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In Reply to: DAC or Soundcard?? posted by Frank25 on December 13, 2006 at 14:05:13:
although I'd personally save my money a bit and get a good DAC. I'm saving towards a Monarchy M24 right now... she will be mine. Good sound cards can probably be had for cheap; I've only got a cheapie $50 SB Live! 24-bit card for its line input. I use a USB-to-S/PDIF adapter to a DAC for my actual listening.Another opinion that just came to me: I was thinking of conventional, big-name DACs when I said that. You can get used DACs for a few hundred for lower-end ones or older models that can be quite good. Channel Islands and Musical Fidelity sell well-regarded ones for fairly cheap, although you'll probably need the separate power upgrade to get the best sound.
If you're willing to take a chance, there's a guy on eBay with the username mhdtlab. He's a guy in Taiwan who builds non-oversampling DACs, some with USB input, that are only a few hundred dollars and are supposed to be great value for the money, judging from reviews I've read and his feedback (100% positive with 488 total feedback!). I'm not a shill for the guy; I almost bought one of his DACs but some dick outbid me in the last 20 seconds. I've never actually heard a NOS DAC, but some people absolutely swear by them, and the Mhdt ones seem to be great entry-level models. None are available right now but check back; he lists them as he makes them.
As for myself: I was originally going to get an Mhdt DAC but got outbid, as I said. I just said screw it after that and decided to just go ahead and save for the best DAC I can afford, regardless of how long it takes. My Jolida CD player was $1K used (modded), so I figure that $980 certainly isn't out of the question for the PC so long as it sounds about as good as the CD player. I've been needing a preamp, too, and the M24 is a DAC and preamp in one. The preamp has only one line input so I'd need an A/B switcher eventually (phono stage & CDP), but the unit as a whole seems like a dream come true.
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Follow Ups
- For under $500? I'd say sound card - Mark Tinordi 18:29:55 12/13/06 (0)
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