Risk of using DAC - headphone amp as PC DAC upgrade ?

[ethernode]

Hi there,

I'm looking for a cost efficient way to add high samplerate support (e.g. 192khz) to my laptop on Linux mostly for testing purposes ; I do own a MAudio Fast Track Pro but it's limited to 48khz (because of USB 1.0 limitations). I need it to be plug and play on Linux as well as offer OS-level volume control.

I considered Topping D10S (110€) or DX1 (100€) but they are a bit too costly for my goal (and I don't need the digital outs), and I am contemplating the use of a Fiio ka1 USB-C 3.5mm DAC-headphone amp dongle (50€).

Are there downsides/risks of using such a device directly into an unbalanced amp (like an Aiyima A07) ?

thanks

 

[staticV3]

Are there downsides/risks of using such a device directly into an unbalanced amp (like an Aiyima A07) ?

There's always the risk that you fat finger the OS volume to 100% and blast your ears off.
That's why I recommend you set your Amp to the lowest possible volume, then set the DAC to 100% in the OS, then play music and slowly increase the volume on your Amp.
Once you've reached a volume that's as loud as you'll ever need, leave your Amp there and then only use the OS volume.
Afterwards, should you fat-finger the OS volume to 100%, then it'll be loud but not dangerously loud.

As for the most cost effective way to add high sample rate support without the need for manual driver install, you could search for a CX31993 dongle on AliExpress/eBay/Amazon. They usually cost <10€ and support up to 32Bit/384kHz.

 

[charleski]

No.

These dongles generally max out at 2Vrms, which is the same you'd get from a standard DAC (the difference is they can usually maintain that into low impedances). Even if you found a dongle that could go higher, it's unlikely it would be able to overload the amp's input.

 

[ethernode]

There's always the risk that you fat finger the OS volume to 100% and blast your ears off.
That's why I recommend you set your Amp to the lowest possible volume, then set the DAC to 100% in the OS, then play music and slowly increase the volume on your Amp.
Once you've reached a volume that's as loud as you'll ever need, leave your Amp there and then only use the OS volume.
Afterwards, should you fat-finger the OS volume to 100%, then it'll be loud but not dangerously loud.

As for the most cost effective way to add high sample rate support without the need for manual driver install, you could search for a CX31993 dongle on AliExpress/eBay/Amazon. They usually cost <10€ and support up to 32Bit/384kHz.

Not finding any on Amazon I'm afraid (the chip is not stated).

That thing seems to support 384khz so that's probably it

https://amzn.eu/d/cv9vCnb

Thanks for the tip ! I initially thought that the well regarded apple adapter would support high-res but apparently not, so I did not bother researching such lookalike devices.

 

[ethernode]

Received the dongle, apparently it's not really able to support more than 96 Khz (on Windows or Linux), so the description on Amazon was wrong. For the record, the device is labeled LcueGuk and exposes the following on Linux (also saw the same rate list on windows):

$ cat /proc/asound/card1/stream0
LX-15019002453 KT USB Audio V1 at usb-0000:00:14.0-4, full speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 2
    Altset 1
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 0x01 (1 OUT) (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 96000
    Bits: 16
    Channel map: FL FR
  Interface 2
    Altset 2
    Format: S24_3LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 0x01 (1 OUT) (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 96000
    Bits: 24
    Channel map: FL FR

Capture:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 1
    Endpoint: 0x81 (1 IN) (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000
    Bits: 16
    Channel map: MONO

 

[Zek]

This one supports all PCM and DSD 256 files.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004918780611.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.22a86d7bJIJJ2O&algo_pvid=47b0b613-55e8-468b-949a-f099e11970f5&algo_exp_id=47b0b613-55e8-468b-949a-f099e11970f5-1&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000031017214078%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21EUR%2167.93%2150.26%21%21%21%21%21%402101df8a16708741263406337ea802%2112000031017214078%21sea&curPageLogUid=jkW47jCxIyrr

 

[ethernode]

Thanks ! Found another one on Amazon for ~20€

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B099NFR3T7

$ cat /proc/asound/card0/stream0
Synaptics CX31993 384Khz HIFI AUDIO at usb-0000:00:14.0-8.4, high speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 0x01 (1 OUT) (SYNC)
    Rates: 8000, 16000, 32000, 44100, 48000, 96000, 192000, 384000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
    Bits: 16
    Channel map: FL FR
  Interface 1
    Altset 2
    Format: S24_3LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 0x01 (1 OUT) (SYNC)
    Rates: 8000, 16000, 32000, 44100, 48000, 96000, 192000, 384000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
    Bits: 24
    Channel map: FL FR
  Interface 1
    Altset 3
    Format: S32_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 0x01 (1 OUT) (SYNC)
    Rates: 8000, 16000, 32000, 44100, 48000, 96000, 192000, 384000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
    Bits: 32
    Channel map: FL FR

$ cat /proc/asound/card0/pcm0p/sub0/hw_params
access: MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format: S32_LE
subformat: STD
channels: 2
rate: 192000 (192000/1)
period_size: 512
buffer_size: 32768

Works as expected, thanks for the pointer !