Syba USB 24 Bit 96 KHz DAC Digital to Analog Headphone Amplifier 2 Stage EQ Digital/Coaxial Output and RCA Output (SD-DAC63118)

Summary: Excellent sound for the price and a really good basic DAC for PC and Playstation. My listening is exclusively through a pair of Philips SHP9500 headphones, so take that for what it's worth. This DAC can drive them uncomfortably loud but clearly. It is a mostly neutral sound stage with little or no effect to the sound or sound stage. In fact it is quite flat. You can change that with the front panel switch but it just toggles between three positions: treble boost, neutral, and bass boost, there is no fine tune adjustments of any of the switch positions. The unit does not seem to support any digital decoder formats like Dolby ATMOS or DTS, when I sent those signal formats down the pipe it was just noise. There are supposedly software solutions to enhance the experience but I haven't searched yet. Speaking of volume, the volume knob on top controls the unit's internal output volume and does NOT control Windows volume in any way. This can be both good and bad depending on how you normally use external volume controls, but make sure you adjust both before calling it a dud. As for input I am using an Audio-Technica ATGM2 boom mic attached to the headset and it is able to get good sound and volume. My only "hiccups" were with the way Windows 11 handles basic USB input methods and trying to wrangle the system to listen to the correct input. Since this is simply a "USB Audio Device" it may take trial and error to find which one it is. I like the bit rate/hertz display (44.1, 48, 96) and visual feedback of the sound (might be distracting to others to see a flashing LED). Because this is a basic USB audio device it requires no software for setup on Windows 11 (and *should* be the same for a fully updated Windows 10 computer).

Overall, I think this USB amp is a great, cheap addon for the setup I have at work. I have a laptop in a docking station for work, and I am constantly undocking it to carry it around, but when I'm at my desk, I like my music loud and bumpin' (in my own headphones of course.) The audio device in the laptop is pretty weak, and the only options to change the sound is a general 'enhancement' option that just make everything sound like garbage. I wanted to get a headphone amp, but I need to be able to pass through the microphone on my headset at the same time for video conferencing (most desk amps in this price range lack that critical feature.) Until this, my solution was to listen to music with a portable, battery-powered amp I use with my phone, and to switch over to the jack on the laptop when I call into meetings. All that said, here's a rundown of what I think: PROS: -- directly USB powered (don't have to worry about draining a battery when laptop is undocked) -- USB interface (only need to run one cable to docking station/laptop, no worry of noise from running analog cables) -- Microphone jack (now I don't have to switch cables all the time!) -- 'hardware' EQ switch (I just leave it in bass boost mode all the time.) -- Large, easy to turn volume knob -- Visual indicator of bitrate via LED's (though TBH there isn't a difference if all you use is a music streaming service like me) -- Pretty blinky light flashes with the music when it's turned up high -- Bass boost is good quality for a $40 amp, and in general the amplification doesn't seem to distort the sound at all. CONS: -- No ability to feed the mic back into the headphone jack to hear it live. I'm used to this with my setup at home, and I find it easier to talk while wearing over-ear headphones if I can hear myself clearly. -- Line-in port disables USB audio out. Would have been nice to be able to plug my phone in and hear both it and my laptop. My phone's vibration feature is pretty weak, so it would be nice to jack it in and hear the dings and whistles from notifications instead, but I can't do that without losing the sound coming from my workstation. -- Dimple on volume knob is nearly useless. When I try to use it to change the volume, my finger almost immediately slips out unless I apply a lot of pressure. Much easier to slide my finger along the side to change the volume (thankfully the rubber feet plant the amp on my desk pretty well, so it doesn't slide around.) If the dimple was more prominent, it wouldn't be an issue. Overall, I think this amp is an excellent piece of equipment for the price, as long as your use case is similar to mine. I can see how some of the 'cons' I listed might be deal breakers to others who are used to higher quality, more fully-featured amps, but for me, I don't mind at all.

it is very nice, but if you need more control of your sound do not buy this one go for a more advance product

Drives my DT 990s with ease. Very noticeable sound quality improvement compared to mobo. Impressive product, especially for the price.

I don't know what they did it how they did it. I was only expecting some mild EQing to the sound of my smart TV, but when I connected this to the Presonus Station BT speakers controller and turned it on, the sound just came alive. 'Tone' and 'Loudness' control give the soundstage a huge kick, and the general feel is 'analogue sound'. I can feel the bass on my skin. The construction is sturdy, and even when little it is heavy. There's a little hole with colour changing LEDs that work as a VU meter, Very nice touch indeed. Spotify coming out of the TV never sounded this good.

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A great budget option for gamers looking for an entry DAC/Amp combo that has a microphone input. There is no gain option/toggle and only a Treble/Direct/Bass toggle switch as a built-in equalizer. Overall, works well for my needs as someone who isn't looking to spend above $100 for DAC/Amps.