Best budget DACs tried and tested: Superior sound for audiophiles

You may or may not know this, but all digital music is just binary; nothing but a big old bunch of 0s and 1s that’s even harder to dance to than Coldplay.

Which is why, in order to make it melodic to the ears, all your digital devices, such as your smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc., contain something called a DAC, a digital-to-analogue converter, that takes all that 10110011 nonsense and transforms it into tunes. So, hurrah for that.

However, sadly, many of these built-in DACs are not exactly up to scratch when it comes to converting to a level that truly reflects what the recording artist had in mind (boo to that), with audio accuracy flying out the window in favour of something that sounds suitably similar to the original for most listeners… but not all.

Listen up

For those who know better and listen harder, this sorry state of affairs simply won’t suffice, which is why the AV industry, in its infinite wisdom, offers the chance to upgrade with the addition of an external DAC.

Available in a breath-taking array of styles, shapes and sizes, some are distinctly deskbound, while others have been designed to help you take your superior sounds with you on the go. Some support certain file formats and data rates, others – the more expensive ones, obviously – can handle whatever format is thrown at them.

You see, when analogue audio is sampled to convert to digital, it can be sampled at different rates and stored in varying formats, all of which can get a bit bogged down, but it’s the DAC’s job to take all of these wibbly wobbly digital variables and convert them into something as accurate to the analogue original as possible, and all you really need to know is, the higher the sample rate the better.

How we tested

For the sake of this dalliance into the world of DACs, I’ve been charged with bringing together the best of the ‘budget’ models. So, once more donning my ‘drowning-out’ ear-defenders, I’ve descended into an arena of enhanced audio and found my favourite five from the current best of the budget DACs.

To that end, if you want to open your analogue ears to old tunes afresh, get yourself decked out with a DAC…

Best budget DACs at a glance:

iFi hip-dac 3

Best for: hip-flask-esque enhancement

One of the most prolific manufacturers when it comes to dynamic DACs for home and away, iFi has a whole raft of options available, making choosing between them quite difficult… unless, of course, you’ve laid eyes on the hip-dac 3. Yep, small, sexy and looking every bit like a miniature version of something you might expect to see criminal types taking a quick nip from in black and white films of the day, this little lovely may be small, but it packs an almighty audio wallop.

Feeding in via USB-C, the hip-dac 3 is a DAC and amp combo that uses iFi’s iEMatch technology, optimised for high-sensitivity headphones and earphones, to reduce all the nasty hiss and pop often found in the background, combined with a fancy Burr-Brown chipset to guarantee the perfect playback of all your files. This includes Hi-Res PCM and DXD audio, supported at sample rates up to 384kHz, alongside DSD from 2.8MHz to 12.4MHz (DSD64, 128 and 256), plus full decoding of MQA hi-res streaming, as used by the likes of Tidal. And, if all of that is just letters and numbers to you, the bottom line is: Hi-Res audio, right into your ears, via basic plug and play.

Two Balanced outputs cater for 4.4mm and 3.5mm jacks, and a built-in battery gives around eight hours of playback when out, recharged via the second USB-C port.

Hewn from appealing aluminium too, the iFi hip-dac 3 weighs just 137g, making it light enough and small enough to enjoy just about everywhere; and enjoy you assuredly will.

• Input: USB-C
• Formats Supported: DSD 256, 11.3MHz, PCM 384kHz, MQA
• DAC: Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD by Burr Brown
• Outputs: Bal 4.4mm, S-Bal 3.5mm
• Frequency Response: 20Hz - 45kHz (-3dB)
• Power: Lithium-polymer 2200mAh, approx. 8-hours
• Dimensions: 101 x 73 x 15.2mm
• Weight: 137g

Buy now £199.00, Amazon

FiiO KA17

Best for: Precision and power

Another excellent option for the true music enthusiast often on the go, the KA17 from FiiO is another pocket-rocket DAC that takes the lacklustre analogue output of your device and buffs it up good and proper, ready to reach your ears in all its intended glory.

How buff? Delivering up to 650mW of output power, very buff. And featuring dual flagship ESS ES9069Q DACs, THX AAA 78+ amplification, and XMOS XU316 USB SoC the petite but powerful KJA17 offers full support for 32-bit/768kHz, MQA, and native DSD 512 Hi-Res audio files.

Input for all comers is via USB-C, with output via either Single-ended 3.5mm or Balanced 4.4mm headphone, a remarkable pairing given the super-slender design of the FiiO’s slinky metal body.

Also in the FiiO’s favour, as well as being a hero out on the mean streets, it comes packing a 'Desktop Mode', which can be selected to increase the power output to a whopping 650mW.

Control-wise, the KA17 has a handy built-in screen to aid navigation of the main controls, while the smartphone interface allows you to get deeper involved in your own audio payoff by giving you access to an adjustable PEQ with 10 customisable frequency bands, so you can fine-tune and/or fiddle until you achieve audio nirvana.

So, as you can see despite the diminutive dimensions, the FiiO KA17 is a force to be reckoned with and a decidedly affordable route to unerringly accurate audio.

• Input: USB-C
• Formats Supported: PCM 768, DSD 512
• DAC: Dual ESS Technology ES9069Q
• Outputs: 3.5mm, Bal 4.4mm
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 50kHz: damping (-0.5dB), 20Hz – 20KHz: damping(-0.1dB)
• Power: Via USB-C
• Dimensions: 64 x 27.7 x 12.7mm
• Weight: 33.5g

Buy now £124.99, Amazon

Astell&Kern HC3

Best for: Work, rest and play

Small, smooth and minimalistically mysterious, the matt black aluminium HC3 from Astell&Kern is a decidedly handsome example of the DAC-maker’s art, giving little away on the outside, other than a 3.5mm output socket, a USB-C input and a tiny, as of yet, inert LED set almost invisibly into the top left corner of the otherwise featureless front.

Set into action, however, and that LED blinks into life – white for standby, blue for DSD, and red for PCM, as the dual ESS Tech DACs roar into life, transforming your device's clumsily converted files into audio of absolute clarity.

Geared up for Android users, thanks to a proprietary app delivering detailed volume control to Andy fans, the HC3, nevertheless, comes complete with a USB-C to Lightning adapter, so that iOS enthusiasts don’t have to miss out on all the other goodness it brings. Goodness such as a microphone input to enable voice features for gaming and video conferencing, plus a dual-shielded cable to ensure a more vivid original sound enters the DAC, and a noise-free rear output to stop any unwanted interference disturbing your listening pleasure on the way back out and into your ears.

The perfect ultra-portable DAC for smartphones, laptops, tablets, CD players, etc., whether Android, iOS or Windows, the HC3 draws the low power required to run from whatever device you hook it up to, so you needn’t worry about battery life or any separate power input, adding to the already abundant convenience.

I’ve been using the HC3 for the last few months, both in my office and alfresco, with a variety of devices, and have been constantly impressed by its performance across the audio genre spectrum. Can it help me understand the popularity of Maroon5? No, it cannot, because everything has its limits, but when it comes to music that can be improved through the miracle of digital to analogue audio engineering, the itsy-bitsy A&K does so exponentially.

• Input: USB-C
• Formats Supported: PCM 32bit/384kHz, DSD 256
• DAC: Dual ESS Technology ES9219MQ
• Outputs: 3.5mm
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
• Power: Drawn from device
• Dimensions: 125 x 21 x 8.7mm
• Weight: 20g

Buy now £199.00, Amazon

iFi GO Link

Best for: Budget price, big performance

A dinky DAC option similar in looks to the Astell&Kern HC3 I drooled over above, the GO Link from iFi is another model that deftly handles the ‘trend’ with certain smartphone manufacturers not including headphone inputs anymore, by connecting to your porta-blower via USB-C. From that point onwards, the inferior audio conversion dribbling feebly out of your digital device is taken through the Go Link’s silver-plated copper conductors, complete with individual polymer insulation in a ‘twisted pair’ configuration that helps to optimise inductance and capacitance, while also aiding noise rejection.

From there, into the minuscule magnesium-alloy body, where the power-efficient, high-performance ESS Technology DAC chip, benefiting from 32-bit HyperStream III architecture, combines with Quad DAC+ and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator technologies, and dedicated clock circuitry to pump audio with ultra-low distortion, excellent clarity and impressive dynamic range right into your earholes.

Volume control of the GO Link is conducted directly from your devices’ own settings, without – and this is the important bit – affecting your devices’ own volume setting, so audio resolution remains mercifully un-messed with.

Supporting Hi-Res PCM and DSD formats, plus streamed MQA, the iFi feeds out via an S-Balanced 3.5mm connector and weighs in at an almost laughably light 11g, making it the most diminutive DAC you’re ever likely to listen through.

What’s more, the iFi GO Link costs a whole quid under £60, meaning that, if you want to upgrade your out-and-about audio, this is the best £59 you will ever spend.

• Input: USB-C
• Formats Supported: PCM 32-bit/384kHz, DSD 256, MQA
• DAC: ESS Technology Bit-Perfect DSD &DXD
• Outputs: 3.5mm
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
• Power: Drawn from device
• Dimensions: 135 x 12.6 x 7.6mm
• Weight: 11g

Buy now £59.00, Amazon

SoundMAGIC E80D

Best for: In-earphone enhancement

Okay, so some people want superior conversion of digital to analogue audio, but they don’t want to have to fiddle and faff with a separate entity to achieve it. Whether it is because there’s more stuff to potentially lose/misplace or they’re just too forgetful when it comes to taking their sound essentials from home to street, an additional, external DAC is just one accessory too far.

Well, for such people, a hot new sonorous solution is on its way. Available on pre-order now at the criminally cheap price of £40, this is the E80D from SoundMAGIC, a set of wired earphones with its own DAC built right in.

That’s right, cutting through any connection issues, the E80D connects to any of your devices via USB-C, sucking the inferior sounds straight into its aluminium-housed DAC chip, upping the audio ante to Hi-Res levels, free from any middleman.

With full controls available on the in-line three-button remote, complete with microphone for calls, of course, at the ear-end sit 10mm Neodymium drivers to ensure that all that additional clarity the DAC has enriched your audio with hits your head-flaps with equally impressive power.

The SoundMAGIC E80D is an excellent option for anyone who favours wired earphones and who may not yet be convinced of the difference a DAC can make – I mean, they really do make all the difference; and at £40, what have you got to lose?

• Input: USB-C
• Formats Supported: PCM 24Bit/96kHz
• DAC: Make not known
• Outputs: 2x 10mm Neodymium drivers
• Frequency Response: 15Hz – 22kHz
• Battery: Draws power from device
• Dimensions: Cable: 1.2m
• Weight: 16g

Buy now £40.00, HiFi Headphones

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