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I have mixed feelings about standalone USB dac/amps these days. Back in the early days of digital audio, they made a huge difference. For example, when the Co

by hedora 3y ago

I have mixed feelings about standalone USB dac/amps these days. Back in the early days of digital audio, they made a huge difference. For example, when the Cowon U2 portable audio player came out: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/cowon-iaudio-u2-review/ https://www.cnet.com/reviews/cowon-iaudio-u2-review/ The iPod basically couldn't output bass because their dac couldn't maintain anything close to a square wave. (There used to be online comparisons of this thing with the iPod, similar to what you linked.) However, that was 20 years ago, and it hit -95db of hiss, 20-20khz frequency response, with way more power than is needed for in-ear monitors (which is my use case). Apple ended up shipping an iPod with a non-terrible DAC the next year (I think the touch was the first one? Can't remember). Anyway, now you kind of have to go off the beaten path to find consumer stuff that's perceptibly worse than ideal. In particular, you can get a USB-C -> headphone dongle from apple that's actually a decent DAC for $9 (look at the THD graph. They use the $9 Apple as the cutoff between "yellow" and "green"): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-spectra-x-dac-amp.6861/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r... These days, if you're getting noticeably bad performance out of your laptop DAC, it's probably a shielding or grounding issue. The standalone USB DAC will fix that, but only if it's externally powered + grounded (or if you get lucky with how your laptop is wired / shielded), but so would bluetooth (which even supports lossless audio as of 2021).

jameshart 3y ago
> couldn't output bass because their dac couldn't maintain anything close to a square wave Isn't the defining characteristic of a square wave the fact accurate reproduction of it requires the ability to produce high frequencies? Why would that be particularly problematic for bass?
- heyoni 3y ago
  Because bass is low frequencies I imagine.
jimmaswell 3y ago
My ~2021 laptop is ok with noise but isn't powerful enough for my 32ohm headphones. My desktop's too noisy, especially for recording onto tape decks which I want to do sometimes. Also not entirely powerful enough from what I recall. A usb/bluetooth dac for my laptop/phone (standard phone usb-3.5mm adapter's not powerful enough either) and a toslink dac for my desktop solved all my problems. Toslink's an awesome nuclear option to buzz/noise because it's 100% isolated by virtue of being light. I also enjoy being able to boost the bass/mess with the EQ easily.
- hedora 3y ago
  That makes sense, but it sounds like you’re really paying for the amp and the integrated dac is basically free / convenient.
  - jimmaswell 3y ago
    Various kinds of noise have been problems too even on modern computers, like ground hum or interference. Often I can hear the interference on a desktop change with the screen's brightness. I think on laptops I've had the issue depending on if the charger is plugged in or not. Problem's eliminated with an external DAC/amp. Motherboard DAC's must be cheap/lazy because there's no technical reason this couldn't be done with an internal one.

by hedora 3y ago

jameshart 3y ago

> couldn't output bass because their dac couldn't maintain anything close to a square wave Isn't the defining characteristic of a square wave the fact accurate reproduction of it requires the ability to produce high frequencies? Why would that be particularly problematic for bass?

heyoni 3y ago
Because bass is low frequencies I imagine.

jimmaswell 3y ago

My ~2021 laptop is ok with noise but isn't powerful enough for my 32ohm headphones. My desktop's too noisy, especially for recording onto tape decks which I want to do sometimes. Also not entirely powerful enough from what I recall. A usb/bluetooth dac for my laptop/phone (standard phone usb-3.5mm adapter's not powerful enough either) and a toslink dac for my desktop solved all my problems. Toslink's an awesome nuclear option to buzz/noise because it's 100% isolated by virtue of being light. I also enjoy being able to boost the bass/mess with the EQ easily.

hedora 3y ago
That makes sense, but it sounds like you’re really paying for the amp and the integrated dac is basically free / convenient.
- jimmaswell 3y ago
  Various kinds of noise have been problems too even on modern computers, like ground hum or interference. Often I can hear the interference on a desktop change with the screen's brightness. I think on laptops I've had the issue depending on if the charger is plugged in or not. Problem's eliminated with an external DAC/amp. Motherboard DAC's must be cheap/lazy because there's no technical reason this couldn't be done with an internal one.