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HifiDIY.net Aune MKII or Cute Beyond? from Xonar Essence

post #1 of 7
3/25/11 at 7:46pm
Thread Starter 

Are either of these a worthwhile upgrade?  I'm looking for a good DAC/AMP combo around this price and this one seems to have good parts. 

 

If so which do recommend?  I like that the Aune is a DAC/AMP combo and am leaning towards this.  Looking for more info from people with experience between any of these 3 units.

 

Thanks


Edited by WaveRider69 - 3/28/11 at 11:50pm
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post #2 of 7
3/28/11 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 

Bump, changed thread title and info.


Maybe this belongs in dedicated source components?  If so could someone please move?  Much appreciate, thanks.  L3000.gif


Edited by WaveRider69 - 3/28/11 at 11:55pm
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post #3 of 7
3/29/11 at 2:39am

Your choices are hardly an upgrade. If you look around the forums, this question has been answered a gazillion times before. :) You can exchange the OPAMP on your soundcard to get even better performance. The Asus is a very well measuring soundcard that offers great soundquality. A DAC has to be pretty good to actually top it. The complaints about harsh trebles are very subjective and can be easily eq'ed/modded. Use the search function! :) Good luck!

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post #4 of 7
3/29/11 at 2:51am
Thread Starter 

The thing about the Essence is the Amp isn't very strong.  It powers my ATH-AD700's & HFI-680's perfectly and gives both of them great bass, clarity, good sound, etc when used with an EQ.  But my 250ohm DT990's it barely pushes them on max gain.  If I used the Essence as a DAC, then what's a good powerful little amp you might recommend?  One that doesn't run off of batteries, lol.  I'm looking all over now, but it's hard to find power ratings on a lot of them.  Want to keep it under 150ish for now.

 


Edited by WaveRider69 - 3/29/11 at 4:30am
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post #5 of 7
3/29/11 at 2:59am

If your budget is around $150 I'd go for either the Fiio E9, Xiang Sheng 708B (tube) or Little Dot 1+ (tube). You can also mod a Bravo V2. Check out Rockgrotto if you're into the whole soldering thing. :) 

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post #6 of 7
3/29/11 at 4:29am
Thread Starter 

Ahhh!  Ok I just bought the e9 :D  We'll give that a try for now, looks plenty powerful like a little beast, sweet :D  Thanks man L3000.gif

 

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post #7 of 7
3/29/11 at 4:50am

For your reading pleasure, in this thread someone directly compares the $120 E9 to the $1000 B22. The outcome may surprise you. 

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