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SDAC + O2 a good budget choice?

dwang040

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New to the forums so if this is the wrong thread, I apologize. Need some help with some info on the sdac + O2, or any comments in general.

Recently, my iems started to fall apart so I need to find new ones. Really feeling the custom arts fibae but I also need a dac/ amp as I have the 6xx. The udac I have right now is okay, it did its job for the reason I bought it for (electrical noise in the motherboard audio), but they just work okay with the 6xx. Eitherway, because I need to buy iems, I'm a bit limited in dac/amp budget and the sdac + O2 falls in the price rangez. If I recall, the reviews were good for the separate items, but reports that the two combined were a bit of a mess? Eitherway, would these still be the best option in my case? Mainly prefer combos because I have a speaker that requires an output. I guess a seperate amp and dac with two outputs works too. They also need a low noise floor? as I believe the fibaes are very sensitive so any sort of noise gets picked up. Sorry, not sure if that's the technical term for it.

Thanks!
 

Kyle / MrHeeHo

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l have one and it works fine for what it is. The only downsides are the DAC portion only takes USB and the amp doesn't have a preamp. I wouldn't recommend it with IEMs as most tend to be way too sensitive to be used with it safely
 
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dwang040

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l have one and it works fine for what it is. The only downsides are the DAC portion only takes USB and the amp doesn't have a preamp. I wouldn't recommend it with IEMs as most tend to be way too sensitive to be used with it safely
I'm not to worried about the lack of features, as I will most likely upgrade it in the future. For now, I'm just trying to find a solution that can get more out of the 6xx and power it better than my usb udac.

However, due to the setup I have, I will require the amp to be able to operate both the headphone and the iem. Do you know of any options? Like I mentioned above, the motherboard audio solution picks up too much noise in certain usage cases so it's a no go for me.
 

flipflop

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Will these work eith the 6xx?
HD 6XX - Power Needed for 90 dB SPL = 0.09 mW
Apple USB-C power @ 300 ohm = 3.6 mW
It very well might depending on how loud is loud enough for you.
Or are you suggesting that I get a powered amp for the headphones and use a USB dac amp for the iem?
Yes, it was a suggestion of how to get rid of the noise from your mobo, so that it can be used with your IEM. You can give your USB DAC/amp a try.
 
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dwang040

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HD 6XX - Power Needed for 90 dB SPL = 0.09 mW
Apple USB-C power @ 300 ohm = 3.6 mW
It very well might depending on how loud is loud enough for you.

Thank you. I'll try the iems with my current usb dac/amp. Mainly looking for powered cause like I mentioned above, I'm on 4 oclock with the usb dac/amp and my phone volume is max with the 6xx. That's mainly why I was looking for some powered combo solutions.
 

yue

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No. SDAC+O2 is not a good choice.

The major issue with O2 is the volume knob. Usually the 2.15VRMS SDAC output is too loud for your HD6XX so you tend to listen with a less than 9 o'clock volume. with that low volume, O2 will have pretty big channel imbalance. So not a good choice at all. I had similar configuration (O2+ODAC) and I sold the device because of the channel imbalance.

O2 was designed more than 8 years ago with limited budget and DIY in mind (so no digit volume control, and pop up noise when turn on/off). It was designed in era when no good products exists in the market, and showed off a good spec amp can be made by yourself with <100USD budget. Today's products are much better and cheaper.

Again, if you use apple devices (such as iPhone), you don't need a DAC/Amp. Your device probably performs on par with SDAC. If you are using Windows, Apple's dongle is a nice and cheap solution. It is of lower spec compared to SDAC but since it is transparent, you won't hear the difference between the two.
 
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dwang040

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O2 was designed more than 8 years ago with limited budget and DIY in mind (so no digit volume control, and pop up noise when turn on/off). It was designed in era when no good products exists in the market, and showed off a good spec amp can be made by yourself with <100USD budget. Today's products are much better and cheaper.
Ah, I see. I assumed that JDS or massdrop had updated the internals or something to make it competitive but wasn't too sure about that. Thanks for that info, I'll keep that in mind.

Again, if you use apple devices (such as iPhone), you don't need a DAC/Amp. Your device probably performs on par with SDAC. If you are using Windows, Apple's dongle is a nice and cheap solution. It is of lower spec compared to SDAC but since it is transparent, you won't hear the difference between the two.
I personally don't expect a dac to be any better than what my phone (xperia xz1) has and what my motherboard has. Mainly care more about the amp portion. However, my biggest issue and reason I do ask for a dac/amp combo is that I have powered speakers. I'm not aware of any other "efficient" solution other than to get a combo unit, as then I would be able plug my speakers into the dac portion of the combo unit, and then use the headphone output for my iems and 6xx. But going back to previous comments, I believe the uDac should be fine as is, but I'll look at that apple cable if things don't work out.

On a side note, I am getting a longer and lighter cable for the 6xx but the connector is a 6.5 (at the time of planning, I was looking for a powered amp, but some things happened and the amp part of the plan has changed). My uDac does 3.5mm, and I don't know of any usb options that have 6.5mm. Do you have any suggestions? Get a 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter? Or is there a good combo/ amp suggestion that I can get later down in time as I can still always use the stock 3.5mm cables, and then swap over to the 6.5 when I get something that supports it?
 

confucius_zero

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I'm cool with it? What's your budget?
 

confucius_zero

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What about jds atom with sdac? Amp wise, you'd be set for life and you'd be able to grow your Dac and headphones choices over time.

Sdac seems to be cheapest great available, topping d10 too.
 

confucius_zero

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Word. D10 beats chord mojos for breakfast. Auditionned it hooked to a Simaudio Moon amp and a pair of Kef ls50.
 
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dwang040

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Sdac seems to be cheapest great available, topping d10 too.
I have seen the reviews for the atom, and yes that may be a really good choice actually.

But us the sdac one output or two? I see a rca cable and 3.5, but there's no switch to switch between outputs. Can I safely assume this is similar to my udac in that it automatically switches between outputs?

Topping D10 at $64.99, can't really beat that.
I've heard good things about the topping d10, but unless I'm mistaken, doesn't the topping only have one output only? That wouldn't work in my case as I'd need rca to amp and rca/ 3.5mm output to speakers.
 

Roen

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You could get a D10 + an amp that has pre-amp out and headphone out.
 
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dwang040

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You could get a D10 + an amp that has pre-amp out and headphone out.
I see. If that works for powered speakers, then I do believe the jds atom will suffice? That has an rca out which in guessing is a preamp out?

Edit: just looked on the website, it does have a preamp out for things like speakers. I'll definetly look into the topping D10 and jds atom.

Just to refresh though. How is the noise in the atom? Again, i got new iems and I believe they are supposed to be sensitive to things like noise and what not. So how is the noise floor on the atom low enough?
 

Roen

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Haha.

Young padawan, I invite you to check the Atom thread.
 
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dwang040

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Haha.

Young padawan, I invite you to check the Atom thread.
Yes, thanks xd these are amazing for the price. I'm not to accustomed to the numbers and graphs but judging by them, they will work fine. I'll read the information again in detail and the posts as well.

Thanks again.
 

andreasmaaan

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Just to refresh though. How is the noise in the atom? Again, i got new iems and I believe they are supposed to be sensitive to things like noise and what not. So how is the noise floor on the atom low enough?

Noise is extremely low, won’t be a problem at all with the Atom :)
 
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