DAC through USB - is it worth it?

[admin_exported]

Just wondering if anyone can help here - I am wondering if a DAC is worth the outlay if connection can only come through USB and not digital. Would the spend be worth the sound quality improvement, if it were actually that significant (im not sure)?

Reason I ask is that my music will be coming through my laptop and I have no plans to upgrade my soundcard or the machine in the near future - the hi-fi/home theatre stuff is costing enough as it is, so USB connection would be the only option for now

 

[Dan Turner]

I recently bought a Cambridge Audio DAC-Magic and hooking it up to my computer via USB playing uncompressed rips (AIFF / WAV) or lossless files, it sounds better than my CD player.

There have been threads on here before about whether USB connections to DACs are as good as s/pdif optical or coaxial connections. To cut a very long and technical story short it should be just as good if the DAC is designed correctly.

 

[idc]

Hi APatel8. You should have no worries about using USB. A USB connection is digital, your PC should output exactly the same digital signal to your DAC whether it is via USB or digital cable.

As for sound quality, a DAC with a USB connection has all the necessary gubbins inside it to convert the signal to analogue, it is not the poor cousin of digital or optical connections.

Earlier DACs were designed as off board upgrades for CDPs and the connection from CDP to DAC was mainly digital. The USB connection came as PC based music became more common. PCs usually have a number of USB ports, so that means of sending a digital signal made sense.

You do not need to upgrade your sound card as the DAC will bypass it. The DAC takes a digital signal from the PC, the soundcard, amongst other functions acts as the PCs own internal DAC. You cannot connect a DAC to another DAC.

I have a PC based setup with a USB DAC. The sound is fantastic.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply guys - looks like I will be adding this to the list of purchases. Any suggestions for good ones at a reasonable price? Anything around £100-150 mark would be brilliant, but I doubt that is possible lol - either way, I don't my system-in-planning deserves a 3.5"mm to phono cable as its music transporter!

 

[Dave_]

It is possible, you'll be looking at DAC's like the Fubar II an Musical Fidelity V-DAC or slightly over budget Beresford TC-7520

 

[idc]

I would suggest either the Musical Fidelity V-Dac at £150 or the Firestone FubarII USB DAC at £125. The advantage of the V-Dac is that it has other connections as well as USB, so it can be used with more than one product. The advantage of the Firestone is that it has a great upgrade with its Supplier at £103, with gives it the dynamic edge.

If you are a rocker you may prefer the Fubar, if you prefer jazz/classical youmay prefer the V-Dac. But the difference between the two is not huge IMO.

Both DACs connect to your amp with phono cables.

 

[Anonymous]

I bought a Firstone Fubar II from here and it sounds absolutely superb, including postage it came to approx £101. It arrived by courier in 3 days and they keep you informed of what is happening with your order all the way - all-in-all excellent service.

 

[Anonymous]

Appreciate the replies guys 🙂

One last question - I would be connecting the DAC to the laptop via USB but would also like to use it for my PS3 at the same time and my TV - is this possible?

 

[Dave_]

APatel8:
Appreciate the replies guys 🙂

One last question - I would be connecting the DAC to the laptop via USB but would also like to use it for my PS3 at the same time and my TV - is this possible?
Not with the Fubar it has usb only, the MF V-dac has usb and coaxial and optical,and the Beresford has usb,coaxial and optical.

 

[Anonymous]

daveh75:APatel8:
Appreciate the replies guys 🙂

One last question - I would be connecting the DAC to the laptop via USB but would also like to use it for my PS3 at the same time and my TV - is this possible?

Not with the Fubar it has usb only, the MF V-dac has usb and coaxial and optical,and the Beresford has usb,coaxial and optical.

ah right, Im guessing you can use one of the coaxial or optical for connection to PS3?

 

[Dave_]

Yes, the PS3 has an optical out.

 

[Anonymous]

If you are wanting to listen to music from any pc on an external dac, take the safe option of a USB connection as this ensures a bit-perfect connection between pc and a dac as the external dac acts a high quality external soundcard (designed for proper audio purposes).

If you connect an spdif cable (toslink/coax) from PC to DAC, then you need to be 100% certain that the soundcard can pass a 16bit/44.1khz signal untouched. So many soundcards resample or lock digital output 16/48 which defeats the whole object of better sound quality.

The next step is to then use a software playback setup on your PC that avoids any re-sampling done by the Operating System's Mixer. This usually means either ASIO or kernel streaming in Windows to a compatible media player. Some detailed research on the internet should point you in the best direction on this.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.acton-gate-audio.co.uk/products/product_details.asp?CategoryName=HiFi&SubCategoryName=Amplifiers&ProductID=2693&ProductName=Musical%20Fidelity%20V-DAC&ManufacturerName=Musical+Fidelity

It doesn't look particularly great admittedly you will need to find out if your cable box or skybox etc has a coaxial output. But as mentioned the ps3 can connect via optical to the dac

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers for the replies - looks as if The MF V-Dac is the most cost effective - does anyone own one?

From reviews, I think the Beresford TC-7520 at £20 more (£150) might be more suitable for me.

 

[Anonymous]

Dan Turner:
I recently bought a Cambridge Audio DAC-Magic and hooking it up to my computer via USB playing uncompressed rips (AIFF / WAV) or lossless files, it sounds better than my CD player.

There have been threads on here before about whether USB connections to DACs are as good as s/pdif optical or coaxial connections. To cut a very long and technical story short it should be just as good if the DAC is designed correctly.

How much were you able to get it for mate? Seems one of the best out right now but can't find it for a reasonable price at the moment.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, also... another question... What do you guys use to connect the DAC to the amp? What cabling is needed? Again, don't want to pay loads for this but similarly don't want to shirk on quality given the amount I've spent on the system thus far 🙂

In terms of the USB cable from Laptop/PC to DAC... will that usually come with a purchased DAC or is this something you have to buy seperately? If so, same question as the DAC > amp connection 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Right, first thing I haven't heard the MF Dac myself but know that there are people on this board with it who really do like it. Secondly it has won a group test against the other main dac's with hi fi world and this included the Beresford 7520 and the Dac Magic. I really wouldn't worry about cables too much, you want ones which are fairly sturdy and well made, well www.cutpricecables.co.uk. Check out those as a good example. So in terms of what you need to connect the dac to amp, you just need one lot of RCA cables basically, you could fit these to any input on your amp really. I am guessing, only guessing, that you would need to buy the usb cable seperately but again don't worry about that, a usb is a usb, cue the responses ...lol

 

[Alec]

unless its a usb tweaked by apple or whoever to make it unusable on other kit.

not quite the kind of response you were expecting, eh? Also totally irrelevant. sorry.

 

[idc]

For the DAC to amp try Silver High Breed off ebay. I use them and they are very popular on the forum. As for a USB, any one will do off ebay or Amazon if you dont get one with the DAC.

 

[Dan Turner]

APatel8:Dan Turner:
I recently bought a Cambridge Audio DAC-Magic and hooking it up to my computer via USB playing uncompressed rips (AIFF / WAV) or lossless files, it sounds better than my CD player.

There have been threads on here before about whether USB connections to DACs are as good as s/pdif optical or coaxial connections. To cut a very long and technical story short it should be just as good if the DAC is designed correctly.

How much were you able to get it for mate? Seems one of the best out right now but can't find it for a reasonable price at the moment.

Hi - sorry for delay in replying. It was £230 from Richer Sounds, who are Cambridge's exclusive UK distributors I believe. To answer another question, it came with a USB cable.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers guys - think I'm going to try the MF DAC.

Question - I've heard in another part of the forum that sound from a Sony Vaio (with the mains charger plugged in) gives out a lot of noise and it is solved by taking out the charger. Has anyone experienced this? Not an option for me really as the Vaio battery is awful and needs to be plugged in... also if this were the case, would the DAC get around this problem?

 

[pete321]

APatel8: From reviews, I think the Beresford TC-7520 at £20 more (£150) might be more suitable for me.

Plus when funds allow it's very upgradeable to take it to the next level.

 

[Anonymous]

Thought I'd bring this thread back to life - I listen to hip hop/rnb, which is quite punch, base happy and rythmic. I've got the MA V-Dac at the moment and think it might be a bit of a weakness in my set-up.

I've heard a few people on here say it's good for classical/jazz type music, which is pretty much the opposite of the type of music I listen to.

Would the Beresford be a better option than my current V-Dac given this? I really can't afford to spend more than £160 second hand!

 

[idc]

Before doing anything with the DAC I would change the position of the speakers in relation to walls and where you sit and make sure they do not wobble about. Placing and a secure stand/base for the speakers will have a bigger effect on bass than anything else. Then consider the amp and is it dynamic enough to produce the slam it sounds like you are missing. A DAC can only have a very minimal effect on the bass as it is only converting a signal.

 

[Anonymous]

idc:Before doing anything with the DAC I would change the position of the speakers in relation to walls and where you sit and make sure they do not wobble about. Placing and a secure stand/base for the speakers will have a bigger effect on bass than anything else. Then consider the amp and is it dynamic enough to produce the slam it sounds like you are missing. A DAC can only have a very minimal effect on the bass as it is only converting a signal.

Hi, spent quite a long time re-positioning my speakers last week and think i have got them as optimal as possible. My Arcam amp is being replaced with Rotel in the near future.

Speaker cable is also changing from QED Silver Anniversary to Chord Oddysey 2.. Speakers are Monitor Audio RS8s. Just thought upgrading the DAC may have enhanced the set-up further..