Best CHEAP DACs to complement Chromecast Audio (or as alternative :-) )

Many older CD Players have good Dacs and are just gathering dust these days. Most also have an optical in so a good way to put them to use again. I bought a CCA to try with my old Accuphase CDP - just waiting on a toslink/3.5mm cable to arrive and will see how it sounds.

1 Like

I really can’t have golden ears, Anthony:-) . I can’t hear difference between optin via chromecast and USB in to the mojo. Just did some concentrated listening using my T1’s, and some rock and classical sounds. All good for me.

GE Triton One’s?

beyerdynamic t1’s :slight_smile: - bloody listening tests. Lol. now i’m off comparing various dacs and inputs. Drives me crazy. By the time i’ve unplugged and plugged in the other kit, i’ve forgotten the signature from the first.

S’what makes me think there’s not much in it :slight_smile:

1 Like

LOL nice. Close :grin:

All of Rob Watt’s Chord’s DACs do a superb job with TOSlink’s jitter, so this observation doesn’t surprise me. Plus optical has perfect ground / leakage current and RF isolation.

2 Likes

Sounds encouraging. I will try to find some time at the weekend to do a similar comparison.

1 Like

Not an exact answer to your question but I did have a Chord Poly attached to my Chord Mojo for a short time and there was zero difference in quality between it and Chromecast running optical.

I have been using my Mojo being fed by CCA (Chromecast Audio) through a Supra ZAC toslink cable. As you can see, i use a battery pack to power the CCA. The battery is 10000 mAH. Lasts easily 4-5 days on a charge for me. No AC leakage, no SMPS ! Sounds good - certainly a very convenient endpoint.

4 Likes

I’ve been using a CCA feeding Schiit’s Modi Multibit ($249, http://www.schiit.com/products/modi-2) in my office system for 2 years and it’s outstanding.

They have lower-cost variants with optical in; I ran a Modi 2 Uber for a year or so before the multibit variant was released, and the ‘mimby’ was a major step up from the M2U. I did allow my nervosa to get the better of me after a while and added an optical ‘purifier’ from iFi ($149) to the chain and found it did make a noticeable improvement.

Schiit is a great company and provide outstanding support of you have an issue.

2 Likes

Yeah, ive been using a similar setup. My optical cable is crappy though; just a freebie with the Playstation. What’s that you’re using? Do the cables make a difference?

btw… I use Dual Lock strips on everything to stack it together. Fantastic stuff. Watch out though, once you get started into this stuff there’s no going back :slight_smile:

//www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLEAR-3M-DUAL-LOCK-Self-Adhesive-Tape-Pads-Type-SJ3560-HEAVY-DUTY-250-Stems/142285601925?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49130%26meid%3Db82bd8761c72411b99cc7a416cb29bfc%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D322958961641%26itm%3D142285601925&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

I’m using a Supra ZAC toslink cable. I don’t think it makes a big difference. I was using a Monoprice cable earlier with an mini toslink adapter. The differences are subtle.

Power supply to CCA makes a bigger difference. I’ve tried a few battery packs and found this one (Xiaomi Power Bank Pro) to sound the best. Different USB / DC cables also have an effect (please don’t ask me why). Many experts have commented that such changes cannot have an impact (with bit perfect data), but since i have the cables and battery packs lying around, there was no harm in trying.

You can try this approach too - a bit cumbersome, but i think it helps too. https://www.usaudiomart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1465

I also have a Allo USBridge and iFi Power and still think CCA with my power bank and DC cables sounds better (less bright, more transparent and better definition of bass). YMMV.

I realize that this is a fairly old thread but I currently stream via wi-fi to a CCA from my core (PC). I’m considering the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital.

This is all new to me so I guess my question is, can I plug the optical out of my CCA into the optical in on the Pre Box S2 then the S2 into my stereo pre-amp. Will this bring me the benefits of the S2 or are there limitations of using the CCA as my wi-fi bridge?

Yes, the S2 will work and be a good upgrade.

Best to do some searches on issues with the CCA’s optical output. Reports are that it can have issues with 24/96 content. Google has reportedly known about it for quite some time and as the CCA has been discontinued most seem to assume the problem will never be fixed.

Tim

1 Like

I really only need a WiFi receiver, in essence, that’s all I’m using the CCA for anyway. What would other options be?

If you have some tech skills you can put together a Raspberry Pi based solution for around $145 plus the appropriate cable. I bought a Pi 3 B+ ($44), HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro ($50), Case ($33), Power Supply ($9) and Micro SDHC Card ($9) in May of 2018 from Amazon USA to connect to my Sony AV Receiver. I got everything from Amazon for the convenience, you can probably save a few bucks if you shop around. I chose to connect using a Coax cable but it also supports Toslink ( optical ). You can spend almost nothing on a cable or several hundred dollars depending on personal preferences.

The HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro is what’s called a HAT ( plugs on top of the Pi ) and is just one of many available with various options.

Connecting the hardware is simple ( plug HAT to Pi, put Pi in case, insert SDHC card, connect power supply ) although you will need to use a computer to download and install the operating system on the SDHC card. I used RoPieee for my O/S. It’s free, easy to setup using the great guide and works well with Roon. I used Etcher on a Windows 10 laptop to install RoPieee on the SDHC card using a USB adapter I already had that supported several memory card formats including SDHC.

If you are not sure you want to tackle putting together an endpoint there some vendors that sell plug & play solutions. I see a lot of posts for products from Allo. They sell a range of endpoints. Most of them run the DietPi O/S which is more general purpose than RoPieee which can be good if you need the flexibility.

Tim

1 Like

Cool thanks. So the Pi would be the WiFi end point (the Roon receiver) that would then pass the signal on to the DAC (S2, in my scenario)?

Kevin, yes.

My setup is very similar to Tim’s. WiFi is definitely an option, but I use Ethernet for more reliable connection (equipment is housed in a cabinet).

Yes, the Pi would be the end point and pass data from your Roon core to your DAC.

If you have good WiFi a Pi 3 B+ can handle MQA and 192 kHz 24 bit content just fine.

I might have fixated on your mention of using the CCA’s optical output a bit too much. You can connect a Pi to your S2 using USB and do without a HAT. Some will say the Pi’s USB outputs are noisy but my feeling is give it a try and see how you like it. The Pi’s wired Ethernet port shares circuitry with the Pi’s USB ports but the WiFi does not so using WiFi could be better.

I have another WiFi based Pi connected to a Dragonfly Red DAC using USB and it works fine.

Tim

1 Like

Nice work with the battery pack. I think I’ll try this!

1 Like