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Best budget DAC

Hi all,

I'm considering a DAC for my system and I have to keep the expenditure very reasonable (under $300).

DACS considered: Audioengine D1, Audioquest Dragonfly, Cambridge Audio DACMagic XS & Azur DacMagic 100, Musical Fidelity - V90-DAC,  Schiit Modi,

Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated, especially if you have actually heard or compared the DACs above, or others.

Also, if I do get a DAC, is there any advantage to ripping a CD and then playing the FLAC/WAV file through the DAC? Keep in mind that the DAC chip in my CD Player is listed as a "24/192 Cirrus Logic Delta/Sigma", but no specific chip number.

I haven't seen any comparisons of CD's to ripping and playing the file through an outboard DAC, so if you have seen such a comparison, your link to it would be greatly appreciated.

These are the components in my system:
Speakers - Elac B6
Subwoofer - Elac S10
CD Player - NAD C 516BEE CD Player
Preamplifier - Parasound Halo P5
Power Amplifier - Rotel RB-1080

 Thanks. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

128x128edincleve
russbutton's avatar
russbutton
410 posts
 
I run a Peachtree DAC I'm happy with.  It retails at $300.  It takes a USB feed from my PC as well as a straight fibre digital link from my CD player.  It's a decided improvement over using the on-board DAC in the CD player.
alfau7's avatar
alfau7
72 posts
 
My first dac was the modi, i bought it expecting to have some of the bifrost, i dont know about the bifrost sound but the modi was very boring dac, small image, small sounstsge and lacking bass a lot! I still have it but inside a Box, i guess is made to use with headphones. Then i bougth the peachtree dac it wich i love the lively and centered image, enough forward to treak your brain as the singer is infront of you. I have compared it with 3 built in dacs: one inside my yamaha rxv 650(msrp 500)  one is from my anthem avm 20.1(msrp 3200) , and the third one from my oppo bdp 103, from all is noticible better the peachtree. I hope this help you.
Fausto
alfau7's avatar
alfau7
72 posts
 
And about your second question, i have made some test ripping cd to 24/192 flac files and after comparing both by fast switching using the dac it, i found some very small lost of body, unperceptible msybe without fast a/b switching, but i thing in the audiophile madness every lost or improve counts.
skoczylas's avatar
skoczylas
240 posts
 
Does the nad cd player have inputs so you can use it as a dac for computer files? If it does I would question if a stand alone dac in this price range would be better than the one in the cd player. Perhaps consider holding off until you can purchase a dac in a higher bracket? For me in your price range i love my usb halide dac hd which has a very small footprint and no power cable. But input is usb only. 

As to your question yes files ripped from cds can sound great. "Better" is a matter of your cd player vs dac vs file types - basically comparing your overall implementation for reduced jitter, good conversion, etc. Look at the threads on ripping software before you get started. 
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jji666
454 posts
 
Check out the iFi line if you just need to use USB from a computer.  No frills but very good sound using the Sabre line of chips.  

In terms of relative quality to using a CD player, it depends a lot on the CD player you have and the computer you use (and the software).  Check out computeraudiophile.com for a number of different excellent computer configurations for digital audio.  I have truly found that eliminating moving and spinning parts (drives, fans, pumps) and going with a low wattage/heat system can make a significant difference in the sound.  You also don't want that computer doing anything else than playing the music.  
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