Eastley83 Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Hey All. So I am wanting to get a DAC and Headphone AMP, either as one unit or a stack is fine. $500 budget. No real preference for sound, just clean, natural, no excess bass or treble boost. Will be plugged into PC of cause, so USB, Toslink and so on will be handy. Also got about $300 for a closed set of headphones with similar sounding characteristics. Suggestions will be very helpful thanks, must be able to buy online from a decent seller, no dodgy over sea's stuff please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydrology Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 ProJect Pre Box S2 Digital https://www.frankprowsehifi.com.au/product/pro-ject-pre-box-s2-digital Use one myself and it punches (considerably) well above its price point. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ophool Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Not sure what or whom you might consider to be "dodgy overseas" sellers. I recently purchased a Topping DX3Pro direct from these folk for an acquaintance and found them to be prompt and responsive. It sounded more than acceptable to me and I do own much more upmarket gear. Shure SRH 940 from StoreDJ will pair well with it, although I preferred my open back ATH-AD1000X which worked really well with it. I am partial to AT cans generally though. The Shure are very even handed if a little more prosaic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastley83 Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) I didn't really mean dodgy, I just don't like buying from over seas. I currently use a Creative X7, which I thinks sounds quite good, but looking at reviews most Said it is average, so even a Schiit stack will be a fair upgrade. Was just checking if there are other options. Edited June 17, 2019 by Eastley83 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG DWIFTER Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) I looked at that Creative DAC when i first started my audio journey lol. Thought it looked fairly versatile till I read reviews of it. For the money it's not that great at all. I'd look at Topping or SMSL for your budget. I'm looking at the SMSL SU-8 or the Topping D50 for my 2.1 setup. I think using my OPPO 205 is a lil overkill;) Hope this helps. Edited June 17, 2019 by BIG DWIFTER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastley83 Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 20 minutes ago, BIG DWIFTER said: I looked at that Creative DAC when i first started my audio journey lol. Thought it looked fairly versatile till I read reviews of it. It's quality is easily the same, if not a tad better if you use USB > DAC than any Creative Internal card they have released, like a Zx series and so on, but you get higher sampling over USB, and a slight noise reduction. The Headphone AMP in it is great, it is clean and drives most things I will ever buy. The AMP fucntions I use sometimes, I had no issues driving a set of Polk RTi A7's, The issue with the X7 is not really what it does, it that the market shifted as it got released. The X7 is a great all rounder, can do it all, sound slightly better than any ZxR Internal card with a few extra handy functions. But the Market shifted towards proper DAC's and Headphone AMPS at it's release, and these separate components, if made by a well known company, sounded a bit better again. A Schiit Stack can be had for just over $400 at the moment, and is probably my better option, it is an upgrade in audio quality from the X7. Like the look of the Topping D50, only Amazon seem to have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ophool Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 The DX3Pro is also available through Amazon if that is your preference. A good headamp section with plenty of drive and a DAC that did not embarass itself when compared to an iFi iDSD Micro Black Label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastley83 Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 Thanks for suggestions guys, still reading reviews and what not. And looking at other suggestions else where. The Beresford Caiman MKII DAC seems to get some rave? https://headphones.com.au/product/beresford-caiman-mkii-dac/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastley83 Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 Topping DX3 Pro looks the good to be honest. https://hifigear.com.au/collections/dacs/products/topping-dx3-pro-dac-and-headphone-amplifier Can get it from there for $300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewmission Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 I agree with the topping.They make the best budget dacs as far as I am concerned 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMax Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Parasound Zdac v2 are pretty good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewmission Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Gustard dacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChilledStrings Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 Grace M900 Dac/Amp, super clean headphone section with tonnes of headroom, im biased as i own/use one I prefer it to my previous parasound and chord mojo dacs, which while sound amazing impart their own sound signature to some extent, the grace is very neutral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbz127 Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) Audio gd r2r 11 is a another option Edited June 30, 2019 by barbz127 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted June 30, 2019 Volunteer Share Posted June 30, 2019 If you care about measurements, the Audio-GD R2R measures pretty poorly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n0bleINtP Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) Another vote for the little Pro-Ject Pre Box. Had one for a week driving my main system when the DAC of choice was out of action. Really very good for its price - I was hardly aware of any deficits in the sound at all. edit: was not using the headphone out - so unsure of about good its amplifier is Edited June 30, 2019 by n0bleINtP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungbean66 Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Aune X1s is a fantastic dac/hp amp combo. The anniversary was released with a few updates recently. Measures really well and from personal experience can drive some current hungry headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuvallo Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Thinking about the DCS Bartok dac/streamer/head fi amp. https://www.hifinews.com/content/dcs-bartók-network-dacheadphone-amp and pairing it with a pair of Kii 3 DSP active speakers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphy Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 8 hours ago, Chuvallo said: Thinking about the DCS Bartok dac/streamer/head fi amp. https://www.hifinews.com/content/dcs-bartók-network-dacheadphone-amp and pairing it with a pair of Kii 3 DSP active speakers You obviously didn't read the first post, this is a little out of the $500 budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuvallo Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 Sorry, knee jerk reaction. I have been auditioning both items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuj Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I can +1 for either the project pre box s2 or the topping dx3pro (although there have been quality issues with these units so beware there) another alternative is a JDS Atom amp paired with a topping d10-d50 or even a khadas tone board if you don’t mind having a circuit board look. All of these have received very good review online and have measured well on Audio Science Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farpun Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 I highly recommend JDS LABS Atom amp and EL DAC. It has USB/OPTICAL/COAX inputs on the DAC and you buy directly from JDS. They're a western company and very reliable with good customer service.It's just good clean sound with little to no colouring of the sound.They also have new interconnects that are bendable and can stay in a fixed position which is good if you stack the DAC and amp on each other.I own the Atom amp and absolutely love it, the price to performance is a bargain and am going to buy the El DAC when I can afford it. Hey All. So I am wanting to get a DAC and Headphone AMP, either as one unit or a stack is fine. $500 budget. No real preference for sound, just clean, natural, no excess bass or treble boost. Will be plugged into PC of cause, so USB, Toslink and so on will be handy. Also got about $300 for a closed set of headphones with similar sounding characteristics. Suggestions will be very helpful thanks, must be able to buy online from a decent seller, no dodgy over sea's stuff please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amandhillon Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Go for a second Chord Mojo. They come up for sale frequently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steffen Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 On 10/09/2019 at 8:40 PM, amandhillon said: They come up for sale frequently Is that a good sign? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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