A bit of a DAC experiment

[Ragworm]

I’ve been using Spotify Free on my computer for about a year now, listening with a pair of Bluetooth headphones. I use it mainly to screen new artists and albums before I buy the CD (yes I still buy CDs). It sounds perfectly fine; I've no complaints but it's not the same as listening on the Hi-Fi and you don't always get a representative picture of what an album's going to sound like on CD.

I tried connecting the laptop directly to my Hi-Fi, just as an experiment, but it sounded truly awful. Then I read the WHF review of the FiiO E7 headphone amp and that lead me to the E10 which has both headphone and line-out but several reviews complained about hiss and poor socket fit. Then I saw this unbranded USB DAC and headphone amp with line-out for just £36 on Lektropack's web site (http://www.lektropacks.co.uk/main/store/app/product/LC-DA-1005). Well that just happened be exactly the amount of funds sitting in my PayPal account so I thought "what the hell" and clicked "Add To Basket".

OK. So the case is plastic (it looks like metal in the picture) but the socket fit is good and the volume control feels smooth. Most importantly the sound is excellent. Spotify Free is now eminently listenable. You can hear the compression at 192 kbps and when I put a CD of the same track into the laptop the leap in quality proves it’s the bandwidth that’s the problem and not the DAC. All in all though, it’s mission accomplished. I can sit in comfort in the lounge and get a good idea of what an album’s going to sound like when if I buy it. Not bad for just 36 quid!

 

[idc]

I love reviews of cheap products from unexpected sources. Would you be able to change to the thread title to include the product title, Lektropacks headphone amp/DAC so people can find it?

 

[Overdose]

Whilst differences in sound reproduction between DACs exist, they are not anywhere near the magnitude of the differences of a speaker change.

A properly implemented DAC will sound largely the same as any other, with any subtle differences generally coming from the analogue section. You could always try a free home demo of something more expensive, but you will not necessarily hear any improvement over your £36 DAC.

 

[Ragworm]

Would you be able to change to the thread title to include the product title, Lektropacks headphone amp/DAC so people can find it?

I've no idea how to do that. Do you?