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USB DAC for Pro Audio PC Application

Today at church the special music reminded me of how bad things sound when played from the computer.  In this case it was an mp3 file.  I don't know much the sound card in the computer, but am thinking that getting a USB DAC might improve the sound quality.  It's not a fancy system and a relatively small church, but if I could improve it by adding a budget USB DAC it would comfort my ears.

Here's the list that I've started:

Audioquest Dragonfly Black - $130

Audioengine D3 - $99

Fosi Audio DS2 - $60

Creative Labs Sound Blaster - $20

I don't need anything but the DAC, any suggestions/recommendations?  At this point I'm leaning towards the $20 option to test the theory of it making a difference.

mceljo
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 

I ended up going with this:

ART USB DI USB to Transformer Balanced XLR Analog Converter https://a.co/d/6GqQH6m

It’s a DAC that will also send a balanced signal to the board.

 

 

jorjlien's avatar
jorjlien
52 posts
 

iFi Hip Dac 

$146 USD 

 

mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 

I was able to do an initial setup of the ART USB DI USB to Transformer Balanced XLR Analog Converter today and it seems like a clear improvement for the system. We didn’t have the right cables, so couldn’t leave it setup, but will get it sorted next week. 

mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 

In case anyone ever reads this in the future, the new DAC seemed to make a nice improvement for last weeks service.  I was grateful that we had it hooked up as we had the uncommon opportunity to play songs from seven different CDs.  I'm sure some of the improvement was that we ripped the songs in .WAV when most people show up with .mp3 files on a thumb drive, but the bass had more definition and clarity that I can ever remember it having.  I may try to do a little more comparison between file types and also the computers analog output, but all indications are that the upgrade was a success.

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