Giant Killer Doorway DAC?

I must agree Modi MB stands tall among cheap dacs.

FYI and FWIW -- I gave myself one of these as a Christmas present.
I am not exactly sure why -- it wasn't exactly a carefully reasoned out* purchasing decision.


Further details as (and if) events warrant.

🤭



_____________________
* Common sense and rational decision making have never been two of my core competencies.

I got myself a used Halide HD dac (discontinued) and it is my best sounding DAC for low res Spotify.

Mortsnets said:

I got myself a used Halide HD dac (discontinued) and it is my best sounding DAC for low res Spotify.

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Ive heard good things about it, although I’ve never heard one. How does it do on non Spotify material?

It was mentioned before in this thread but I'll repeat the recommendation for the Khadas Tone Board. It's a bare USB + coax SPDIF dac which goes for around $100. Even with case and power supply, one should be under $150, unless one goes with a very expensive power supply. It punches way above its weight and in my system and friend's systems seems to be competitive with DACs going for much much more.
---Gary

GaryB said:

It was mentioned before in this thread but I'll repeat the recommendation for the Khadas Tone Board. It's a bare USB + coax SPDIF dac which goes for around $100. Even with case and power supply, one should be under $150, unless one goes with a very expensive power supply. It punches way above its weight and in my system and friend's systems seems to be competitive with DACs going for much much more.
---Gary

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I'd like to build one of those, what did you use for a case?

Sonore sells this in a case as the toneDAC, however that will set one back $299.

Prime Minister said:

Ive heard good things about it, although I’ve never heard one. How does it do on non Spotify material?

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It is not as detailed or exciting as the Modi Multibit so on other CD or higher quality sources I feel I am missing something.

MikeyFresh said:

I'd like to build one of those, what did you use for a case?

Sonore sells this in a case as the toneDAC, however that will set one back $299 sans power supply.

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I run mine "au naturel", i.e. just the bare board sitting on a piece of cardboard.
You can buy acrylic cases for between $14 and $30. Amazon used to have the cheap one but I didn't see it when I just looked. It is available on Aliexpress if you don't mind buying from overseas.
---Gary

GaryB said:

I run mine "au naturel", i.e. just the bare board sitting on a piece of cardboard.
You can buy acrylic cases for between $14 and $30. Amazon used to have the cheap one but I didn't see it when I just looked. It is available on Aliexpress if you don't mind buying from overseas.
---Gary

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i now have 2 of these. one at work and one at home. super detailed. i did buy a case advertised on amazon but it was super cheapo: plastic broke as i was trying to assemble it (plus no real instructions for assembly):

One neat thing about the Khadas is that it doesn't draw too much power so it's possible to run it off of batteries. I've tried using a 13000mah power bank and after 12 hours the battery isn't even 1/2 discharged. I haven't done rigorous testing but I think the battery sounds better than a simple switching power supply. A good power line filter that prevents switching power supply noise from getting into the other stereo gear narrows the difference considerably.
The Khadas allows you to wire up an external 5v supply and it will automatically take power from that in preference to the USB, so that's on my list of projects. But it sounds good enough with the power bank that I'm not in a big hurry.
---Gary

GaryB said:

One neat thing about the Khadas is that it doesn't draw too much power so it's possible to run it off of batteries. I've tried using a 13000mah power bank and after 12 hours the battery isn't even 1/2 discharged. I haven't done rigorous testing but I think the battery sounds better than a simple switching power supply. A good power line filter that prevents switching power supply noise from getting into the other stereo gear narrows the difference considerably.
The Khadas allows you to wire up an external 5v supply and it will automatically take power from that in preference to the USB, so that's on my list of projects. But it sounds good enough with the power bank that I'm not in a big hurry.
---Gary

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gary,
i didn't realize you can use that spdif input. for some reason, i assumed you could only use the usb for the music input.
have you tried both? comparison?
thanks,
doug

rogerfederer said:

. . . didn't realize you can use that spdif input . . . have you tried both? comparison?

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Doug,
So far I've only used the spdif input, so I can't comment on usb vs. spdif. Right now I'm feeding the Khadas from a tweaked Squeezebox, which still sounds really good. I've got a Microrendu that I could hook up but it would be a big project to get it working. I'd need to hook up wifi to the Microrendu and then pick up a USB-B to USB-C cable before I could make the comparison. So it could take a while before I get around to it.
---Gary

I just need to say this...
"Khadas" looks to me like a phonetic spelling of the way someone from up heah in my neck of the woods would pronounce Cardas.

mhardy6647 said:

I just need to say this...
"Khadas" looks to me like a phonetic spelling of the way someone from up heah in my neck of the woods would pronounce Cardas.

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Kinda like.....

GaryB said:

. . . but it would be a big project to get it working. I'd need to hook up wifi to the Microrendu and then pick up a USB-B to USB-C cable before I could make the comparison. So it could take a while before I get around to it.

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Correction - I only needed a standard USB to USB-C cable, which already came with the Khadas. And I had a portable netgear travel router which was easy to hook up as a wifi-ethernet bridge. So I did the following comparison.

1) Modified Squeezebox Duet to Khadas via spdif. Squeezebox hooks up to my music server via wifi.

2) Sonore microrendu (with linear supply) to Khadas via USB. The microrendu is set up as a Squeezelite endpoint, i.e. as a Squeezebox. The microrendu hooks up to my music server via wifi, with the netgear travel router acting as a wifi-ethernet bridge.

And the winner is . . . Microrendu to Khadas via USB. Sound is a bit more 3 dimensional. Whether this is due to the USB vs. SPDIF inputs or the quality of the Microrendu vs. the Squeezebox is an exercise left to the reader.

---Gary

GaryB said:

Correction - I only needed a standard USB to USB-C cable, which already came with the Khadas. And I had a portable netgear travel router which was easy to hook up as a wifi-ethernet bridge. So I did the following comparison.

1) Modified Squeezebox Duet to Khadas via spdif. Squeezebox hooks up to my music server via wifi.

2) Sonore microrendu (with linear supply) to Khadas via USB. The microrendu is set up as a Squeezelite endpoint, i.e. as a Squeezebox. The microrendu hooks up to my music server via wifi, with the netgear travel router acting as a wifi-ethernet bridge.

And the winner is . . . Microrendu to Khadas via USB. Sound is a bit more 3 dimensional. Whether this is due to the USB vs. SPDIF inputs or the quality of the Microrendu vs. the Squeezebox is an exercise left to the reader.

---Gary

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Cool; thanks for giving it a try!

rogerfederer said:

Cool; thanks for giving it a try!

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You're welcome. And thanks for prompting me to do the experiment.
Since I've got a rather fancy USB-SPDIF converter/reclocker, I thought I'd add another datapoint by connecting the Microrendu to the Khadas SPDIF input via the USB-SPDIF converter. This improved the sound of the SPDIF input to the point where it sounded as good or perhaps better than the USB input.

I'll extrapolate these sparse data points and say that there's not much difference between the USB or SPDIF inputs. The quality of the sound is determined by the quality of the bits being fed into the Khadas. What I'm really hearing is the improvement in sound quality from a more modern streamer (the microrendu) compared to a now long in the tooth streamer (the squeezebox).

While I really like the improvement in sound that I'm getting with the microrendu and Khadas, there are drawbacks. Using the microrendu means that there are many little boxes all strung together (wifi bridge, power supply, microrendu, and for the best sound a usb-spdif converter/reclocker). It sure would be nice if all this stuff was combined in one unit.

---Gary

Coming in under the OP's $300 stated budget is the new Allo Revolution DAC, at $259 sans power supply:



Preorder for this unit started today, with shipments expected starting June 4th.

This unit is not USB bus powered, so all-in with a PSU it will be over the $300 budget, but it looks cool from a number of perspectives and offers some design elements that I don't think otherwise exist at this price point.

• Sync/Async modes are both available, use or skip the ESS Sabre onboard DPLL
• 2nd and 3rd order harmonics of THD can be adjusted for a more euphonic or clean sound
• Oversampling filter full bypass
• Rear panel GND post

This unit measures incredibly well for the price point (between -122 and -124dB THD), however the designer believes it sounds better with settings that measure worse, which is why they offer the above adjustability.

This is a cool option if USB is your input of choice, especially if you already have a suitable 5V power supply on hand. Looks like they intend for folks to use Allo's own Shanti PSU at $159 with its 5V 3A output motivating a Raspberry Pi streamer, and the 5V 1A output powering the Revolution DAC.

I like that Shanti PSU as well, except for those captive umbilicals, they look a bit cheesy to me however maybe they are less objectionable in person. I know they do that for the lowest possible output impedance compared to panel mount jack connectors, but I'm sure I'd modify it if I owned one, either with jacks or probably just higher quality captive leads, something like Gotham GAC-4/1 UltraPro would seem ideal.

rogerfederer said:

i now have 2 of these. one at work and one at home. super detailed. i did buy a case advertised on amazon but it was super cheapo: plastic broke as i was trying to assemble it (plus no real instructions for assembly):

Amazon.com: youyeetoo Khadas Clear Acrylic Case for Tone Board: Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: youyeetoo Khadas Clear Acrylic Case for Tone Board: Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.com

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Same exact experience - ended up cracked while trying to figure out how it fit together. But it's a great DAC.
Does anyone have experience with the Soncoz LA-QXD1? $199 successor to the ToneBoard by the same designer (at least that's what I read).

The Modi Multibit is so good that in the last few weeks I am constantly hovering over the Yggy buy button on Schiit's website... When is my Tax refund getting here??