DAC for a pair of studio monitors?

Communities Audio Hardware & Music
1

I recently took the plunge and grabbed a pair of Yamaha HS8s which sound amazing! But there is static if I use the integrated 3.5mm port on my motherboard.

I don’t need anything crazy as these are powered monitors, but the DAC must play nice with Linux and prefereably BSD as I don’t run Windows/OSX.

Suggestions?

2

You will be needing a DAC and Amp, a DAC itself will not drive a pair of headphones. All it does is take a digital signal and turn it into an analouge (electrical) wave form that the human ear can interpret. The amp is meant to bump up the amplitude of said weak analouge wave form.

I recommend something like the FiiO E10K, as it is cheap and easy to use and has a fairly flat (though slightly warm) amp. I can not personally vouch for the Linux thing though. It should get rid of the static thing for you though.

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3

But I don't have headphones. I have powered studio monitors. I just need a DAC.

4

I did not realize they were powered, my bad.

6

Fiio E10k

  • I've had one for over two years
  • They sound incredible (detail, flat response, low NSR)
  • works perfectly with linux (tested)
  • even works from phone OTG usb cable.
  • Digital and USB input
  • line out and headphone amp out

i would recommend getting a tiny mixer for your active monitors if you don't already have an easy way to control their volume.

7

Depending on your budget I would get something ES9018 or PCM1704UK based. This is a quality choice IMO: I have the NFB-15 DAC and headphone amp and it's GREAT. http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/NFB12016/NFB12016EN.htm

8

I ended up purchasing an ODAC Rev B but it has surprisingly not resolved my issues. If I use my LG V10 phone as the source rather than my PC there is zero static.

Are there anyone out there who has run into similar issues?

9

Sometimes I find if the power for my computer and monitors is coming from the same power strip I have issues. I can hear the static the monitors produces change as my GPU usage goes up so I am assuming that its realted to power draw and crosstalk. I solved the problem by hooking the computer up to a different wall plug with an extension cord.

10

Thanks, I will have to give this a shot.

11

All the DAC does is convert the signal to analog so that you can feed it to an amp.

  1. Send that thing back

  2. Order the FiiO E10K listed above for substantially less

  3. Plug n play - no software required

  4. Headbang

  5. Profit

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12

Well, if it's noisy straight from a computer, but not a phone, and noisy again from a DAC from the same computer, and still not the phone, I don't think the DAC has anything to do with it.

13

Oh derp I read that post too quickly

14

Haha, 'sall good.

The FiiO is a nice piece of equipment anyways, so it's a good recommendation for anyone who doesn't already have a DAC.

15

Just got the E10K myself a couple weeks ago and I love it.

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16

Finally got around to setting them up on a separate power strip on a different outlet and still the static. The interesting thing is that previous to the kernel booting (BIOS, GRUB, etc.) there is no static and the static is definitely tied to the computer's work load.