USB/DAC with no amp feature?

Why not the Little Dot DAC_I?  It will go fine with your MK III and has a USB input.  I have one and it works just fine.

Cheers!

-HK sends

I'm using the arcam rDac and I can highly recommend it. I also have the little dot mkIII, so that piece of information may have some bearing on your decision. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by IhateBEATS 

HK, will using the Dac_1 help in the synergy of the two instruments? Is synergy even a noticeable thing? I've been reading about it in these forums.

 

Dom, i forgot to mention my budget is 250 :[ but that rDAC looks SWEET. Maybe in the future, i'll just have to pick one up seeing as it works well with the MKIII 

Well, I have a Little Dot CD_I running into my DAC_I which is plugged into my Little Dot MK IV SE amp...I'd say yes, they will complement each other.

Cheers!

-HK sends
 

No one's mentioned the HRT Music Streamers? Those are about as minimalist as you can get. There have been good things said about the MSII and MSII+

The HRT Music Streamers are nice little units. I've got the MS II and it works really well and sounds great for the price. It needs its own dedicated USB channel (no hubs) for high bit-rate files which may be an issue depending upon the laptop setup. The only other consideration with them is that the USB input is at the opposite end of the chassis from the RCA outputs. This made it a bit of a pain to position for me at first.

Oh, and you won't be able to stack anything on it, but it's so small you can put it out of the way - mine is stuck to the underside of the desk with velcro.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IhateBEATS 

What a great setup that must be! I'm quite envious at this point . I'd like to ask you one more question HK if you dont mind. Assuming you've previously had or auditioned the MKIII, do you feel the extra cost of the MKIV, let alone the SE edition, is justified? Thanks again for the help 

 

I've never owned the MK III.  I chose the MK IV SE really because I liked all the upgrades to the tubes, RCA connectors, and headphone jack.  I really don't know how much of an improvement the MK IV is over the MK III.  I will say that there are a lot of happy MK III owners in this forum as well as MK IV. 

But you are right, they do stack very well.

Cheers!

-HK sends

That first picture is a beautiful thing to behold.

You can't see it in the pictures, but the MK IV amp is shorter (front to back) by a 1/2 inch or so.  As long as you are looking from the front, you can't tell...and since it has to be on top anyway, it's no big thing. 

Cheers!

-HK sends