I personally use the Swissonic right now, since I'm not Cresus, but any of those might become my next (and probably last) stepping stone. Specs at : 24 bits/192 kHz DAC, dynamic range: 114 dB, THD+N: -100 dB No nonsense interface from a quite unknown (at least to me) brand. Specs at : 24 bits/192 kHz DAC, dynamic range: 104 dB (unweighted), THD+N: 0.001% Not a fan of the flimsy USB-C connector, though. Surely more fancy than the Audient on the typical hifi enthusiast desk. Specs at : 24 bits/192 kHz DAC, dynamic range: 109 dB, "residual noise level": -94 dBuĬolourful (blue) case with nice volume meters for the inputs/outputs. Hopefully a good successor for those Edirol interfaces. Still got the hitman drab look, but with classy LEDs adding some colours. Manual specs: 24 bits/192 kHz DAC, dynamic range: 104 dB (A-weighted), THD+N: 0.005%
On the bigger and more "professional" (austere) side. Specs from : 24 bits/96kHz DAC, dynamic range: 115 dB (A-weighted), THD+N < 0.0015% A bit like a cheap MOTU/RME on the QC and design level. Specs at : 24 bits/192 kHz DAC, dynamic range: 108 dB (A-weighted), THD+N < 0.002%Ĭheapest interface from a brand known for its quality. The 2nd Gen lineup required you to buy the 2i2 to get these. Newest and cheapest Focusrite having balanced outputs. * Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (, 114€) Specs at : 24 bits/96kHz DAC, dynamic range: 105 dB (A-weighted) Smallest Presonus interface meeting the requirements. Didn't manage to find about class compliance, though. Specs at : 24 bits/96kHz DAC, dynamic range: 104 dB (A-weighted), THD+N: -98 dB Only model I chose from an almost unknown brand. Small form factor, ingenious and uncluttered front with a cute LED gain meter. Specs: 24 bits/96 kHz DAC, dynamic range: 108 dB (A-weighted) One of the cheapest interfaces meeting the requirements, along with Behringer's UMC22. As said in my first post, I only focused on line output performances, not headphone ones which might become the way to separate those.
To weed most of it, I chose reputable brands, and only models having a preamp for easy volume change, symmetrical/balanced output (be it TRS jack or XLR) and at least some specs on the manufacturer website. This is why products made by big entreprises involved in the professional market for a long time should be more interesting than the "boutique-of-the-day" DACs audiophiles are so fond of as the cheap Behringer review made by amirm showed. Most people now will agree that DAC is mostly a solved problem, needing a good implementation more than a good base D/A chip. As per this post, I made a poll to gauge interest for popular and low-cost USB interfaces that could be used as a casual DAC.
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