Best USB DAC for a low budget $100ish

Finally have some cash laying around to find out if ViciousX's hype is worth it! I am ready to put some power behind my ATH-AD700s.

Udac2 is $100 but I can't find it anymore, amazon is all out.

the FiiO-7 is $88 and also looks promising.

Opinions? Recommendations?

Thanks

 

right now i am using FiiO E9 and E7 to power my Sennheiser HD650. i really love this combination it gives great sound quality and so much juice for the cans, i never go past 50% volume fear of going deaf xD. so if you decide to go with E7 as a Dac, you will always have the option to upgrade to E9 and have both a AMP and DAC option!

 

I just purchased the FiiO E7 for my ATH-AD700's.. what a difference! Once you use it you won't ever want to hear your AD700's without them after.

 

Thanks for the opinions. + rep to both of you.

I found the UDAC2 from Crutchfield for $109 after a $20 off coupon, w./free shipping. The udac2 HP for $99 is pretty much impossible to find.

Has anyone compared the FiiO E7 to the udac 2?

Thanks

 

Yes. And the udac sucks. The Fiio on the other hand does nothing particularly objectionable.

Disregard ViciousXUSMC hype.

And having said that, unless your onboard sucks there's no real reason to upgrade to these cheap DACs unless you want specific features they offer (i.e. the ability to act as battery powered headphone amp as well, etc).

The AD700 needs no special amping to work properly, and is absolutely properly driven by many e.g. Realtek codecs.

 

Well I am still going to have to see for myself I think, but you may be right.

Anyone have a FiiO E10? It just came out and has favorable reviews and is only $80. But I can't find it for sale anywhere.

 

I do not agree. I was weary on purchasing one as well for just as you stated. I noticed much clearer and crisp sound and the bass is unbelievable yet no distortion.

 

Thanks for the re-affirming my decision.

FYI, the FiiO E10 comes out Nov 23rd for $80 USD.

 

The E10 doesn't really compare to the E7. It looks more like a desktop amp. The E7 has a rechargeable battery that lasts 80 hours and also has a line-in jack for portable players. It works great when I can just strap it to the back of my mp3 player when not plugged in via usb to my laptop.

 

I love how I dont even need to be in a thread for Vogel to push some slander on me.

The uDAC-2 is a great product, tried and true. I have used it with many headphones and IEM's and love the sound signature and compared it to other more expensive DAC/AMPs.

Not sure what the bowl cat has against it, I guess he read some numbers on some site that have absolutly nothing to do with real life listening experience and decided to hate it. That or he had a defective one, or somebody from NuForce slept with his girlfriend.

That said I have been recommending the E10 quite a bit of the late because of its price point and favorable reviews. I almost bought one the other day just so I could do a uDAC-2 vs E10 comparison for myself and write a review but I decided I have little reason to spend money on something like that when I do not need it since I already have the uDAC-2.

Also AD700 & A700 are easy to drive but you can clearly hear a difference between onboard and a "cheap" dac for the $99.00 price range. I had every person in my company give a listen and not a single person had any opinion otherwise.

 

Thanks Vicious.

I think I will get the E10 on the 23rd when it comes out.

It would be great to see a udac2 v E10 comparison.

 

Placebo is a great thing. Although I will say that onboards can vary, but if you have a decent one then plugging in these cheap DACs will not do a whole lot.

And plugging in something that'll actually be slightly worse in terms of sound quality than many of the decent onboards - that I do not get, and that's why I gave the nuforce away.

I just don't see any point in letting my imagination get the better of me.

The problem is, that a completely uncontrolled listen is just as invalidating. And that's what you're doing from my point of view - evaluating with your own sense of how things ought to be. You've also proven in your Youtube review - specifically 'the battle of the mics'- that you don't have the requisite knowledge in how to record sound and evaluate mics either. How am I supposed to infer any experience from you in this field?

I really don't want this to turn into a battle of egos, and this isn't me with a stick up my behind, I have no grudges here - but it's an actual concern that you're potentially misleading a lot of people due to your relative visibility.

If you want it, I can lend help beyond a throwaway offer of buying you a Fiio, but in terms of things such as review methodology that you can replicate with whatever you've got - and perhaps even with equipment loans, although that could get expensive with postage.

 

Yep, being susceptible to placebo - or anti placebo - is a sure sign that you are too much of an enthusiast.

I can tell the difference with these things, maybe because I am young, but probably because I don't care as much.

 

If someone needs a good old helping hand of placebo based around price...try taking a look at the fiio e5 on amazon.ca.
Fiio E5 headphone Amplifier: Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

I wonder if its different for people who listen to avant garde electronic music