DAC/Amp combo vs. standalone DAC

There is no clear single indicator, but if I had to pick one I'd choose price over size. The Apogee Duet and Headamp Pico outperform many DACs larger.

Personally if I was looking at the overall best SQ for $200 I'd be looking for vintage home DACs on eBay. I picked up both my Parasounds for $200. If you have a computer that doesn't have an optical output, you'd need to spend at least an additional $30 to get around that.

That said many DACs do not have volume control, let alone a headphone jack so you wouldn't be plugging your MS1s into them. So you're back to some sort of ampin'.

You can argue the point from many directions. If you have a loose budget, and lots of space, and a willing spouse, one can get something of everything, separate components for home, and good portable gear.

Assuming some constraint, either as listed above, or anything else that is important to you, then you will have to create some priorities.

Personally, if I had to severely pare down my gear, I would pick my portable DAC/AMP (I use a Predator, but there are many, more and less expensive) and use it with my computer, and as a portable amp with my iPod. Not sure which of my cans to choose, but it would be probably be my UE-10pros, as they are my best portable cans, and I could not imagine travelling on planes with my full size cans. Have yet to consider flying with my ESW10s yet.

So, I guess I would recommend you find a portable DAC/AMP as a great starting place for this hobby. Is there better, sure. Can you carry your elegant, flashy, uber balanced home amp in the car, or in the grocery store with you? I can't, but having a portable system really increases the music time I get. I really like the Predator on my laptop while at the beach house, and in hotel rooms.

At $200, you don't have a lot of choice if you need to get a Dac, and an Amp to put on your computer to listen to. Although, you can find receivers in that range with a SPDIF connector, and a headphone out in that ballpark. You would need a computer with SPDIF out, or some USB - SPDIF converter to make that work. I would think your D3 would beat that sound quality to a headphone though.

You want a DAC to use with a computer and drive low-impedance headphones. Sounds like EMU 0404 USB. And there are some good PCI sound cards that will drive headphones directly, I'll let others make a recommendation. I use M-Audio Revo 5.1 but they are no longer manufactured.

With a budget of around $200 you could look intot he Octavart Amp/Dac or its predecessor O1 Amp/Dac. Only the name changed and they are both a Dac (Optical or Coaxial) plus a Headphone Amp. The unit also sports an analog input in addition to the two digital inputs.

The Beresford is another option, it has both a DAC and a Headphone Amp. Sounds very good IMO.