Why Are We Spending All This Money On DACs?

[Jim Creek]

Apple sells Lightning to 3.5mm adapters and USB-C to 3.5mm adapters. Both have Cirrus Logic DAC chips inside. Both of the adapters cost around $9. You can use them with an iphone, ipad or a MacBook. So why are we even buying standalone DACs for $200 and up? You can feed the 3.5mm into your integrated amp, preamp with a pigtail. You don’t even need a preamp since your MacBook will drive an amplifier. Think about that for a minute.

 

[A Surfer]

Because what you are describing does not encompass the full range of what people need and or want. That is a somewhat simplified analysis of what the possible needs for a different product of this nature must consider.

 

[Timcognito]

Apple sells Lightning to 3.5mm adapters and USB-C to 3.5mm adapters. Both have Cirrus Logic DAC chips inside. Both of the adapters cost around $9. You can use them with an iphone, ipad or a MacBook. So why are we even buying standalone DACs for $200 and up? You can feed the 3.5mm into your integrated amp, preamp with a pigtail. You don’t even need a preamp since your MacBook will drive an amplifier. Think about that for a minute.

Yes then you are stuck with other overpriced MAC stuff with one third of the applications. MAC makes no good audio system they are phone and commuter company and their IEM are just decent.

 

[JP]

Yes then you are stuck with other overpriced MAC stuff with one third of the applications. MAC makes no good audio system they are phone and commuter company and their IEM are just decent.

Their USB-C adapter is UAC - works just fine in Windows, Linux, etc.

 

[Madlop26]

I have my iPhone cord slave? no way pal, lol

 

[Timcognito]

Their USB-C adapter is UAC - works just fine in Windows, Linux, etc.

There are plenty of good cheap dongle DACs

 

[OldHvyMec]

You can feed the 3.5mm into your integrated amp, and preamp with a pigtail. You don’t even need a preamp since your MacBook will drive an amplifier. Think about that for a minute.

Well, you sure burst my bubble after 50+ years of using a preamp for turntables, tape decks, tape preamps, phono preamps, CD players, FM tuners, memory sticks,
router, TVs, HT passthrough and recording from one medium to another. I guess, I could plug in a phone or one of the other DAC/Servers/Burners I use. I have a
Krell HT 5.1 that still has an excellent DAC for a CD or SACD.

The phone thing is fine once in a while but I'll stick with a little LARGER termination for strength and something I can actually SEE. I could see the dog tearing through the house chasing the rabbit or the rabbit chasing the dog and hitting that dinky cable and the phone flying through the air landing on top of one of the valve amps that has no cage on it or worse hitting the glass or valves on a valve preamp or a phono/tape preamp. Nothing quite like a tube fire, to wake you up from a nice nap.

Regards

 

[Chr1]

Reckon Apples dongle is one of their only reasonably priced products.

 

[Robin L]

My reason is that my Topping E30 DAC has three inputs, performs well and mates well with Topping's L30 Headphone Amp/Preamp. Of course, these aren't really expensive, and I certainly wouldn't waste $300,000.00 on a dCS stack. But the Apple dongle wouldn't be my choice either.

 

[Verig]

Apple sells Lightning to 3.5mm adapters and USB-C to 3.5mm adapters. Both have Cirrus Logic DAC chips inside. Both of the adapters cost around $9. You can use them with an iphone, ipad or a MacBook. So why are we even buying standalone DACs for $200 and up?

I don't want a computer in my living room and I don't want cables running from a tablet. Besides I can control streaming and files through network connection so what would be the point anyway.

You can feed the 3.5mm into your integrated amp, preamp with a pigtail. You don’t even need a preamp since your MacBook will drive an amplifier. Think about that for a minute.

I don't live alone and even if I did I have a habit of entertaining people. There's a zero chance I let my phone be tonight's jukebox. Or my computer, which was already excluded from the company earlier.
No preamp? Computer directly to power amp? Sure, go ahead.

 

[ZolaIII]

Actually I would like to see two stages and both from Cirrus Logic (-12 dB one like in EU USB dongle and 0 dB one from CS43131 unbalanced of course) and optimised future for wearables, wouldn't mind paying for it (reasonably) with DAC and don't know about ADC (in that space definitely tap based). For desktop/home not headphones other than monitoring would rather want to see eight chenel then 8 DAC stereo and more work on redistribution and use of voltage rails stabilisation. We didn't use even existing designs to their full potential and making them even more efficient and future better packing including EMI rejection rate future improvement is the only thing that makes sense.
That's about it regarding wishes from me, you can dres it up as you wish adding what ever from a hair clip to 1970's sempler as much as I care.

 

[Verig]

Hmm... Now that I think of it it has been years I had an usb dac. (Yes I have an audio interface which has usb but I don't use that for listening to music.)

 

[kemmler3D]

I have a Topping DX5 Lite which is overkill in terms of SINAD and also goes far beyond a dongle DAC, beyond strict necessity - why?

1) I have 2 subs and Genelec monitors, it has enough outputs (XLR + RCA) so that I can run all of those at once. That right there is mission critical, otherwise I'd have a rat's nest of cables and converters and maybe a big output voltage problem.
2) I also do headphone listening on the same setup, and it has a decent HP amp included.
3) It has an optical in so I can switch to that and use my office setup with a WiiM Mini for whole-house sound
4) Irrational peace of mind that comes with having excessive SINAD

More expensive gear is definitely not necessary for many use cases, if you are only listening to headphones (and nothing else) a dongle can be ideal. But once you start looking for more I/O, that tends to blow up the budget.

 

[Ropeburn]

I'm using nothing but my phone as both source and computer replacement (Samsung DeX). Stationary, it's just phone -> docking station -> DAC -> amp. For lazing on the couch there's Bluetooth, LDAC is perfectly fine for listening, I doubt I could tell a difference in a blind test. Various streamer/DAC combos are even better for that.

I do have a dongle DAC for mobile and/or headphone use. It would and does work too, but only that at home would be unpractical. I don't want to plug things here and there all the time when I switch from speakers to headphones at night for example. No wireless connection either. It'd just be a hassle, including questionable volume control to poweramp - way too easy to make a software volume mistake and blow shit up.

So yes, for practical reasons alone, just a DAC dongle just doesn't cut it. Besides, 120€ for a seriously well performing DAC (SMSL DO100) was a bargain. Even the original 200 something moneys were a good deal for the quality and functionality. The dongle (Fiio KA13 with plenty power) was 80. Not much of a difference, so "all that money" isn't an argument in this case either.

 

[Jim Creek]

Yes then you are stuck with other overpriced MAC stuff with one third of the applications. MAC makes no good audio system they are phone and commuter company and their IEM are just decent.

Except most of us already have a cell phone, many of us have an ipad and some of us have a macbook. Simply use what you already have.

 

[sergeauckland]

I've never understood why anyone should buy a separate DAC when there's already a perfectly decent one inside every CD player, DAP, 'phone or tablet. Just take an output from the headphone socket to the amp. I accept that some newer devices don't have an analogue output, but there's plenty that do.

S

 

[Timcognito]

Hey not knocking Apple except like Sonos, Bluesound and few others you are forced or compelled not mix and match. There are plenty of cheap dongle DACs. The OP just pressed a button in me about companies that try to own markets rather be in them with other players. Sony has tried and failed several times at this. The idea that such high functioning, inexpensive, ubiquitous and simple part of an audio system is held to such exaltation is valid.

 

[J.M. Noble]

I like the multiple inputs on my Schiit Modius E: I actively use Toslink, RCA S/PDIF, and USB; I have used AES/EBU and will likely use it again.

It's also nice to have balanced outputs for various purposes in addition to RCA.

$229 seems stupidly cheap for all that, and it's in a nice package.

 

[TurtlePaul]

Two of my three DACs have parametric EQ and remotes with volume control and input switching (MiniDSP 2x4 HD and Topping D50 III). Two of my three DACs have UAC1 fallback for use with game consoles (JDS Atom+ and Topping D50 III). One has balanced output (D50 III) and one has an analog in (MiniDSP). All of my DACs have Toslink to connect my TV. These are features I need for my specific use cases, but I do use dongle DACs for my phone.