August 17, 201411 yr The line out of the motherboard in the desktop is as noisy as anything I have ever heard. It does have an optical out though... Last night I pulled out the bottlehead crack and hd650s and they sounded mighty fine. I loved them with the emotive xda1 and the xda2 is only $219 right now but I don't have the room for it. I haven't kept up with the dac market for the past few years. The PS Audio DL 3 works well with the speakers so I am not inclined to do anything with it but it is already being fed by an Apple TV and only has one optical input. Any suggestions for a dac that has an optical input in a similar budget (if need be I'll try to make room for the xda2 but I'd rather not)? Anything that has a low enough noise floor to work with the jh16s would be awesome as well. Might extend the budget a bit for that if both purposes are being solved. I tried Mike's Pico Slim a long time ago and could hear the hissing sound in the background so use that as your benchmark I guess in terms of noise floor.
August 17, 201411 yr Computer -> Dac = USB DAC ? Computer -> Apple TV = AirPlay N'est ce pas? Maybe you could get a surplus d-_-b geek-out for the computer->JH use case.
August 17, 201411 yr Grahame's USB suggestion seems the way to go, but if you're sticking with toslink there are quality optical switchers like http://inday.com/da4x/da4x.htm
August 17, 201411 yr why don't you use the same recommendations we give everyone else for these questions? You've been around long enough to know the answers, or how to find them.
August 17, 201411 yr I have a $15 DAC for sale on EBay that might work. I can send it over in a bubble envelope for you to try and you can throw it away if it doesnt work. Definitely meets your space requirements... Edited August 17, 201411 yr by luvdunhill
August 20, 201411 yr Schiit. Uber bifrost has a big following. I think Mike Sr has one. Yep. Hits well above its weight.
August 22, 201411 yr It does have some volume control issue, hence the good price. The Matrix stuff - I've had 3 of their products before - is very good, but I think it always falls a little short of the competition (albeit more expensive). EDIT: IMO Edited August 22, 201411 yr by skullguise
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