What electronic audio products you want tested most

[somebodyelse]

The world needs a simple, decent quality 8 channel DAC with similar pricing per channel to the 2-channel dongles widely available now.

A small proportion of the world needs this. The question is whether the market is big enough to make it worth the investment for a manufacturer to make one.

 

[richardm]

A small proportion of the world needs this. The question is whether the market is big enough to make it worth the investment for a manufacturer to make one.

We might already have one -- as mentioned above there are 3-4 cheapo USB cards with 7.1 outputs. It'd be nice to learn if any of these don't make the CM6206 any worse than its datasheet. I'd be happy with a basic featureless box that meets the datasheet specs (and isn't full of jitter). 1v on the line out is fine.

Your asking a lot for that kind of money, IMHO all you'd get for that would be garbage.
The Toppings are normally the best around for something with reasonable reliability and good measurements, below that what you get is mainly landfill.

What shall I do with the extra S/N db's afforded by a nicer audio chip? I can put them at the top where they're roasting my eardrums or at the bottom where they're below the noise floor of my stupid house.

I can barely hear 1% THD and it'd be foolish to think I'd find -88 dBFS THD+N objectionable. Assuming it's all distortion that's a ceiling of 0.004% THD. Topping money shouldn't be necessary in a world of $15 two channel dongles with "blameless" specs. Someone just needs to repeat it with 8 channels. It's a shame Cirrus or C-Media never put together a CM6206 eval board or a reference design.

 

[Schollaudio]

How about some late 70s Pioneer, Marantz and other such equipment.

 

[JaMmy]

The Jab6 class D amp from Wondom / Sure electronics looks interesting. 4 channels for $125 or so. New interesting kid on the block? Or underwhelming once measured?https://store.sure-electronics.com/product/863

 

[richardm]

The Jab6 class D amp from Wondom / Sure electronics looks interesting. 4 channels for $125 or so. New interesting kid on the block? Or underwhelming once measured?https://store.sure-electronics.com/product/863

Speaking of Wondom class-D: the GAB8 and the KAB9. 8 channels, USB or analog inputs, and the latter operates down to 12Vdc. Both under $100.

GAB8 specs seem reasonable; the KAB9 resembles mid-fi autosound though I'd be happy if indeed it meets its specs.

Given their price, flexibility, and ease of construction (pre-fab wiring harnesses are available) I'm kind of surprised hobbyists aren't fooling around with these.