Low noise floor DAC for IEMs

Hello everyone! As the title says I'm looking for a good enough DAC with a low noise floor for my IEMs (16 Ohm) since I'm not satisfied with the integrated audio card of my computer and, if I could connect it even to my phone, would be pretty nice. I'm willing to spend up to 60$. I know it's not that much for a DAC but that's what I can afford to spend and I don't mind if there are no options available. Thanks for all the answers!

This is a bit over your budget, but I can highly recommend it - Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS

Works perfectly with my Samsung S7 too... If you look around you might be able to find a slightly better deal, I managed to pick up one on sale for £50 at Richer Sounds here in the UK.

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Well maybe I can manage to save up some money and pick it up. Thanks for the suggestion. Have you tested with low impedence IEMs? How's the noise at low volumes?
My "issue" is that I prefer the isolation and a lower volume rather than an high volume and poor isolation, that's why I want something that has as low noise as possible.

For just dessktop use, you ought to look at stuff like the Fiio E10k. However, I would like to recommend something else. Instead of getting just something for desktop use, you can get a DAP which would bother be able to serve as a dac/amp and a portable player. Something like the Fiio X1 should be able to serve both needs very well, though I would suggest the Cayin N3, if you coulg possibly manage to get your budget that high. The sound quality and the feature set are amazing for the price. But yea, for the price, if you just want a desktop dac/amp, there are a few options, and the E10k is one of the most prominent ones.

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I've been looking at Fiio options ad the X1 is double the price I'm willing to pay so the chances of getting one are really slim, but thanks for the suggestion. Also, reading about Fiio amps, I've seen that some products use all the same TI components and, if the X1 uses the same components as the K1 DAC, people say the noise floor is still high for IEMs. The E10K is pricy too to me, but I'm going to inform myself about it anyway.

I have an E17 (non-K). I am not too sure waht is in it or how it compares to the modern Fiios line, but I also have ciems (alclair reference). At some point in the next day or two, I can try them together and let you know how much of a noise floor I can hear, if you are interested.

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No noise whatsoever that I can hear on any volume level. Only downside is that with low impedance IEMs or headphones the volume steps might be a little too big to get just the right quiet level you want. I forget how many volume steps there are but it can quite happily drive some pretty high impedance cans I think.

For finer adjustments something like that Fiio might be more suitable with it's analogue knob. The great thing about the DacMagic though is that it is super compact, I use it with my laptop as a really nice DAC for audio editing and music production on the go. The included cable was a little stiff for my liking though, micro USB isn't that sturdy... So I got an extra flexible cable which doesn't put so much strain on the port.

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@1920.1080p.1280.720p When you have some spare time and you rememeber to test those things would be really helpful, thanks a lot!

@GurtTractor The volume adjustment it's not an issue. The micro USB cable it's not an issue too, I have many laying around. Sounds like a great option for my needs.

Easy solution :

When using my 64Audio U3 IEMS (also somewhere in the 10-15Ω region) with the headphone output of my Bose Companion 5 speakers, I get plenty of white noise. With the 75Ω resistor all that noise disappears.
It's also the only way to properly use these headphones with my Fiio X5ii music player + Fiio E12A amp, without the resistor I'd blow my eardrums to pieces as soon as I turn the volume past 10%

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I just tested it out. Pc>E17>Alclair Reference. From what I am hearing, there is no visible hiss. Not while playing music, not while playing nothing. I could hear nothing. So I think that you should be good to go with something like the E10k (which, again, I believe is fairly similar in internals to the E17). That said, having that resistor adapter is definitely hot a bad idea. It is also reported to improve sound quality. It is supposed to be the difference between the ER4P and the ER4S (which should be obvious from the name) which is supposed to be a noticeable improvement in audio quality. Not sure how it would work out for you personally, but it can't hurt to spend a few bucks to see how well it goes. Given the price, you might want to try the E10k (or whatever) first and then decide. I think that you will be happy with the E10k, honestly. Sounds pretty solid all told.

Note: That adapter is basically just adding 75 ohms, so you can make something like that pretty cheap. Cheaper versions can be found on ebay, or even soldered together, if you feel like having a little project (soldering can be fun for some). Just look around if you are interested.

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@CaptainChaos That's a really smart solution. I'm surely going to buy or make one of those and see how it goes, thanks!

@1920.1080p.1280.720p Thanks a lot again for the tests and for reporting back to me, I appreciate the effort. Sure the resistor adapter will make a good addition to a DAC since those can drive headphones with much higher impedence than 16Ohms. I'm going to look around to see if I can find what Fiio DAC uses the same internals as the E17 but doesen't have the AMP.

Why don't you need the amp? I was under the impression that you needed a dac/amp.

I'm sorry if what I said sounded confused. I only need a DAC in the sense that I don't need a really capable amp to run 16Ohm IEMs but I just need something that translates the digital signal and makes it sound to my hears lol

Well, if you want to be able to control the volume, then there needs to be an amp. So yeah, something like an E10k is what you are needing, unless you can stretch the budget for something like the X1. If you did that, then you wouldn't need to be concerned about it being able to work with your phone as it is a player in and of itself and works as a dac/amp for desktop use. I use my Cayin N3 as a dac/amp fairly regularly. It is a very useful feature and puts everything that you need into one device.

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