# What external USB DAC to buy for Edifier R2750DB active speakers?



## Yraggul666 (Nov 30, 2021)

HELL->o TPU people!

I bought the Edifier R2750DB active speakers a while ago, and i have them connected to the onboard analog with RCA/3.5mm Jack.
The audio chipset on the Ace is a Realtek ALC1220.
They sound good, but i feel that they can sound even better. AM i wrong? 
Is it worth it in this situation for me to buy a USB DAC? 
If it is worth it, which USB DAC should i buy?

I don't care about high end headphones on pc analog, all my headphones on pc have been, are and always will be usb connected. 
I'm only interested in a DAC that makes the R2750DBs and maybe other better active speakers in the future sound as best they can.

Also my speakers have been, are and always will be 2.0.

Any knowledgeable advice from people who care and know about this stuff is welcome.


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## lowrider_05 (Nov 30, 2021)

Just connect them with the Digital Input Optic/Coxial and they will sound as good as they can.


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## Yraggul666 (Nov 30, 2021)

Oh wow.
I knew where everything was located on my mobo and speakers but thank you very much for taking the time and answering.

So i'm not going to gain any sound quality by connecting the R2750DBs to a Creative Sound Blaster X3, a Cambridge Audio DacMagic100, a FiiO K5 PRO, or a Audioengine D1?
There would be no benefit in using any kind of DAC?


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## lowrider_05 (Nov 30, 2021)

You could only get better sound out of your speakers with an external DAC, if this external DAC is better than the one integrated in your speakers. But i really doubt it would justify the price for an external DAC.


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## Operandi (Nov 30, 2021)

lowrider_05 said:


> You could only get better sound out of your speakers with an external DAC, if this external DAC is better than the one integrated in your speakers. But i really doubt it would justify the price for an external DAC.


Not for speakers like this.

You would be better off with a set of passive speakers + a separate amp, and DAC or amp and DAC combo.  $250 is not much of a budget when you consider all the stuff going on and none of it is upgradeable.


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## INSTG8R (Nov 30, 2021)

lowrider_05 said:


> You could only get better sound out of your speakers with an external DAC, if this external DAC is better than the one integrated in your speakers. But i really doubt it would justify the price for an external DAC.


This!


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 1, 2021)

lowrider_05 said:


> You could only get better sound out of your speakers with an external DAC, if this external DAC is better than the one integrated in your speakers. But i really doubt it would justify the price for an external DAC.


I understand. I would have thought that it would be worth it but it seems it's not, oh welp, SPDIF it is.


Operandi said:


> Not for speakers like this.
> 
> You would be better off with a set of passive speakers + a separate amp, and DAC or amp and DAC combo.  $250 is not much of a budget when you consider all the stuff going on and none of it is upgradeable.


Yeah i know, i used to have a Pioneer A-400 + Vieta Delta Series PR-700 + Philips CD player and Aiwa Double Casette Deck, but the room i'm in rn is tiny and my mancave is going to be here for at least 5-10 years, there's no getting over this, unfortunately.
Even if i could by some miracle squeeze in a real setup, the acoustics are...how do i put this...special to say the least and ABYSMAL to be frank.


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## Chomiq (Dec 1, 2021)

As mentioned, plug them through optical to your onboard realtek. If they sound the same you will simply waste money on getting an external DAC. And if you're stuck in mancave for next 5-10 years you don't want extra clutter on your desk.


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 1, 2021)

OK. I'll do that then. Thank you everyone.


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## Operandi (Dec 1, 2021)

Yraggul said:


> I understand. I would have thought that it would be worth it but it seems it's not, oh welp, SPDIF it is.
> 
> Yeah i know, i used to have a Pioneer A-400 + Vieta Delta Series PR-700 + Philips CD player and Aiwa Double Casette Deck, but the room i'm in rn is tiny and my mancave is going to be here for at least 5-10 years, there's no getting over this, unfortunately.
> Even if i could by some miracle squeeze in a real setup, the acoustics are...how do i put this...special to say the least and ABYSMAL to be frank.


I'm not saying you have to have big speakers, big equipment, and big money to get good sound (I'm assuming this is for music?).

When it comes to speakers you want the best drivers possible for your budget. For anything budget'ish that kinda rules out 3-ways as you are stretching your budget across six drivers instead of four and the crossover network gets far more complicated.  If you are in a small space or if these are going on a desktop there are plenty of small 4-5" 2-ways for less than $150-$200 a pair (Klipsch R-41M just one example). Pair that with a small $50 class D amp from Topping or SMSL and you'd be a in pretty good spot, and you have something you can expand and upgrade.  

If you are _good _with you have now thats cool, but if you can re-do I'd suggest doing something like the above, a DAC would make much more sense there.


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 2, 2021)

Operandi said:


> I'm not saying you have to have big speakers, big equipment, and big money to get good sound (I'm assuming this is for music?).
> 
> When it comes to speakers you want the best drivers possible for your budget. For anything budget'ish that kinda rules out 3-ways as you are stretching your budget across six drivers instead of four and the crossover network gets far more complicated.  If you are in a small space or if these are going on a desktop there are plenty of small 4-5" 2-ways for less than $150-$200 a pair (Klipsch R-41M just one example). Pair that with a small $50 class D amp from Topping or SMSL and you'd be a in pretty good spot, and you have something you can expand and upgrade.
> 
> If you are _good _with you have now thats cool, but if you can re-do I'd suggest doing something like the above, a DAC would make much more sense there.


 Yeah i'm sorry for the late reply, i only had a mail notification about this thread, i don't know why.

Those are my desktop speakers, i listen to those 24/7 while not wearing a headset, so music, movies, videos, youtube, audiobooks, games, they all go through these speakers, but the thing i care about the most is music indeed, that's why i went and always will go for 2.0 and 3way speakers.
Impossible to re-do in the near future. In my brain having only had 3 way speakers for as long as i can remember i thought that 3way was the way to go and apparently it is but not on a budget and especially not with active speakers.

Lesson learned.

Bottom line being that i switch to SPDIF now and buy a DAC once/if i upgrade my speakers.


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## Operandi (Dec 2, 2021)

Yraggul said:


> Those are my desktop speakers, i listen to those 24/7 while not wearing a headset, so music, movies, videos, youtube, audiobooks, games, they all go through these speakers, but the thing i care about the most is music indeed, that's why i went and always will go for 2.0 and 3way speakers.
> Impossible to re-do in the near future. In my brain having only had 3 way speakers for as long as i can remember i thought that 3way was the way to go and apparently it is but not on a budget and especially not with active speakers.


Yeah, if you think about the fact that the most important part of the sound in any system is the speakers, and the fact that the most important part of the speakers is the drivers themselves you can see why you want to stay with 2-ways under certain price level.  Even extremely high-end designs you will often see designs go for simple 2-way configurations in a simple ported cabinet using top shelf drivers like in this Lumine kit  (I linked to a DIY kit so you can see the brake down of the components).  

A 3-way (should) will always have better extension than a 2-way but its hard to make a 3-way monitor behave well and even when you do its not going to be as good as 2-way nearfiled.  That and its way more expensive to do a 3-way properly, the cheapest 3-way I see on Sweetwater is a entry levle KRK and thats $500.  

Integrating a sub with music can be hard if the room doesn't cooperate but you can usually figure it out; I'd so go small (8" or smaller) so you can be more flexible with room placement as thats the key to subs.  But a 2.1 would with small mains would be way way better than a 2.0 3-way nearfiled.


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 2, 2021)

Roger that. Guess i'll just have to upgrade those 3ways when i get the chance, because i'l never go 2.whatever, it's always going to be 2.0 for me.


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## Operandi (Dec 2, 2021)

Yraggul said:


> Roger that. Guess i'll just have to upgrade those 3ways when i get the chance, because i'l never go 2.whatever, it's always going to be 2.0 for me.


You should never say never, subs can really disappear in the sound when properly setup, and its fun to try different setups.

That said you might not need one or even go with a 3-way depending on how deep you need to go.  There are plenty of ~ 6" 2-ways that can play sub 50Hz no problem, which is about what my stand mount 2-ways do in the living room, and I'm more than happy with the extension.  I can tell I'm missing a bit on bass heavy tracks but its something I rarely notice because the quality of the bass that is there is just that good.


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 3, 2021)

It's probably the only thing i can really say never about: NEVER 2.whatever; the sound in my mancave will always come from a 2.0 setup. Non debatable.
I'm open to trying stuff as long as it's 2.0, that's my rule of thumb when it comes to sound.


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## Operandi (Dec 3, 2021)

You can certainly make 2.0 work.  Plenty of 6.5" woofers can go low enough to where you don't need a sub for 99% of the music out there.  3-ways are of course a thing but the more complex things get the more problems you introduce (its hard enough to get a decently designed crossover in a moderately priced 2-way let alone a 3-way) so I don't like them mainly for that reason. That and they really are not going to be good for small spaces so placement options are restricted.

Just curious, why the strong stance on subwoofers?  I mean if there is a traumatic childhood experience involved you don't have talk about it.  I don't want to trigger any PTSD...


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 3, 2021)

Oh thank you for your concern but it's unwarranted.
It's not a stance on subwoofers it's a stance on anything other than 2.0
I would sacrifice every other thing for music to sound the best it can, and music at it's best is going to be 2.0 analog.


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## Operandi (Dec 3, 2021)

Well its still two channel audio.  Just think of it as the two mains sharing the woofer of a 3-way, thats literally how some 3-way speakers are designed.  Low frequency bass is not directional which is why subs can be musical.  Its also why you can have a port in the back of a speaker or the front.  Another thing to keep in mind is a sub will take a lot of the workload off the woofer in your mains so you'll get cleaner mids, mid-bass, and more power handling.

Sticking with 2.0 is totally valid but thinking you have to give something up by going with anything other than 2.0 is a fallacy.  A well designed 2.1 setup with careful room placement will outperform a 2.0 poorly designed 3-way or a good 3-way with poor room placement.


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## Yraggul666 (Dec 4, 2021)

OK. I get what you're saying but no, i'll rather go up 2-3 price tiers on a 2.0 than go 2.whatever. And yes, i know even 5-10 price tiers up might not help in this room but i still wouldn't go 2.whatever.

First of all: stop explaining obvious stuff to me, you're starting to get on my nervs. I got my A-400 and my Vieta PR-700 when i was 13.

Second of all: i'm not a bass junkie, i mostly listen to metal (thrash, death, doom and all of metal's subgenres except christian) classical, and some industrial/agrotech/gothic stuff, so nothing too bas heavy.

Third of all: the bass is actually really good on the R2750DBs, it's deep and ferm so a woofer is out of the question by that consideration alone

Fourth of all: i never said 2.1 or whatever can't sound good or better than a 2.0 setup i just said IT'S NOT FOR ME, I tried it, i didn't like it. 2.0 analog it's the best way to listen to music FOR ME.

When i s5tarted this thread my question was simple: would an external DAC in the 1-200$ segment help my R2750DBs in a small, poor acoustics room and would it be better than staying directly on the ALC1220 onboard.
I am presented with a shit situation and i asked if i could make it better by buying a DAC.
Just say yes, no or i have no clue, never ran into a situation like this, i don't need the 2.whatever riot act read to me, or the "hurr durr smaller speakers can sound better than big speakers and 2way can sound better than 3way" lesson.

I live in a piss poor excuse of a country, things i want are almost never in stock so i have to make do with what i can get.

Clear enough now or do i have to draw you a picture?


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## CityCultivator (Dec 4, 2021)

Yraggul said:


> OK. I get what you're saying but no, i'll rather go up 2-3 price tiers on a 2.0 than go 2.whatever. And yes, i know even 5-10 price tiers up might not help in this room but i still wouldn't go 2.whatever.
> 
> First of all: stop explaining obvious stuff to me, you're starting to get on my nervs. I got my A-400 and my Vieta PR-700 when i was 13.
> 
> ...


Seems You like your bass in stereo.
You can make a 2.2 system, where each channel's bass is sent to its own dedicated subwoofer with no mono downmixing on bass. Plans for a later time.
If you ever do get any workable stock.


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## Operandi (Dec 6, 2021)

Yraggul said:


> OK. I get what you're saying but no, i'll rather go up 2-3 price tiers on a 2.0 than go 2.whatever. And yes, i know even 5-10 price tiers up might not help in this room but i still wouldn't go 2.whatever.
> 
> First of all: stop explaining obvious stuff to me, you're starting to get on my nervs. I got my A-400 and my Vieta PR-700 when i was 13.
> 
> ...


If I keep bringing it up its because of statements like this.


Yraggul said:


> I would sacrifice every other thing for music to sound the best it can, and music at it's best is going to be 2.0 analog.


As I read that I am under the impression of the persistent perception or belief that there is a "sacrifice" to quality by using 2.1 (adding a subwoofer), this is false and I'm trying to dispell that idea.  You said you tried it and didn't like it and preferred 2.0 which I would say is down to room placement and setup.  Ultimately though your sound, your music, do it however you want.  Don't want a sub?, cool, it dosn't really matter why, I'm simply stating the ways in which 2.1 is better.  

My advice going forward would be to get the best 2-ways you can (I always buy used, or DIY) probably something with really nice paper drivers (maybe you can get some used nicer Polks or something), a small class D amp to power them, then later down the road add a DAC to the mix.  I get you can't change anything now, I'm just stating my advice and the reasoning behind it, do with it what you will.



CityCultivator said:


> Seems You like your bass in stereo.
> You can make a 2.2 system, where each channel's bass is sent to its own dedicated subwoofer with no mono downmixing on bass. Plans for a later time.
> If you ever do get any workable stock.


Yeah, 2.2 is the ultimate solution to music with subwoofers.  You get stereo bass but more importantly it cancels out room modes when setup properly. 

Not exactly a budget friendly solution though, lol.


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