Sub $100 DAC

[KeithGax]

Good morning, or afternoon, or evening,

I recently purchased a JDS Lab Atom Amp+ and paired it with the popular US version of the Apple DAC to drive Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 ohm.

It sounds great, but just slightly lacking in overall volume. I have relatively sensitive ears, but I’m just looking for a little more. On high gain I’m living in the 2-3 o’clock range.

Is there any DAC between the $10 apple one and the $109 JDS DAC that I should take a look at or is there not much available?

Cheers!

 

[DVDdoug]

On high gain I’m living in the 2-3 o’clock range.

That's a problem?

 

[KeithGax]

That's a problem?

I guess it shouldn’t be. But from user input/reviews I was expecting the amp to blow my ear drums out at full volume.

 

[AnalogSteph]

That's a problem?

It's maybe 10 dB worth of headroom, and you really want at least 20 dB, preferably 30 dB.

I'd say look for a dongle DAC that can output 2 Vrms.

That being said, that's only 6 dB more. I have a hunch that levels may be quite low on the digital side, and would suggest investigating why that is and how to fix it. I am running onboard audio with very similar capabilities as that dongle DAC into my Atom Amp+, and while granted, my trusty Sennheiser HD590s may be 8-10 dB more sensitive than the DT990-250s, I'm at about 11 o'clock at low gain. That's a long way off. My digital levels aren't very high either, I'm running ReplayGain with a pre-gain of -3.5 dB.

 

[KeithGax]

It's maybe 10 dB worth of headroom, and you really want at least 20 dB, preferably 30 dB.

I'd say look for a dongle DAC that can output 2 Vrms.

That being said, that's only 6 dB more. I have a hunch that levels may be quite low on the digital side, and would suggest investigating why that is and how to fix it. I am running onboard audio with very similar capabilities as that dongle DAC into my Atom Amp+, and while granted, my trusty Sennheiser HD590s may be 8-10 dB more sensitive than the DT990-250s, I'm at about 11 o'clock at low gain. That's a long way off. My digital levels aren't very high either, I'm running ReplayGain with a pre-gain of -3.5 dB.

I am very, very new to the headphone audio scene. I have the USB-C plugged into my motherboard and then have a 3.5mm going from the DAC to my Atom.

Are you saying there’s a possibility there’s something wrong with my motherboard?

 

[gvl]

Don’t know if your Apple DAC is the same as the Apple dongle measured here but it had pretty low output voltage that could explain your experience. Maybe just get an Atom DAC to stack it with the amp nicely.

 

[LaL]

$89 open box, Dac+Amp.

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Bloomaudio.com

 

[fieldcar]

I am very, very new to the headphone audio scene. I have the USB-C plugged into my motherboard and then have a 3.5mm going from the DAC to my Atom.

Are you saying there’s a possibility there’s something wrong with my motherboard?

No problem. Welcome to the game. The apple dongle dac is probably perfectly fine.

The apple is only capable of about 1V output, so most headphone amps are designed to accept somewhere around 2V to get acceptable gain (volume). I'd just grab the Atom DAC and be done with it.

 

[staticV3]

Here are some inexpensive desktop DACs:

-Khadas Tone Board (109dB SINAD) for $80
-Topping D10s (113dB SINAD) for $110
-JDS Atom DAC+ (112dB SINAD) for $120
-Schiit Modi 3E (114dB SINAD) for $130
-SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKⅡ (114dB SINAD) for $140
-Topping E30 (115dB SINAD) for $150
-SMSL SU-6 (118dB SINAD) for $170

Any one of them will give you about 50% higher perceived loudness at the same volume position, compared to the Apple dongle.

(So will the $26 Meizu HiFi dongle wink wink)

 

[AnalogSteph]

I am very, very new to the headphone audio scene. I have the USB-C plugged into my motherboard and then have a 3.5mm going from the DAC to my Atom.

Are you saying there’s a possibility there’s something wrong with my motherboard?

No, but there may be a volume control lurking somewhere that's turned down.

That's an ordinary Windows 10 PC? Then I would
a) make sure master volume is fairly high up, like 67-80.
b) open the control panel applet for system sounds (easily accessed after right-clicking the volume icon in the tray), then go to the Playback tab and poke around in playback device properties. (Did you know that you can switch between % and dB by right-clicking the number fields in the Levels tab?)

Also, give the lowly onboard audio a shot for comparison. Depending on which codec you have (generally listed in mo/bo specifications, or you can look up the device ID), output level capabilities should be anywhere from quite comparable to 3 or 5 dB louder. Levels shouldn't be radically different for sure. Also, it should sound pretty much the exact same, unless there is some headphone processing or similar active that can generally be disabled.

BTW, blocking a lone Type C port with a measly DAC @ USB 2.0 may be a major waste - check its capabilities. (For example, on my board, the back panel type C is the only USB 3.2 Gen.2x2 port.) Consider an adapter for a traditional type A port.

 

[KeithGax]

Here are some inexpensive desktop DACs:

-Khadas Tone Board (109dB SINAD) for $80
-Topping D10s (113dB SINAD) for $110
-JDS Atom DAC+ (112dB SINAD) for $120
-Schiit Modi 3E (114dB SINAD) for $130
-SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKⅡ (114dB SINAD) for $140
-Topping E30 (115dB SINAD) for $150
-SMSL SU-6 (118dB SINAD) for $170

Any one of them will give you about 50% higher perceived loudness at the same volume position, compared to the Apple dongle.

(So will the $26 Meizu HiFi dongle wink wink)

Appreciate all your recs!

It looks like that Meizu HiFi dongle is sold out :/

What are your thoughts on the Sonata HD Pro dongle?

 

[staticV3]

What are your thoughts on the Sonata HD Pro dongle?

Also sold out it seems. It's been effectively replaced by the inferior Sonata HD III with the last HD Pro units selling for $80 and up. That's not worth it.
Regarding the Meizu, it was still in stock a few days ago, which is why I mentioned it

 

[NewbieAudiophileExpert]

My Topping D10S is probably my favourite DAC.

 

[Diable]

Good morning, or afternoon, or evening,

I recently purchased a JDS Lab Atom Amp+ and paired it with the popular US version of the Apple DAC to drive Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 ohm.

It sounds great, but just slightly lacking in overall volume. I have relatively sensitive ears, but I’m just looking for a little more. On high gain I’m living in the 2-3 o’clock range.

Is there any DAC between the $10 apple one and the $109 JDS DAC that I should take a look at or is there not much available?

Cheers!

The Khadas Tone Board is an amazing DAC with a great reviews (including here on ASR) that sells for $79.99 on Khadas.com.

 

[tiramisu]

The problem is probably not your amp. It is likely the Vrms output of the device providing it a signal.
A lot of the audio interfaces have outputs that are complete garbage. They try to sell USB-powered audio interfaces as a feature.
It isn't you need enough power to provide an adequate signal to the amplifier. This should be 2 or 4 Vrms. On the other side you
have manufacturers showing the performance of amps based on 5 Vrms signals.

The audio interface manufacturers cheap out on the outputs and the amp manufacturers use higher than standard input assumptions.
Yet another scam brought to you by the audio industry..

 

[DarrylG]

I tried to find out whether or not this $40 dongle puts out 2V, but wasn't successful.

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-Headphones-Smartphone/dp/B08JZ7LS5B?

 

[Lambda]

That's a problem?

why?