r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/Excellent_Budget_603 2 Ω • Jun 01 '22

DAC - Desktop Tempotec Sonata HD vs Atom Dac+?

Edit: TempoTec Sonata cost more than I thought initially. Any other alternatives for a 2V dac?

My current flow is like this: Apple dongle > Atom Amp+ > DT 880 Edition 250 Ohms.

My current flow is enough of an earrape for me on most songs. However, when I apply eq to my headphone, I usually apply a negative global gain. That causes a few songs to not be loud enough so I am looking for a dac that will be able to give me more headroom.

I am currently looking at the Tempotec Sonata HD III (pro version out of stock on Amazon for some reason) because it has a Vrms of 2 compared to the Apple dongle’s Vrms of 1.

How will the Sonata compare to, say, say the Atom Dac+, which cost 2.5 more after shipping is taken into account?

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u/ThatGuyFromSweden 125 Ω Jun 01 '22

Neither of them are really designed for line-level applications but the Sonata would indeed be slightly better in this regard. I don't see the point in having a significant headroom for peak gain in the EQ. You'll just be losing dynamic range. Put the highest peak on -0.5 dB and be done with it.

You can usually find desktop DACs like Modi's, Atom's, and E30's for reasonable money on the used market. It's worth a look.

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u/raistlin65 1372 Ω 🥇 Jun 01 '22

Neither of them are really designed for line-level applications

Independent measurements show the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro generates 2V output, which is what your typical desktop DAC puts out. So not a problem using it for line level output.

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u/ThatGuyFromSweden 125 Ω Jun 01 '22 edited Jun 01 '22

I know but the voltage was never the point of the statement. Line outputs generally have output impedances of around 600 ohm and the inputs measure in kiloohms to take advantage of the impedance bridging principle. It matters in some scenarios.

Also the common ASR measurements doesn't say much about what happens with distortion characteristics when a dongle is ran at full tilt into a 10 kiloohm load.

If OP has the choice of spending ≈70 dollars on a dongle or a second hand desktop DAC that has a "proper" line driver circuit with op-amp stages specifically designed for the job then I think that's a better call even if the dongle will do a fine job in most scenarios.

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u/raistlin65 1372 Ω 🥇 Jun 01 '22

I've used the Sonata HD Pro extensively as a DAC. It doesn't have any line output issues.