I am looking to build a new system, dynamic balanced or ('low-end') electrostatic. And I know that a good source is important, so what USB DAC should I choose? I have a Pico at the moment and I realized that I don't need portability so I may get something better. So far I looked at the Stello DA100S or the Cambridge Audio DacMagic but I suspect there are many other options. Thanks in advance.

The dac only pico is on the horizon...

I am looking to build a new system, dynamic balanced or ('low-end') electrostatic. And I know that a good source is important, so what USB DAC should I choose? I have a Pico at the moment and I realized that I don't need portability so I may get something better. So far I looked at the Stello DA100S or the Cambridge Audio DacMagic but I suspect there are many other options. Thanks in advance.

The dac only pico is on the horizon...

And the pico isn't balanced. If you are going to spend the money for a balanced system, don't stint on the source. Get a good balanced source too.

And the pico isn't balanced. If you are going to spend the money for a balanced system, don't stint on the source. Get a good balanced source too.

Yes I know, that's why I've written those two and waiting for your other recommendations Some balanced amplifiers do accept unbalanced input as well, does it hurt the SQ badly?

Depends entirely on the source. And the amp. And your environment.

I'm kinda in the same boat as padam, except I'd probably lean more towards vintage or DIY.

Icarium says old Parasound, Sonic Frontiers, Levinson, and possibly Theta are good. But which models should I be looking for? What are some good DIY DACs?

I've never heard them, but have heard good things about the old Assemblage DACs (kits) from Sonic Frontiers. They have the reputation of being very good up front and also being very tweakable.

The Buffalo gets a lot of good press, haven't heard mine yet. And before it the Opus was pretty well thought of although I'm only reporting what I've heard here. You might search the site and find out who owns or has owned one and ask them directly.

The Assemblage can be balanced at the builder's discretion? Or no?

Is that better or worse than the TransDAC?

I'm not entirely sure who else owns/owned the TPA stuff, but I've read comments here and there from SACD Lover and swt61. Keeping an eye on naamanf's loaner program thread...

Sonic Frontiers/Assemblage are essentially gone. All those dacs we discussed are vintage and so very few (If any) of them have USB input. If that is a criteria then they aren't suitable.

Sonic Frontiers/Assemblage are essentially gone. All those dacs we discussed are vintage and so very few (If any) of them have USB input. If that is a criteria then they aren't suitable.

Oops, forgot about the requirement for USB input. I already knew that any Assemblage DAC would have to be bought used. I wonder how hard it would be to add a USB input to one and whether it would be worth it. Time to use your product to find USB dacs.

Ok, here's a quick (and definitely not exhaustive) list of USB DACS to get started:

1. Wavelength Brick - retails for $1750. You might find one used for $1000 or less.

2. Wavelength Proton - coming soon. Will retail for $900.

3. Stello DA100 - $695

4. Apogee Mini-DAC - $895

Note that I've not heard any of these DACs and, to the best of my knowledge) all are single-ended.

The Apogee Mini-DAC has both single ended and balanced outputs.

The minidac doesn't really have single ended outputs, unless you count the horrid sounding minijack.

The CEC DA53 is a pretty good balanced dac with USB input.

FYI, Mini-DAC doesn't have an option for USB anymore, unless you find one used with it. Also, when they did used to have one with USB, MSRP was $1095.

2. Wavelength Proton - coming soon. Will retail for $900.

I didnt even know about this "Proton" gizmo. Google showed a blurb about it on Computer Audiophile, written all the way back in January, and it was listed as "coming soon" \

I didnt even know about this "Proton" gizmo. Google showed a blurb about it on Computer Audiophile, written all the way back in January, and it was listed as "coming soon" \

I read about it on the USB DACs web site. This is part of Wavelength Audio. Of course, coming soon has the same precise meaning as ASAP.

Oops. I forgot about the USB part and the SE part of this thread, so I was pretty off-topic. Sorry bout that.

Anyway, if I go from a sound card's digital out, will that be approximately the same quality as USB? Or maybe just use a Thingee or HagUSB or something?

It depends.

It can quite possibly be better. People talk a lot of smack about USB and who knows what happens in conversion. Maybe someone with the tech know-how can comment on this...

thats my cue!

anyone heard of the scott nixon dac?

http://www.scott-nixon.com/

Looks pretty cool doesn't it? Especially with the upgraded power supply.

I have been impressed with Blutarsky's Stello DA100 every time I listen to it, and the USB DAC sounds pretty good when the upsampling is left on. With upsampling bypassed the USB is a little thinner and less spacious sounding. The DA100 signature adds balanced output too.

At the Colorado head-fi meet last weekend, the DA100 was clearly better than the DACMagic which was a little too polite sounding. My Apogee mini-DAC was marginally better than the DA100, and it needs the sigma 11 PSU to smooth it out a bit and beat the Stello by a hair. Others agreed my Apogee was a little more detailed but they preferred the Stello more because they were concerned about possible fatigue with the Apogee. Fatigue really hasn't been a problem for me.

With Headroom's current sale pricing and provided you don't mind the 1/8" output I'd be hard pressed not to take a long look at the Ultra Micro DAC. I love my MAX DAC based source.

AudiogoN ForSale: Stello DA 100 Signature

This guy sells the Signature model for 100 bucks more than the standard DA100. 875 shipped.