specs in the world won't save you if there is audible hum and buzz. Then again, balanced output should be very immune to such and spending another $100 will get you an excellent one.
I can't recommend the Peavey USB-P as an objective matter. But per above, for practice uses, it may get you out of a bad situation.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Even though it was just two of us this year, we decided to go ahead and make Thanksgiving Turkey with all the trimmings. As prepared as my wife is for such things, she forgot to buy bread to make stuffing. So she decided to make a quick, 1-hour rolls to then cut up to use for that. I was shocked how nice the rolls came out:
They would melt in your mouth and ware great as is! Hard to imagine it went from flour to this in one hour!!!
Any donations are appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The enclosure and connectivity seems surprisingly nice for this price point:
It even has nice stereo/mono which can come in handy at times. Back panel shows the balanced XLR connections which are transformer coupled and hence provide full "galvanic" isolation:
Unit is self-powered with the USB connection and works plug and play with Windows.
There are some 227 reviews on Amazon with average of 4.5 stars. Just about everyone had a ground loop/buzz/hum that they could not get rid of and were ecstatic when the USB-P did the job.
Peavey USB-P Measurements
I was quite surprised by the results of our dashboard measurement:
My expectation is 4 volts output. Even when companies miss this, they don't usually sink so low to just 0.5 volts output. I looked up the spec and the unit is only rated to -9 dBu which translates to even less (0.28 volts). Maybe that is measuring one leg of the balanced output. Regardless, what we have is correct then. You better crank up the gain on your preamplifier to get enough volume out of this DAC.
Regular readers know that this type of distortion & noise as combined in SINAD score ranks poorly in our book:
I measured the signal to noise ratio and despite the low output, the result wasn't half bad:
I don't think we need to keep going.
Conclusions
The very low output level of the USB-P and high distortion (likely due to the transformer output) objectively puts it at the bottom of the barrel for high fidelity use. However, if you have a practical application in the field for example and are plagued by ground loops, this cheap device will do the job for you. After all, the best specs in the world won't save you if there is audible hum and buzz. Then again, balanced output should be very immune to such and spending another $100 will get you an excellent one.
I can't recommend the Peavey USB-P as an objective matter. But per above, for practice uses, it may get you out of a bad situation.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Even though it was just two of us this year, we decided to go ahead and make Thanksgiving Turkey with all the trimmings. As prepared as my wife is for such things, she forgot to buy bread to make stuffing. So she decided to make a quick, 1-hour rolls to then cut up to use for that. I was shocked how nice the rolls came out:
They would melt in your mouth and ware great as is! Hard to imagine it went from flour to this in one hour!!!
Any donations are appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/