Does having a better dac makes a noticeable difference? Fiio e10k vs audio-gd nfb-11
Dec 15, 2014 at 6:52 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10
kaiteck

kaiteck

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I'm currently interested into ud120,fiio e10k and audio-gd nfb-11 and my speaker is hivi swans m200mkiii.
 
When I got this set of speakers, I didnt know how much I should spend on dac. I heard many people is recommending audio-gd nfb-11 for m200mkiii but it cost $330bucks! Whereas dacs like fiio e10k cost just $120! I made separate thread about choosing dac for m200mkiii but i just can't satisfy with just one person answering. Thus, I'll be asking in general. Does having a better dac makes a noticeable difference?
 
Dec 15, 2014 at 10:26 AM Post #2 of 10
kaiteck said:
  I'm currently interested into ud120,FiiO E10K and Audio-GD NFB-11 and my speaker is hivi Swans M200mkiii.
 
When I got this set of speakers, I didn't know how much I should spend on DAC. I heard many people is recommending Audio-GD NFB-11 for m200mkiii but it cost $330bucks! Whereas DACs like FiiO E10K cost just $120! I made separate thread about choosing DAC for m200mkiii but i just can't satisfy with just one person answering. Thus, I'll be asking in general. Does having a better DAC makes a noticeable difference?
Click to expand...

 
If all your looking for is a DAC to use with your 2.0 speakers, then just get the Stoner Acoustics UD120.
I'm an owner for the NFB-15.32 and think it's great, but the NFB-11 comes with a headphone amplifier, which I'm assuming you have no need of?
I would make a wild guess that for the kind of money you would spend for the NFB-11, you could get speakers better then the M200MKIIs.
The Stoner Acoustics UD120 and FiiO E10K both come with the PCM5102 DAC chip, so they should be roughly equal for proving audio quality to the speakers.
 
Dec 15, 2014 at 2:45 PM Post #5 of 10
kaiteck said:
  My speaker is mark 3 not 2. http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=401
 
Is that a typo?
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Kind of a typo, did not have my reading glasses on when reading about which model you had, MKII or MKIII, did not see the third I.
 
Dec 15, 2014 at 2:47 PM Post #6 of 10
kaiteck said:
  Actually i have a ath-m50x headphone. I heard it cant benefit much from it but it's still nice to have it. It'll be easy for me to plug headphone too
Click to expand...

 
I would think the ATH-M50Xs would benefit, to some degree, with the FiiO E10K.
But the NFB-11 is overkill for the ATH-M50Xs.
 
Jan 20, 2015 at 6:03 AM Post #8 of 10
The E10K's weak link is the LMH6643. Change it to the OPA2822 (or maybe the AD8397 used in the older E10, I have not tested it yet). I think the primary reason they dropped the AD8397 is cost. For a slightly different signature, the OPA1642 can be changed to the LM4562 also for lower noise and a more airy soundstage. Keep the OPA1642 if you want a fully Burr-Brown solution. :)
 
Jan 23, 2015 at 1:32 PM Post #9 of 10
Yes, as a former dac skeptic I can definately say that after using 5 different DAC's they do make a difference to sound quality, quite a big difference as well if you have good headphones and a good dac.
 
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:00 AM Post #10 of 10
I got rid of my E10 after getting the newer Macbook Pro Retina. E10 are a good place to start when getting in to audio, but they definitely fall short.
 
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