I have been lurking this forum now for over a year and been enjoying more and more headphones and iem's and while as my collection is growing i came to the conclusion that what i need is an amp and dac combo which can drive almost all headphones so that in the future i will not be limited to easy-to-drive headphones.
I will be using this combination with my stationary computer and/or laptop so and usb dac is favorable though optical works as well, I want to be able to have my PS3 connected to the dac and that's why it has to have optical in. I do have an Ibasso D10 which could is capable to do all this but i use it alot on the move with my Iphone and Iriver H140 and i want something more powerful and just better.
Right now my collection consist of mostly IEM's ,like UE Triplefi 10, Etymotic ER4p with S adapter, RE-Zero and more, and portable headphones ,like Audio Technica ATH-ES10, Beyerdynamic T50p and Allessandro MS1, everything very easy to drive but i plan on getting some more expensive and bigger headphones in the future
So i started exploring the vast knowledge of this forum and came up with an combination that looks intressting:
Cambridge DacMagic
Why? It an versatile with alot of inputs and very higly praised generaly through the forum
Together with:
Matrix M-Stage
Why? Same here versatile with 4 different gain settings which should make it work good with both IEM's and larger headphones and generaly very good critique
Alternatives: Tubemagic A1, Schiit Asgard
How does that look?
I'm buying alot of headphones because i love to try new things and i am a big gadget nerd but i'm not to fond of buying new amps and dacs all the time. I want a good allrounder who can drive almost all headphones and do it good, wich can take audio from different sources and last of a while.
So with these two together i'm up at around 600$ and thats where my budget is around, give or take a 100 bucks, but that also go me thinking if there are maybe an unit which combined a dac and headphone amp which is better?
Burson HA-160D came to my mind but it lacks optical in, which is to sad.
So need your thoughts and suggestions on this matter of grave importance! :)
