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Cheapest worthwhile USB DAC/Amp?

post #1 of 19
4/24/08 at 11:34am
Thread Starter 
I'm building a simple headphone rig as a gift for a friend who's going through a bad spell and could use a care package. He's a guitarist and has a good ear, so it needs to be reasonable quality, but I don't want to break my bank. I've scrounged up a pair of Senn 555s and am looking for an all-in-one USB DAC/Amp to connect them to his PC source.

Would prefer to stay South of $250 and would much appreciate any suggestions. Please feel free to recommend more expensive stuff that I might be able to pick up under budget on the used market.

Thanks.
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post #2 of 19
4/24/08 at 12:11pm
I'm curious too, being in the market for this sort of thing.

To those who know, how does the Headroom Total Bithead stack up? It's only $150 US and portable.
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post #3 of 19
4/24/08 at 12:25pm
If looking for a portable, 2Move fits the bill or maybe iBasso D2 if you can find used...
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post #4 of 19
4/24/08 at 12:28pm
I haven't tried any of these (yet), but I was just (re)reading the review of the Go-Vibe Petite, which looks like it might fit the bill:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/rev...-vs-d1-287689/
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post #5 of 19
4/24/08 at 1:07pm
The EMU 0404 USB is my recommendation. I used it with Sennheiser HD580 pretty successfully for almost a year. It has a somewhat harsh sound signature that shows through on Grados, but sounds pretty normal on Senns.

I don't know if you care about looks, but it's very ugly.
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post #6 of 19
4/24/08 at 1:27pm
I would look into the less expensive Chinese DAC's with headphone amps built in. (Yulong DAH1, Zhaolu, etc)

Or maybe a NuForce Icon, but have not heard any of these.
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post #7 of 19
4/25/08 at 1:12am
For about $30 USD, you can have the Behringer UCA202. It sounds very good, and has a built-in amp with volume control. It sounds better than many amps I have owned. It has a USB input and RCA and Optical output, plus a 1/8" stereo miniplug jack for headphone out.

Behringer is a company that specializes in audio equipment for musicians.
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post #8 of 19
4/25/08 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFlight View Post
For about $30 USD, you can have the Behringer UCA202. It sounds very good, and has a built-in amp with volume control. It sounds better than many amps I have owned. It has a USB input and RCA and Optical output, plus a 1/8" stereo miniplug jack for headphone out.

Behringer is a company that specializes in audio equipment for musicians.

WOW. That one seems like a nice little thing. The impedance output is rated at 400ohms...that means it can perfectly drive the HD6x0!!!

Sounds really tempting because it is at 40shipped through amazon.com Amazon.com: Behringer USB Audio Input/Output Adapter UCA-202: Electronics

Great find! Now i am not thinking about the 100 bithead...
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post #9 of 19
4/25/08 at 2:00am
Headstage Lyrix USB Pro? The price is right and they did very well in Skylab's huge portable amp review thread.

Edit: Though a pro-audio interface might be better for a musician, because he can use it to record as well as listen.
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post #10 of 19
4/25/08 at 2:08am
I'd say the HotUSB1 would be a good match with the HD555. It auctions on eBay for around $63+ by hotaudio40.
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post #11 of 19
4/25/08 at 12:36pm
X2 on the Hotaudio HotUSB1 I am very impressed with this DAC/AMP
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post #12 of 19
4/25/08 at 10:06pm
I'd say the iBasso D2. I love mine and it's pretty cheap too.
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post #13 of 19
4/26/08 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the advice. I ended up ordering one of the HotAudio amps with a few tweaks after talking to Dave there. So total outlay on headphones, DAC and amp came to $170. I'll probably have a little listen myself before passing it on and will report back in the appropriate thread/s.
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post #14 of 19
4/26/08 at 1:52pm
Tweaks, please tell us about the tweaks
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post #15 of 19
5/1/08 at 11:51am
Yes what tweaks?
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