WTD> DAC for streaming/phone/laptop etc

[kirstysdad]

Everyone seems to have one.
I have an adaptor into my iPhone and it sounds mediocre at best.
Could I do better?
I don't need it to be portable, but want to use it with my system and headphones, but not necessarily portable.
Want to find out without spending £200 on an iFi Zen thingy.

[Lawrence001]

You can get decent second hand ones cheap if you keep an eye out although I don't know how iPhone/usb links work as I'm all android.

I always recommend Audio Gd as a nice natural sounding brand there's no as many as Topping but I think they sound better, although apparently they measure much worse.

[mikeyb]

Sorry, deleted as I thought you were looking for a headphone adapter, didn't see that you were connecting to your system

[MisterMoseley]

I have a Schiit Modius for sale at the moment. It’s on a couple of other forums and a certain auction site.
I’d be happy to raise a sale ad here if it’s of any interest.
I’d say it’s one step up the ladder from entry level.
What I can’t work out is whether you’re looking for a DAC with a headphone connection. Mine doesn’t have this.

[Westendboy]

Everyone seems to have one.
I have an adaptor into my iPhone and it sounds mediocre at best.
Could I do better?
I don't need it to be portable, but want to use it with my system and headphones, but not necessarily portable.
Want to find out without spending £200 on an iFi Zen thingy.

I have a Bluesound n100 for sale complete with supplied cables unopened, boxed with manual but your preamp would need a headphone input. Contact me if you are interested.

[Macca]

You can get decent second hand ones cheap if you keep an eye out although I don't know how iPhone/usb links work as I'm all android.

I always recommend Audio Gd as a nice natural sounding brand there's no as many as Topping but I think they sound better, although apparently they measure much worse.

Audio GD DACs are poorly engineered, simple as that. There is no possible way they could sound 'better' than a Topping although they might just be adequate enough to sound identical.

They lie about their specs and they are stupidly expensive for what you're getting. They also reckon their DACs need 1000 hours of 'burn in'. Presumably just to get you past the return period. Another red flag.


Personally I would never recommend their products to anyone.

[Pigmy Pony]

What about something like this Sandy? Has headphone socket too. I have one, but I can't tell you what it's like as I lost the bloody power supply plug

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165917979...Bk9SR4anpZDEYQ

[Lawrence001]

What about something like this Sandy? Has headphone socket too. I have one, but I can't tell you what it's like as I lost the bloody power supply plug

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165917979...Bk9SR4anpZDEYQ

Hasn't got a USB though?

[Lawrence001]

Audio GD DACs are poorly engineered, simple as that. There is no possible way they could sound 'better' than a Topping although they might just be adequate enough to sound identical.

They lie about their specs and they are stupidly expensive for what you're getting. They also reckon their DACs need 1000 hours of 'burn in'. Presumably just to get you past the return period. Another red flag.


Personally I would never recommend their products to anyone.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that I think! I'm listening to mine right now and thoroughly enjoying it. There have been times when I've tried something else and thought that's got much higher resolution or something, but after a few days I notice the fatigue and put the Audio Gd back in and it's quite a relief.

[Macca]

We'll have to agree to disagree on that I think! I'm listening to mine right now and thoroughly enjoying it. There have been times when I've tried something else and thought that's got much higher resolution or something, but after a few days I notice the fatigue and put the Audio Gd back in and it's quite a relief.

My reservations about Audio GD as a brand don't really have anything to do with the sound quality.

I don't know what it would be about your Audio GD that makes it less fatiguing than some other DACs for you but that's interesting that it does. Which model is it?