Desktop 2.0 & 2.1 speaker discussion thread VI [consolidated]

sacredrays

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would getting the creative stage v2 be a good replacement for the creative gigaworks t3?
 

dreamaurora

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Ok, I just impulse bought a pair of NHT C1s from local Amazon for less than $90 each. Now need to get an amplifier. Any recommendation where to get a basic 2.0 amplifier locally, budget max $200. Sound source is EVGA Nu Audio in my desktop PC.
 

zzzzzzz

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SMSL Sankrit Mk II black colour for about $110 after cashback, is it worth to buy?

Pairing it with Edifier R1280DB. Currently using Creative Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE, which is a Realtek ALC898 based card
:(
 

dreamaurora

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Buy Nuforce UDAC3 from local Amazon instead. It’s like $70 now. Last time it went down to around $50, but now left one in stock, so...

If you want to wait the EVGA Nu Audio is going down in price again. At one point it was below $100 SGD. Bought it around $110.

SMSL Sankrit Mk II black colour for about $110 after cashback, is it worth to buy?

Pairing it with Edifier R1280DB. Currently using Creative Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE, which is a Realtek ALC898 based card
:(
 

zzzzzzz

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Buy Nuforce UDAC3 from local Amazon instead. It’s like $70 now. Last time it went down to around $50, but now left one in stock, so...

If you want to wait the EVGA Nu Audio is going down in price again. At one point it was below $100 SGD. Bought it around $110.

thanks, think am going away from sound cards moving forwards, so i guess the EVGA card is out of consideration

is Nuforce UDAC good?
not familiar with the different brands out there
:(
 

dreamaurora

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Yes it’s one of proper DAC brands out there.

thanks, think am going away from sound cards moving forwards, so i guess the EVGA card is out of consideration

is Nuforce UDAC good?
not familiar with the different brands out there
:(
 

zzzzzzz

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Bought the SMSL Sanskrit 10th Mk II, waiting to receive it

first time trying a DAC, very excited, looking forward to how it sounds even though i using cheap R1280DB and lousy sound quality sources

The best internal DAC (soundcard) i ever had was some Audigy 2 with gold connectors, cant remember which version. The Audigy FX which replaced it sounded audibly worse for what it is.

After using the Audigy Fx for like 6 years, finally decided to replace it.
:(
 

dreamaurora

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I had Audigy 2 too and it was one of the better ones in the past. Then changed to Xonar Essence which was really awesome. Now using EVGA Nu Audio which is scarily crystal clear even using my Creative T40. Just ordered a pair of audiophile passive speakers NHT C1, first time going a bit more high end, hopefully not poisoned further.

Bought the SMSL Sanskrit 10th Mk II, waiting to receive it

first time trying a DAC, very excited, looking forward to how it sounds even though i using cheap R1280DB and lousy sound quality sources

The best internal DAC (soundcard) i ever had was some Audigy 2 with gold connectors, cant remember which version. The Audigy FX which replaced it sounded audibly worse for what it is.

After using the Audigy Fx for like 6 years, finally decided to replace it.
:(
 

zzzzzzz

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I had Audigy 2 too and it was one of the better ones in the past. Then changed to Xonar Essence which was really awesome. Now using EVGA Nu Audio which is scarily crystal clear even using my Creative T40. Just ordered a pair of audiophile passive speakers NHT C1, first time going a bit more high end, hopefully not poisoned further.
Yup good old audigy with EMU chip was great in those days

Yup, this is an addictive and slippery slope
:(
 

zephyr11

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Bought the SMSL Sanskrit 10th Mk II, waiting to receive it

first time trying a DAC, very excited, looking forward to how it sounds even though i using cheap R1280DB and lousy sound quality sources

The best internal DAC (soundcard) i ever had was some Audigy 2 with gold connectors, cant remember which version. The Audigy FX which replaced it sounded audibly worse for what it is.

After using the Audigy Fx for like 6 years, finally decided to replace it.
:(



if your source is not good, then please don't expect your dac to do wonders.
 

zephyr11

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Ok, I just impulse bought a pair of NHT C1s from local Amazon for less than $90 each. Now need to get an amplifier. Any recommendation where to get a basic 2.0 amplifier locally, budget max $200. Sound source is EVGA Nu Audio in my desktop PC.


carouhell, should have some in your budget.
 

zzzzzzz

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if your source is not good, then please don't expect your dac to do wonders.

ALC887 onboard to Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE - not much of an audible difference

Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE to SMSL Sankrit 10th Mk II - not much of an audible difference too

ALC887 onboard to SMSL Sankrit 10th MK II - seems like got some audible difference or maybe i wanted to hear the difference since i spent money on it
:(
 

wwenze

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ALC887 onboard to Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE - not much of an audible difference

Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE to SMSL Sankrit 10th Mk II - not much of an audible difference too

ALC887 onboard to SMSL Sankrit 10th MK II - seems like got some audible difference or maybe i wanted to hear the difference since i spent money on it
:(

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/smsl-sanskrit-10th-mk-ii-dac-review.12148/

The problem with buying a DAC that is designed with good measurements as the goal

Is that the same people doing the math also say you can't hear a difference based on the numbers.

It's still a good product, so no harm using it for peace of mind.

Btw regarding your earlier statement regarding Audigy 2, I used to have an Audigy (original) which I used SPDIF out with and I also found it sound different (subjectively better) than other solutions. Bear in mind that these other solutions have passed the DTS test for bit-perfectness while the Audigy didn't.

I found it better partly because it had the bass/treble adjustment in driver settings. But one known fact at that time was the Audigy and Audigy 2 cards and derivatives had a screwed up resampling system that forces the output to always be 48kHz regardless of actual input sampling rate. This is like the old limitation of AC97 and is probably related since Audigy(2) used AC97 connection to the codec.

In any case, point is to me the Audigy and likely closely-related derivatives did sound different, but that is mostly because of screwups, not due to superior performance.
 
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zzzzzzz

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zzzzzzz

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One strange thing i noticed was audio stuttering on the SMSL DAC whenever i did something on my PC like opening new tabs, launching applications etc.

Initially i thought it was DPC latency.

After some investigation i suspected my usb port voltage was fluctuating whenever i did something with my pc which required more processing power.

I found an old 5v usb charger, plugged it into the aux power input of the SMSL DAC and the stuttering was gone. Suspicions confirmed.
:(
 

wwenze

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Toms says $2 and $2,000 DAC got no audible difference too.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733-19.html

:(

Only Siths deal in absolutes.

Engineers get data that is in-between and the management keeps pushing the engineer for a conclusion but the engineer can only say "it depends" while not being at the pay grade to make decisions.

Do cables make a difference? You bet it does. I once tried 28 AWG LAN cables for speaker cable, it sounded like ass. If we go even cheaper, I once tried air for cable, and the impedance matching was so bad I couldn't hear any sound from the speakers.

Everything matters when you have none of it. Then it starts to matter less and less the more you have it. Onboard sound is sufficient in most situations, but the noise is still audible in some situations.

Technological improvements have lowered the price point at which it stops mattering. In the past we would spend $200 to buy a better quality vacuum tube that has better linearity than a $20 one. Now we buy transistors, like, $2 for 50000 in an intergrated circuit. And when acceptable/detectable performance stops being correlated to price, then we get our current situation in audio. Where performance stops being correlated to price and starts being correlated to bullsh*t. I'm referring to products that actually measure worse than $2 ones, like DIY USB cables, or Audio-GD DACs. However in applications where such performance deficiencies are detectable and unacceptable, people still pay high price to get the required performance, and that is where Benchmark DAC find their customers.

Note that the $2 refers to the price of the ALC889 DAC (and that's for bulk orders), and not everything else that is needed to run it. The ES9018 used in Benchmark DAC2 costs $55 each in small order.

There are $2 USB soundcards, and they perform even worse than onboard sound.
 

jedi5diah

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USB pwr DACs are more susceptible to noise, ext pwr option is always good.

Sent from X3 using GAGT
 

ykeng82

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Hi, any idea where I can purchase Kanto yu6? Out of stock at Swee Lee. Can't seem to find this anywhere else other than overseas.
 
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