World's Cheapest DAC Review

[MrC]

That's a cool idea. What's your setup -- do you have a recommendation for RCA VU meters?

I just use some cheap ones I already had, they are for visuals only not for reference, they are the typical round ones you can find all over the net.

 

[tamagaba]

OK zuppa - the next step could be an AB blind test with a high-end DAC

 

[sergeauckland]

I use one of these exact DACs to feed my VU Meters from the Coax output of the D10.

Personally I think it sounds fine for that use

I do the same, but feeding a Type 1 PPM I made. I bought a Vellemann VU meter kit, Velleman Precision Stereo VU Meter 2 x 15 LEDs Kit K4306 and changed the rectifier from a half-wave average reading to a Full-Wave peak reading. It shows very clearly which CDs are slammed up to 0dBFS, also shows which are clipped/limited below 0dBFS, but were normalised to -1 or -2dBFS. I use the PPM also to measure how hot my LPs have been cut. So far, my highest is 13dB above 5cm/sec.

S.

 

[reverbel]

Hi all,

Newbie here. Just got to this thread through a comment (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...adc-from-ebay-measurements.23962/#post-807421) on the "Unbranded ADC from eBay" review that is currently at the ASR home page.

There are a number of 5.1 DAC products that look quite similar to the cheap stereo DAC reviewed by Amir. This one claims to have 120 dB signal/noise ratio: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002668373670.html

Has anybody tried this kind of product? Does anybody know of any testing/measurements of 5.1 DACs?

I am toying with the idea of putting together an inexpensive 5.1 home theater using a product such as the one in the link above, plus a couple of amps such as the Aiyima A07. Does this idea make any sense at all?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Hi all,

Newbie here. Just got to this thread through a comment (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...adc-from-ebay-measurements.23962/#post-807421) on the "Unbranded ADC from eBay" review that is currently at the ASR home page.

There are a number of 5.1 DAC products that look quite similar to the cheap stereo DAC reviewed by Amir. This one claims to have 120 dB signal/noise ratio: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002668373670.html

Has anybody tried this kind of product? Does anybody know of any testing/measurements of 5.1 DACs?

I am toying with the idea of putting together an inexpensive 5.1 home theater using a product such as the one in the link above, plus a couple of amps such as the Aiyima A07. Does this idea make any sense at all?

You're going to run into trouble with HDCP, codec support, channel EQ, time alignment, lip sync and more. Depending on what you want to play you would likely be better served by picking up a major brand 5.1 receiver from any time in the last 15 years.

 

[reverbel]

You're going to run into trouble with HDCP, codec support, channel EQ, time alignment, lip sync and more. Depending on what you want to play you would likely be better served by picking up a major brand 5.1 receiver from any time in the last 15 years.

@infinitesymphony: Thank you very much for your reply. Before reading it, my single concern was sound quality. Your comment opened up a brand new can of worms!

Intended usage would be for my own library of video files (these would be streamed from a Plex server which I run at home), plus content streamed mostly from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. I have no plans on using a Blu-Ray drive. And I am not a gamer.

Could HDCP be an issue in this scenario?

I would just connect the optical (S/PDIF) audio output of my TV set to the corresponding input of a 5.1 DAC. Have no idea of how big the audio delay due to the 5.1 DAC can be, though.

Could time alignment and lip sync be issues in this case?

I understand that (lack of) equalization is a problem. And that codec support may also be a problem. Sound quality, of course, remains an issue.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Intended usage would be for my own library of video files (these would be streamed from a Plex server which I run at home), plus content streamed mostly from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. I have no plans on using a Blu-Ray drive. And I am not a gamer.

Could HDCP be an issue in this scenario?

It depends on whether or not the video files have DRM. Most streaming services including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have DRM. This will cause issues when trying to send digital audio or video to the next device in the chain unless everything supports HDCP (which itself is only supported via HDMI). There are HDMI audio extractors that can get around this part of the process, but YMMV when it comes to format support.

I would just connect the optical (S/PDIF) audio output of my TV set to the corresponding input of a 5.1 DAC. Have no idea of how big the audio delay due to the 5.1 DAC can be, though.

Could time alignment and lip sync be issues in this case?

Every digital device in the chain could potentially affect delay. If all devices use HDMI 1.3 or higher they may automatically adjust to account for this delay, otherwise you will need to manually adjust this using the setting on your TV (if it has that option) or on an AVR.

I think the sound quality difference is going to be negligible and you may find that a low-powered class D amp like the Aiyima A07 doesn't have enough steam to cope with high dynamic range movie content because it only outputs around 50 WPC @ 8 ohms. Even cheap AVRs tend to be in the 100 WPC @ 8 ohm range.

 

[DSJR]

Just found mine buried in a box of assorted cables and 'stuff' (as we all seem to have).

It has a Cirrus 8416 chip and the awful pic below dates to 2012. The RCA cables are the cheapest of the cheap with 'gold' RCA plugs and I went through hell admitting to using them at the time (I suspect the Amazon Basics RCA cables may well be 'better).

The low max output actually worked well with older preamp sections better optimised for low output tuners, tape decks and so on

 

[reverbel]

It depends on whether or not the video files have DRM. Most streaming services including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have DRM. This will cause issues when trying to send digital audio or video to the next device in the chain unless everything supports HDCP (which itself is only supported via HDMI). There are HDMI audio extractors that can get around this part of the process, but YMMV when it comes to format support.


Every digital device in the chain could potentially affect delay. If all devices use HDMI 1.3 or higher they may automatically adjust to account for this delay, otherwise you will need to manually adjust this using the setting on your TV (if it has that option) or on an AVR.

I think the sound quality difference is going to be negligible and you may find that a low-powered class D amp like the Aiyima A07 doesn't have enough steam to cope with high dynamic range movie content because it only outputs around 50 WPC @ 8 ohms. Even cheap AVRs tend to be in the 100 WPC @ 8 ohm range.

Thank you, @infinitesymphony! And apologies for taking so long to reply. Somehow I have missed a notification from the ASR forum.

Your answer was very enlightening!

 

[jbattman1016]

Just picked up one of these to get the audio out of a TV into my model 88 radio. Should work fine for this basic setup, can't wait to see. Also, there is a sale on Amazon (US) currently for this so it's going for around $8 right now. lol

 

[TonyJZX]

going by those pics this is the dac

CS8416 | Cirrus Logic

The CS8416 is a digital audio receiver that supports sample rates up to 192 kHz. It enables consumer and professional audio products to exchange S/PDIF and AES/EBU audio data.

www.cirrus.com

 

[jbattman1016]

DAC received, came branded as from the company Rybozen.

Internals:

 

[bargainguy]

Over a decade ago, I made the cardinal sin of buying a 46" TV without checking what kind of audio outs it had. I was assuming at least a pair of RCAs. Nope, it was optical only.

So I had to buy something to connect the TV to my integrated amp. Got the DAC under discussion here. I remember paying around $12 at the time.

That $12 DAC got replaced by the Eversolo DMP-A6 last weekend. Yes, the Eversolo is better. But the cheapo DAC was actually decent. Not good, not great, but decent. Worked over a decade, can't complain about price > value ratio.