Hi-end Hi-Fi music player

General system Gaming, sound and video
21

Yes, I know. I’m saving for a decent USB DAC. Damn, wish I played the lottery.

2 Likes
22

That’s not why I chose Strawberry, but because there the development is better maintained (at least currently still).

2 Likes
23

If you want a USB DAC specifically designed for headphones, here is what I use

Of course, if you want to feed the signal to a high tech stereo system, this won’t help much.

They also have the DragonFly Red, and the DragonFly Cobalt.

Pudge

EDIT:
Ooops, this ended up directed to r0ckhopper. I meant 33nicolas.

3 Likes
24

No problem, and thanks for the tip. I wonder if there are dual USB-DACs, for stereo plugins and headsets.

1 Like
25

This is the one I use and like to recommend (no advertising, only satisfied user!):

But there are many other good amplifiers in this price range!

3 Likes
26

Does the music player really matter? I always thought sound quality was a matter “only” of good hardware and good files.

2 Likes
27

No, the music player shouldn’t matter.

We are living in the golden age of hi-fi equipment. At prices lower than ever, we can buy audio equipment that is free of any distortion perceptible to the human ear.

(I’m talking about the equipment between your digital source, whether you’re streaming or playing a local file, and the headphones or speakers you use. A high-quality DAC and headphone amplifier can’t compensate for a poor recording, a low bit-rate or highly compressed audio stream, or low-quality headphones or speakers.)

I’m about to refer to reviews of audio equipment on this site, which I recommend:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/

On this site, equipment with a signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD) less than -120 dB is considered transparent to the human ear.

For example, for less than $200, you can buy an excellent USB DAC with built-in headphone amplifier, and RCA outputs for a conventional analog hi-fi amplifier.

There are also on this site numerous reviews of headphones and standalone amplifiers.

4 Likes
28

Cantata works fine for me. Podcast, huge music library , some online services. Feel free to test

Cantata

1 Like
29

Cantata is very good. However, sadly the developer has ceased development https://github.com/cdrummond/cantata.

There is a fork available at https://github.com/buckmelanoma/cantata-next, but you’d have to build it yourself at the moment.

2 Likes
30

Thanks, I had heard Cantata had stopped being maintained. I’ll check it out.

1 Like
31

Thank you, didnt know that. Gonna try Cantata-Next.

1 Like
32

Slightly off-topic but I assume you all know about https://www.head-fi.org/ ?

2 Likes
33

I use Tempotec Sonata E44 USB dac. You can get it under $100 for a good quality sound. Just need a little research :wink:

1 Like
34

Thanks, good to know. And yes, a little research is turning up all sorts of wild things. I read some of the online hi-fi magazines and as much as $500,000 could buy me a kicking audio experience, $100 is more my budget :slight_smile:

1 Like