I am sure DAC-100 is grt.
But my point was about a companion dac for HAP-100. And since HAP-100 has a headphone amp already, the companion dac can be a pure dac.
That way buying both, one will get analogue pre (HAP-100), heaphone-amp (HAP-100) and a DAC (the new unit I am talking about)
 
DAC-100 doesn't have analogue in, rt ?
 
Just a thought

x2...... i tot i want a pure dac too.

I will be reviewing the HAP-100 this year, and will post a link here when I am done.  Still quite happy with the DAC-100, but if the HAP-100 has even more power it can't hurt at all.  I've been busy, but will post more impressions of other headphones with the DAC-100.  
 
So far, it's doing a great job with the V-MODA M-100 tonight, although with this amp and many others the M-100 have a little extra bass emphasis and a little darker tone than neutral headphones.  I may have to hook up the HDP again, and see how that does with the M-100 just for fun.  I should get to do a lot of headphone listening this weekend as well, for more impressions.

I might have a DAC-100 and HAP-100 coming in as well. And an LPS2 for my Icon2, but I figure I can feed the coax out to the DAC-100... We shall see.
 
Maybe do something silly like computer usb-->LPS2-->DAC-100-->Icon2 (speaker amp)-->HE-6

I bought the DAC-100 when it first came out and it's certainly the best sounding DAC I've ever bought, although that's what I would expect as it's also the most expensive DAC I've bought. I also own the NuForce Icon HDP, which is a terrific value at $449, but the DAC-100 is definitely superior to the HDP as an amp and as a DAC. The only possible negative I can think of is that it's amp is designed for high-impedance headphones (over 120-ohm), so it's not the best for some low-impedance headphones I own and plan to get in the future, but that's not really much of negative for me as I also own more high-impedance headphones than low-impedance ones. I'm absolutely thrilled with the sound I get when I pair it with my Sennheiser HD800's or Beyerdynamic T1's. The detail is really extraordinary. I haven't heard the higher-end multi-thousand dollar DAC's and Amps, but I can't imagine that I'm missing THAT much. I'm quite content for now with the DAC-100. I also use it as a preamp/DAC for my floorstanding Polk speakers and it's also excellent in that regard.

Has anyone here heard the Dac-9 and the Dac-100 to compare?
 
I'm upgrading my headphones, dac, amp & speakers. I am pretty set on the airmotiv 5 or 6 and was thinking of running them off of the Dac-9 and use it as a headphone amp as well w/ the hd800s
 
The only thing I am worrying about w/ the Dac-100 is running the airmotivs off it and having to use a converter.

What do you mean by converter? You should be able to do a direct RCA to RCA connection.

Yes you are correct.
 
For some reason I thought it was xlr and spdif.
 
Thanks for the clarifying that
 

Well, I upgraded from LCD-2 rev1 to the rev2, and tried them with the DAC-100.  I'm pretty sure these are a better match for the DAC-100 than the old pair.  I'm still evaluating them, but I'm pretty sure I could be happy with the LCD-2 Rev 2 and the DAC-100 now.  I'm listening to Fourplay "Between the Sheets" with the volume at 2 o'clock and it sounds full, warm without being dark, and is punchy at a nice moderate volume.
 
Yep - Infected Mushroom also has a much more solid bass foundation now that I have the LCD-2 rev2, so the DAC-100 is sufficient with these.  I think these LCD-2 rev2 may be playing a couple of dB louder at the same volume settings that I had used with my LCD-2 rev1.  Too bad I don't still have the rev1 to compare.

Well I've got the HAP-100 and DAC-100 with me now and will be writing a review. I need to borrow some high impedance Beyers or Senns... I have a Sextett and HD25-13 at 600 ohms each, but want something more "mainstream".

Quote:

armaegis said:

Well I've got the HAP-100 and DAC-100 with me now and will be writing a review. I need to borrow some high impedance Beyers or Senns... I have a Sextett and HD25-13 at 600 ohms each, but want something more "mainstream".

Click to expand...

 
The only high-impedance headphones I own and really have ever listened to are the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250-ohm, Beyerdynamic T1, and Sennheiser HD800. I would like to get some more high-impodence phones, maybe the HD600s or HD650's, but since I already own the HD800 I doubt I'll buy either of them. I could try out the HD700. Can you think of any high-impedance audiophile headphones that may match well with my DAC-100? I'm sure Sennheiser and Beyerydnamic have flagship headphones they're planning on releasing over a multi-year strategy in the future.

Wow you've already got a pretty nice selection of toys there. Beyer and Senn are already the big players there, the only thing I can think to add would be trying out the DT880, T70, or HD600/650. You might want to try out an AKG K240M or a vintage Sextett or DF. You could also look into orthos which aren't necessarily high impedance, but with their flat impedance curve tend to play nicely with most amps. The DAC-100 even does a passable job driving the HE-6, though it lacks a bit of headroom. 
 
I haven't heard the HD800, but from what I've read it seems it sounds quite different from the HD600/650, and likewise the HD700. 

Just waiting for more reviews/impressions on this unit. I currently have a Beyerdynamic DT 990 (600 ohms) and will eventually get the T1s down the line.
 
I am currently just using the Auzentech X-fi forte sound card .... really need to upgrade to a dac/amp (separates or a combo).
 
Really confused between this unit (DAC-100) or a Schiit Asgard/Bifrost combo. My total budget is 1000$ for dac amp together .... any suggestions? More reviews for the DAC-100?
 
P.S. - please move this post to a different thread if i posted in the wrong thread.

Something odd going on with the output impedance of the DAC-100 and HAP-100. There must be a resistor in parallel with the output jack. I wonder if they're using something akin to their speaker amp architecture but with an output resistor in parallel (and probably another in series) much like we'd see on a speaker tap for headphone use. 

Quote:

armaegis said:

Something odd going on with the output impedance of the DAC-100 and HAP-100. There must be a resistor in parallel with the output jack. I wonder if they're using something akin to their speaker amp architecture but with an output resistor in parallel (and probably another in series) much like we'd see on a speaker tap for headphone use. 

Click to expand...

 
I could be that way, but not sure.  I know from past discussions that they like to have some degree of protection on the output jack in case of a problem, and they found that when tuning the amp to work best with HD800 that the current output impedance sounded best.
 
A lot of people say if the output impedance is <1 ohm that you can use any low or high impedance phone with it, but I've read people's comments that their 1 ohm mod on their DACmini is slightly colder and more analytical sounding.  You don't want that with an HD800.
 
What surprised me was how much better the LCD-2 rev2 sound with the DAC-100 than the LCD-2 rev1 that I used to have.  While the higher output impedance makes the $300 V-MODA M-100 sound a little boomy, it's just fine with the much more expensive HD800 and LCD-2 rev2.