1000$ amp and dac for hd800

Quote:

Originally Posted by hahihuheho 

so..an old friend of mine just gave me the greatest birthday present ever, an HD800!!!

but, I've never owned such a high end headphones before (i only had AD900 and a few apple earbuds before) , so I currently have no amp or DAC at all to power it.. He advised me to join this forum and ask for recommendation here..

 

as stated above, my budget is only 1000$ max..I know it's kinda limited, but that's all I've got.. I'm going to use it with my PC and FLAC or lossless files.. any recommendations? he advised me to stretch my budget a bit and get a burson HA-160D, but since I really know nothing about amps or dacs, i want to know are there any cheaper alternatives than could match the burson?? or is it really the best for my budget??

Congratulations!

I haven't heard it in combination with the HD800, so I  can't comment on that, but the Burson is probably the best bargain at their current price, definitely a top contender. 

HD 800 amp discussion:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/513277/hd-800-amp-discussion

Don't be tempted to spend 'just a little' more for better.  The value you get are smaller the more money you spend espeically it comes to amp/dac.  If anything probably better to spend as little as possible.

Amp comparison (Conclusion: not a lot of difference lol)

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/521988/amp-a-b-comparisons/450#post_7368336

I am probably not the best person for advice as I was looking to splash out on an amp and dac myself before coming across that thread and now probably doing the e7/e9 combo.

Don't know what the minimum requirement is for the HD800 but if e7/e9 does the job then yeah, I would go for that.

I mean a Burson HA160D goes for $1100?  I rather get a e7 and LCD 2 for that money.

Probably best if you go to a store with high powered amp/dac or to a meet to see if you can hear the difference.  I am going to a meet tomorrow and hear for myself.  If there is not a clear night and day difference in quality between the mid amp/dac to low amp/dac then the e7/e9 is coming my way.  Rather spend it on another headphone then trying to improve a tiny % in sound.

I listened to the DNA Sonett with the HD800 and NOTHING have ever made these headphone sound soo sweet.

Even the 3,5k Leben 300X who is known to be a great match with the 800's didn't sounded as good.

It's an amp that makes music come alive in a way i thought i had to pay 3-10 times as much for.

New its 1200, used maybe 8-900.

I would buy this amp and pair it with a pico usb dac.  

Have you considered doing a DIY DAC and Amp?  It could save you a lot of money...