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Post by ottaone on Nov 14, 2010 13:28:21 GMT -5
Discussing with my son the pros and cons of using the XDA-1 or an audiophile-grade PC card like M-Audio Audiophile 2496 - www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496.html. Immediate use will be for his PC set up but long-term will be in his "basement studio". Any other good DACs at XDA-1 price but smaller form factor? Thanks. |
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iceman66
Emo VIPs 
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" The Great One
Posts: 1,083
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Post by iceman66 on Nov 14, 2010 13:41:12 GMT -5
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Post by jlafrenz on Nov 14, 2010 22:46:31 GMT -5
The M-Audio card is a decent card. I used one in my desktop setup until just recently when I replaced it with a NuForce UDAC. I have not directly compared it to any of my other DAC's. In my HTPC I have the Audiotrak Prodigy HD2. I was really pleased with the card, but any of the external DAC's I have put against it have better, to my ears anyway.
I use a Jolida DAC in my 2 channel system and it is great for just over $100. It is the size of a credit card. Only downfall is that it is USB only, if that matters.
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Post by bigmm79 on Nov 16, 2010 12:57:18 GMT -5
I'll be using both - the spdif out on the M-Audio card into my XDA-1.
My PC didn't have a digital out, so I'll be installing the card for that. Also hope to use the card's inputs to make some good digital recordings of some of my lps. I think the Cambridge Audio DacMagic is smaller than the XDA and it seems to have a good reputation.
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Post by rockguitar on Nov 16, 2010 19:30:26 GMT -5
For sound quality I would vote for a separate DAC than a sound card if you are using the analog outputs of the sound card. If you are going to use the digital output of the sound card to a DAC, that would be a different story. Computers are pretty noisy electrically and the analog outputs of the sound card would be subject to all the noise if it is inside like the M-audio. See this link for some possibilities of what you can choose between soundcards, dac's and audio interfaces, which have a built in dac. www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm |
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Post by rockguitar on Nov 16, 2010 19:36:08 GMT -5
The M-Audio card is a decent card. I used one in my desktop setup until just recently when I replaced it with a NuForce UDAC. I have not directly compared it to any of my other DAC's. In my HTPC I have the Audiotrak Prodigy HD2. I was really pleased with the card, but any of the external DAC's I have put against it have better, to my ears anyway. I use a Jolida DAC in my 2 channel system and it is great for just over $100. It is the size of a credit card. Only downfall is that it is USB only, if that matters. My, my, someone has gone a bit of a DAC buying spree  Is yours the UDAC2 or the original UDAC? Have you make any comparisons between the UDAC and Jolida and the Eastern Electric Minimax (I think that's what you have)? I've been thinking about getting the UDAC2 for my work computer. |
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Post by jlafrenz on Nov 16, 2010 20:04:22 GMT -5
The M-Audio card is a decent card. I used one in my desktop setup until just recently when I replaced it with a NuForce UDAC. I have not directly compared it to any of my other DAC's. In my HTPC I have the Audiotrak Prodigy HD2. I was really pleased with the card, but any of the external DAC's I have put against it have better, to my ears anyway. I use a Jolida DAC in my 2 channel system and it is great for just over $100. It is the size of a credit card. Only downfall is that it is USB only, if that matters. My, my, someone has gone a bit of a DAC buying spree Is yours the UDAC2 or the original UDAC? Have you make any comparisons between the UDAC and Jolida and the Eastern Electric Minimax (I think that's what you have)? I've been thinking about getting the UDAC2 for my work computer. It is the original UDAC. I have not compared it against the Jolida, yet. It is on my list of things to do. Once I get the XDA-1 I plan to see if I can borrow a Cambridge DAC Magic and have a big DAC comparison session. I don't have the Eastern Electric DAC. I had a Pacific Valve Fathom at one time, but sent it back. |
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Post by ottaone on Nov 16, 2010 21:19:27 GMT -5
I spoke to "Emotiva, this is Janna" this afternoon to provide my CC info for XDA. I'll see if I can compare it to PCI and PCIe sound cards.
I'll also look into the others suggested in this thread. Thanks for the suggestions.
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Post by BigV10 on Nov 21, 2010 2:26:03 GMT -5
I'm also curious to see what kind of improvements I may see in SQ with the XDA-1. I currently use a Mac Pro which can output up to 24/96 through the 1/8" jack. I'm running that directly into a UPA-2 and control volume with iTunes. To me it sounds great even with source sample rates above 16/44.1. I'd really like to use the optical out running into the XDA-1 though.
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Post by GreenKiwi on Nov 23, 2010 2:48:32 GMT -5
I'll try to see if I can hear a difference between the XDA and the RME-9632. I'm going to have both at work... set up with Sen 650's.
I'd also point out that the 9632 is in a different league from any M-Audio card I've listened too. It's dead silent and very dynamic.
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Is yours the UDAC2 or the original UDAC? Have you make any comparisons between the UDAC and Jolida and the Eastern Electric Minimax (I think that's what you have)? I've been thinking about getting the UDAC2 for my work computer.
