Is low cost DAC worth it?

What’s your budget?

The iFi Zen DAC v2 ($199) gets good reviews as punching well above its weight, and even if you add their iPowerX power supply (that you should) you’re still at only $308.  Hard to believe that combo wouldn’t significantly outperform whatever cheap DAC (I didn’t see any info on a DAC) and power supply are in the Airport Express, which was a $100 “lifestyle” product and not an audio component to be taken at all seriously.  Best of luck. 

The input cable you use to connect your DAC to some signal source DOES have a HUGE effect!

@boomerbillone Big +1 there!  I recently switched from a decent yet well-regarded budget digital cable to an Acoustic Zen MC2 (used), and WOW!!!  Night and day difference — not even in the same ballpark-level performance.

All this fuss about streaming is just a way to get access to a huge music library. The sound isn't as good as a good CD.

Well, here we’re just gonna differ. First, having access to a virtually unlimited music library, and much of it in high res, is not a small thing.  Second, it’s simply not true that CDs sound better.  Too many variables to address there, but they both can sound incredibly good when implemented well.

If you have a computer, it can feed your Dac. You don't NEED a streamer unless you want the convenience it offers. 

We’re gonna differ here too.  In general computers are an awful source for streaming music, and a dedicated streamer is almost always significantly better sound wise because of its lower noise floor and parts that are dedicated solely to maximizing sound quality and nothing else.  The prime reason for using a dedicated streamer is for far better sound quality, not convenience.

Is the Modius new? If so, you need to give it at least 100 hours of play time to break in before it can begin to perform to its potential. Also, using a laptop as a source and the Airport Express as a streamer with an optical connection are also big drags on performance. A dedicated streamer is a very good idea and should help a great deal. Stick with it — you’re on the right track and good things should follow.

I’m sorry, but the DAC in the Airport Express is not decent.  It was a $100 multipurpose “lifestyle” device from Apple, which is not known as an audiophile-level company by any stretch.  If a device is $100 how much of that went into the DAC section?  How much went into the power supply?  How much went into shielding and noise reduction?  You gotta be kidding me.  The “DAC” in the AE is a relative joke and a toy.  Period.  Stop trying to promote it as “decent” because it is not, and if you think it is you’ve absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. 

It’s simple economics. You cannot build a “decent” DAC into a $100 multipurpose device. The parts quality and overall implementation from power supply to output stage are just not there. It can’t be. I will say this though — differences in DACs are more nuanced and subtle than those of, say, speakers that are far more immediately apparent. But, the subtle nuances can make all the difference in the ultimate quality of music reproduction, and details missed at the source can never be recovered. You’re on a very worthwhile path and goodonya for daring to take it, so keep an open mind and open ears and you’ll ultimately be rewarded.

Install USB Audio Player Pro on your phone and connect via usb to the DAC.

Absolutely not!  I’ve done that and it sucks.  When I added a relatively cheap iFi Zen Stream my streaming performance improved exponentially.  Even a decent streamer makes all the difference. 

Have to disagree soix.  I did just that using my phone as a streamer into an Ares II.  It sounded almost as good as using a Node to stream in the same setup.  Never tried the Zen but can't imagine things changing that much.  But maybe they could.

@marco1 I started using an Apple Camera Adapter into my DAC and was happy.  Then, because the Apple CA looked like crap I tried this, which was a huge upgrade in sound quality over the Apple crap cable…

https://www.lavricables.com/cables/reference-silver-lightning-interconnect-cable-for-oppo-ha-2-centrance-mini-m8/

Then I got an iFi Zen Stream that was a huge upgrade over the LavriCable.  Get a good streamer and you’ll be greatly rewarded.  That’s my experience anyway. 

@marco1 Got it.  You and I are indeed on the same page, and I apologize for my initial misunderstanding.  Which Aurenders do you have BTW?

@marco1 Have you considered adding a DDC?  In my HeadFi rig I added a Denafrips Iris (bought used) to take advantage of my Musician Pegasus’ (shares some DNA with your Pontus) i2S input and the improvement was not small.  And this was using this $6 0.5 foot HDMI cable from Monoprice.  Anyhoo, FWIW.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13578

+1 @ghdprentice Running Toslink from an Airport Express should be a pretty low bar, and I’d hope running the Wiim to the Bifrost would provide a notable improvement. I’d recommend trying a decent SPDIF cable instead of optical, and this one is good and doesn’t break the bank, and you can return it via Amazon if it doesn’t work out (just make sure you follow the direction arrows if you get it because they’re critical)…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N29180M/ref=twister_B01N5VTR89?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

This does beg the question though, what’s the rest of the equipment in your system?