Should I build a ProtoDAC?

[hifinet]

I just discovered the ProtoDAC, and since I want to create another budget moOode box I’m wondering whether to build a ProtoDAC or buy a cheaper DAC like the Raspberry Pi DAC Pro. Building a ProtoDAC isn’t a problem for me, but it is a more expensive option.

My main system right now uses a HifiBerry DAC Pro. I’m not an audio expert, but I do have higher standards for sound quality than the others in my house. If the ProtoDAC is worthwhile, I’d build one for the main system and demote the HifiBerry to the secondary system. How noticeable would the difference be?

I’d welcome general thoughts and recommendations, but what I’m trying to get at is, how would folks rank the sound quality from each of these (scale of 1 to 10, or relative to each other)?

- Raspberry Pi DAC Pro (or IQaudio DAC Pro) (CDN$35)
- HifiBerry DAC Pro+ (now DAC2 Pro) (CDN$60)
- ProtoDAC (CDN$135 est. with shipping etc.)

You can build a ProtoDAC for under $25 USD if you use metal film resistors, instead of the expensive metal foil TX2575 resistors supplied with the kit. Gerber files for the PCBs are provided. The modules are available here . I provide the kit, primarily because the TX2575 are somewhat difficult to source. Parts Connexion in CA sells TX2575. Metal foil resistors do improve sound quality significantly compared to metal film. The other two DACs use modern OS DAC chips (oversampling), like almost every other DAC these days. ProtoDAC uses NOS (nonoversampling) multibit DAC chips from the 1990s. It is PCM 16 bit 384kHz capable.