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M-Stage, U100 or Rip

post #1 of 5
1/30/13 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 

Hi guys, been looking into buying an amp/dac and am about to pull the trigger, but the OCD in me won't let me unless I make the perfect choice :P

 

So there are these three amps/dacs, one more expensive the the last and I can't decide or figure out if the price increases are worth it in terms of sound.

 

- First off is the Matrix Rip, I can get it for about 180 dollars, the cheapest of the 3. Can't find any reviews of this which leads me to believe it isn't great.

 

- Next is the Yulong U100 which I can get for around 220 dollars. A lot of good things said about this and is probably my number 1 choice.

 

- Finally, there is the Matrix M-Stage USB which is the most expensive at somewhere in the region of 280 dollars. I know the M-Stage without the DAC is widely praised, but can't find much to say about the USB model except one post on head-fi where someone says he much prefers the U100, again making me crave the U100.

 

So they are the main choices at the minute. My headphones are 250 ohm beyer 880s and I plan to buy some closed back headphones too, which will more than likely be lower impedance, which I have to take into account for the amp. I'd be willing to buy anything that can get the job done around the 200 dollar mark, but if the thing was worth it, I could stretch a bit.

 

The unit has to have USB because it will be used with my laptop. I don't want anything portable unless it beats a desktop in terms of price/quality. Don't mind tubes, was looking into the Aune T1 as well, but something is holding me back from that, dunno.

 

Thanks for reading :)

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post #2 of 5
1/30/13 at 10:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NinjaVampire View Post

Hi guys, been looking into buying an amp/dac and am about to pull the trigger, but the OCD in me won't let me unless I make the perfect choice :P

 

So there are these three amps/dacs, one more expensive the the last and I can't decide or figure out if the price increases are worth it in terms of sound.

 

- First off is the Matrix Rip, I can get it for about 180 dollars, the cheapest of the 3. Can't find any reviews of this which leads me to believe it isn't great.

 

- Next is the Yulong U100 which I can get for around 220 dollars. A lot of good things said about this and is probably my number 1 choice.

 

- Finally, there is the Matrix M-Stage USB which is the most expensive at somewhere in the region of 280 dollars. I know the M-Stage without the DAC is widely praised, but can't find much to say about the USB model except one post on head-fi where someone says he much prefers the U100, again making me crave the U100.

 

So they are the main choices at the minute. My headphones are 250 ohm beyer 880s and I plan to buy some closed back headphones too, which will more than likely be lower impedance, which I have to take into account for the amp. I'd be willing to buy anything that can get the job done around the 200 dollar mark, but if the thing was worth it, I could stretch a bit.

 

The unit has to have USB because it will be used with my laptop. I don't want anything portable unless it beats a desktop in terms of price/quality. Don't mind tubes, was looking into the Aune T1 as well, but something is holding me back from that, dunno.

 

Thanks for reading :)

 

The M-Stage is a fair amplifier, but mine hums at high gain and/or high volume. The O2 is completely transparent, and it can handle both low- and high-impedance 'phones with ease.

 

For ~US$290, you can get the ODAC+O2 combo. That's what I'd do.

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post #3 of 5
1/30/13 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the reply :) I live in Ireland so getting a JDS ODAC+O2 combo won't be possible. Is the UK company Epiphany Acoustics the same company or the UK version of JDS? They are a slightly different looking O2+ODAC! I have read a lot about the ODAC+O2 and it seems to regarded as the best combo under 300 dollars, thanks for the suggestion :)

 

Anyone disagree? :P

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post #4 of 5
1/30/13 at 11:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NinjaVampire View Post

Thanks for the reply :) I live in Ireland so getting a JDS ODAC+O2 combo won't be possible. Is the UK company Epiphany Acoustics the same company or the UK version of JDS? They are a slightly different looking O2+ODAC! I have read a lot about the ODAC+O2 and it seems to regarded as the best combo under 300 dollars, thanks for the suggestion :)

 

Anyone disagree? :P

 

JDS and Epiphany are independent companies. They may not use the same enclosures or have exactly the same options, but they both sell the same circuitry (Objective DAC and Objective2 amplifier.) The performance of equipment from the two companies should be absolutely identical.

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post #5 of 5
2/3/13 at 6:54am
Thread Starter 

I was looking and I can get the desktop O2+ODAC from the UK for 230 euro (310 dollars) shipped. If I'm going to spend this much, do you think it is the best option for an amp and dac, powering both low and high impedance headphones? 

 

Thanks for the help all.

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