What would you buy Sub $350 Firewire/USB DAC


Hello and thank you for reading my post.

I have a pair of B&W DM 610s with a Music Fidelity B1 amplifier. My old ADC CD player is slowly passing away, and I've been thinking of using my IBM X61 laptop as an audio source.

Here is a short list that I'm considering, and I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Best,

Music Prof.

StyleAudio Carat-HD1V
Styleaudio Peridot USB DAC
Fubar III
DIYEDEN SVDAC05 USB DAC
DIYEDEN SVDAC04 USB DAC
Blue Circle USB
AudioSector USB NOS DAC
Apogee Mini-DAC w/USB option
Peter Daniel NOS USB DAC
DacMagic Digital to Analogue Converter
Peter Daniel USB DAC
KECES 151 USB DAC
KECES DA-131 USB DAC
Vintage Audio Lab DAC
Squeezebox classic
Musiland MD 10 Bit Select USB DAC
DIYEDEN SVDAC05 USB DAC
Yulong DAH 1 USB DAC
music_prof
For pure goofiness, go with the Blue Circle "Thingy" and save a lot of money.

If you want to stick with something built in the US by a fellow Northern Ohioan, buy a used Ultra Fi iRoc. Another nice thing about the iRoc is tha Larry Moore still lives in Ohio (Cincinnati) and service or upgrades would never be an issue. He also typically allows trade-ins toward his newer product. Plus, you can call Larry up on the phone most any time and get product engineering details or other information about his products.

Enjoy,

TIC
http://whathifi.com/Review/Musical-Fidelity-V-DAC/ offered a positive review but indicated that the latest Cambridge Audio DACMagic offered better value.

Of course, I would love to have an A/B comparison.

My computer does have a firewire output, but it appears that the Apogee mini-dac runs about $1000. Do you think it possible to find one used in my price range?

Two things:

1) I know that I am asking for a lot for a little
2) I really appreciate everyone's input; since I can't listen to all of these options, it is great to have opinions from those who have had the opportunity to listen to some of these items.

Thanks again to all,

--Patrick

Given that Mr. Moore lives within driving distance from me, that is quite attractive.

A little searching makes me think that his products even at a used price might fall well outside my price range. I'll keep an eye open just in case!!!

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to drop him a line either...

Best,

--Patrick

Considering the dozens of choices that is a bit of a "short list". ;)

I've considered several possibilites as well over the last year or two. So what did I end up with? A pro rather than consumer audio piece in the Focusrite Saffire Le which connects the computer via firewire. I also have a NOS tube DAC in the Paradisea+ (non-USB version).

www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire_le/
I have a piece of hardware similar to the Focusrite--an M-Audio Fast Track Pro that I use for dumping midi and misc. audio into ProTools. While I find this to a useful piece of hardware, I never considered the output to be that good. I suspect that the DACs with the M-Audio aren't quite as good as those in the Focusrite.

The M-Audio does offer digital output, however. I wonder if I could use that with a non-USB DAC but remain concerned that it would be one more piece of equipment (and an extra variable) in the line.

I placed an offer for an iRoc that's listed on this forum, but I doubt the seller will consider it as it is worth much more than I can afford to offer for now.