Alright, so I dove headfirst into this whole “best budget DAC” thing, and lemme tell ya, it was a journey.
First, I started with the obvious: YouTube. Watched a ton of reviews, compared specs ’til my eyes crossed. Everyone’s got their favorites, right? Chord Mojo this, iFi Zen that… but those ain’t exactly “budget,” are they?
Then I figured, okay, gotta narrow it down. What am I even using this thing for? Is it for my headphones on my desk, or am I trying to hook up my old CD player to my new speakers? Different needs, different DACs.
I decided it was gonna be primarily for headphones at my desk. I listen to a lot of Spotify and sometimes some FLAC files I ripped from my CDs (yeah, I still have CDs!).
So, I read forum after forum. Head-Fi, Reddit, the works. Got bombarded with acronyms and technical jargon. ESS Sabre chips? AKM Velvet Sound? What the heck? I just wanted better audio!
I made a list of the most frequently recommended DACs in the “under $100” range. The usual suspects popped up: Audioengine D1, FiiO E10K, and some random ones from SMSL and Topping. Honestly, I was a little sketched out by the super cheap ones. You get what you pay for, right?
After that, I went to my local audio shop. They had a few of the FiiO models in stock. I asked if I could try them out with my own headphones. Thankfully, they were cool with it. Plugged in my trusty Sennheiser HD6XXs and started cycling through songs.
The FiiO E10K sounded…fine. Like, a little better than my computer’s built-in audio, but not mind-blowing. It was cleaner, for sure, but not the “OMG I’m hearing new details!” experience I was hoping for.
I went back to the internet and saw a lot of people raving about the Apple USB-C to 3.5 mm dongle. Seriously? A dongle? For ten bucks? I was skeptical, but hey, it’s ten bucks. Ordered it from Amazon.
When it arrived, I plugged it in. And… dang. For ten bucks, it’s actually really good. It’s clean, it’s got enough power for my HD6XXs (surprisingly!), and it’s tiny. It’s not going to win any awards for detail retrieval or soundstage, but it’s a HUGE step up from my laptop’s built-in audio.
I compared it to the FiiO E10K that I tried at the shop. Honestly? The Apple dongle was almost as good, and in some ways, I even preferred it. It sounded a little more “natural” to my ears.
So, long story short, my “best budget DAC” ended up being a ten-dollar Apple dongle. I know, it sounds crazy. But it works, it’s cheap, and it’s portable. I’m happy.
But, I’m not stopping here, I still want to test other dacs in the future.