budget dac to go with Neco portable?

[nak]

Hello people of the grotto! I've been lurking here for the past few weeks and I've been all around the internet trying to absorb info.

I picked up from AKG k702s and I'm planning on getting a neco v2 portable tomorrow, which leaves a source to work out and it's the one that I've been finding the hardest to sort out. I'm looking for something that will give me a decent sized jump from my auzentech prelude pci card. I need to try and sort out something from this list. So any advice would be great. Price/performance ratio is a factor, but I can go as high as about £150

At the top end of my budget(some really stretching it)
E-mu 0404
edirol ua-25
Valab Nos DAC
HRT Music Streamer II
MF V-Dac
Beresford tc-7520

.. and at the lower end
M-audio Transit
edirol ua-1ex
nuforce udac

I'm open to anything I've missed or should re-consider. But I'm at a loss!

[elysion]

Maybe you should have a look at the Behringer FCA202 thread. Dirt-cheap and very low latencies guaranteed if you use it with OSX. I'm very happy with the FCA202, it's well worth the money I have spent.

FireWire is a much better interface for audio than USB.

On the very low end, the Behringer UCA222 is also an option. But as I have said: It's on the very low end... probably it's not as good as your PCI card. UCA222 is a really big-bang-for-the-back and IMHO better than the AUNE Nano USB DAC which cost twice as much.

If I understand you correctly, you use your computer as primary source and you don't need the DAC for other uses (like connecting hifi-gear).

Forget about the M-Audio products. Mediocre software support and lots of bugs are typical for them.

I don't have a nuForce uDAC, but I'm almost sure others will point you to have a look at it. It has gotten good critics and is in the same price range as the AUNE Nano USB DAC.

If you use the "DAC" only as DAC for your headamp then I guess an E-MU0404 is already overkill, because it offers more ports than you could use. I can't comment about the sound quality of the E-MU's and other DACs that I don't have.

I use my Behringer FCA202 with my Neco Mosfet V.2 and K702. It's a perfect match IMO that delivers very relaxed sound with enough resolution. I have two Neco Mosfet V.2's and one Neco Portable. The Portable sound also very good with the UCA222 although I'm almost sure it will sound even better with a more advanced DAC.

[nak]

Yes my computer is primary source, I also have a stereo amp and speakers so feeding the DAC into them without too much trouble would be a bonus. The FCA202 is certainly looking good for the price, I'm not sure how I've managed to miss this one.

[nak]

I should add, one thing that interests me is digitising some of my rare vinyl. Would the FCA202 be able to help in this regard? I know it's been mentioned when talking about the e-mu and m-audio boxes.

[elysion]

You have two mono input jacks one the FCA202. They are not balanced like the outputs. I can't comment about the quality of the inputs, but the outputs are quite fine to drive a headamp IMO (at least with OSX). I can't comment about Windows performance of the FCA202.

[nak]

thanks a lot. I think I'm down to v-dac, hrt music streamer 2, FCA202(price is a huge draw for this), and trailing at the back the nuforce udac.

[XTRProf]

If you want it cheap, don't forget a Zhaolu 3 or whatever as well. Sounds better than the Beresford after mode anytime in the pow-wow I attended about 2.5 years ago ........... Beresford is overrated in the Hifi scene. I'm confident the MF V-dac will brush aside the Bereford just like my MF X-Dac V3 had in that pow-wow ..........

Also, don't brush off the Nuforce as they do have some good stuffs as well. If you can diy, the SC Dac is also an option as it's similar to the MF X-dac V3 at a fraction of the price. Check out the SC Dac thread.

[nak]

In the end I went with what could be described as a sidegrade, I sold my Prelude and got a Xonar Essence ST with the proceeds(I had to put £15 towards the ST).

I've not tried the headphone amp yet, but using my neco v2 from the line out is doing great, thought not remarkably better than the auzentech.. It does look a lot nicer and has a fancy EMI shield with a gold plated tiger engraved on it. I never once had any EMI issues using the connections on the actual prelude, just on the front panel, which is to be expected from poorly shielded cables that are dragged across the centre of a pc interior.

At least I have the options to roll the three opamps in the ST now, more time and money on fiddling, what more does a man want?!