Another thing I can wholeheartedly recommend is the xDuoo XD05 Pro. It is battery powered (13600 mAh) but can also be powered from an external supply. It can work as a USB/SPDIF DAC/amp, BT DAC/amp and amplifier only (4.4mm input). It has great clean sound. If you are into that, it has replaceable opamps for amplifier tweaking the sound (comes with a second set of opamps), even replaceable DAC modules (which for me is a gimmick). It comes with a full box of stuff you might need and a clean, transparent sound. I can highly recommend.
I would like to add another word to Mitch filters for the Expanse.
My initial impression was very positive, but after more listening I came to conclusion that I like what it is doing for the lower registers.
On the other hand upper midrange/lower treble area - more or less where the vocals are placed aka ear gain my initial impression has changed a bit.
With harsher recordings I like the effect, it's easier to listen especially at higher levels.
It changes when the recording has no issues with sibilants, spatial effects are a bit compromised - it's not a big change but definitely not something I would like to have with every recording.
So it's highly recording dependent which version of Expanse (Mitch or stock) I prefer.
Hi Everone,
would be fantastic to get views from the forum on what is reccomended as an amp and a dac or a dac/amp under $4000, $3000,& $2000. maybe a top 2 or 3 in each range.
a separate reccomendation for tubes too would be so helpful. I have been searching the forums for a couple of months but there’s so much here and to cross check with more deeper dive reviews and would really find a ranking helpful.
I would like a slightly more airy, more pronounced treble sound than currently possible thru my current collection.
Hi Everone,
would be fantastic to get views from the forum on what is reccomended as an amp and a dac or a dac/amp under $4000, $3000,& $2000. maybe a top 2 or 3 in each range.
a separate reccomendation for tubes too would be so helpful. I have been searching the forums for a couple of months but there’s so much here and to cross check with more deeper dive reviews and would really find a ranking helpful.
I would like a slightly more airy, more pronounced treble sound than currently possible thru my current collection.
Chord TT2 & RME ADI-2 are good dac/amps with Expanse.
As a stack I would recommend the Holo Spring 3 + Holo Bliss or maybe Ferrum Oor since it's quite cheap on the used market. I myself love my HPA4.
In this price range you should go straight for your endgame imo.
I don't think you'll get a ranking since at this price level everything is good and things turn very subjective.
I use the Chord MScaler/Hugo TT2 Combo with the Riviera AIC-10. This headphone is a beast. I have the Zahl HM-1 on order. Hopefully o get it soon. With all the delays.
After a long time of debating about a dac that would do justice to expanse, I decided to go for crane song solaris
The Solaris is a rather ugly studio converter, but in terms of technical performance it has almost no competitor, especially at its price.
Even though it's studio, its sound is not boring, and it also has an excellent headphone output,
It will be used for me both to connect with oor+hypsos and as an independent amplifier,
and in addition this will be used for the neuman kh120 monitors,
It is very hard to get hold of now as its designer Dave Hill has sadly passed away,
But I managed to get my hands on one device,
I have now received it and hope to share impressions soon.
Hi Everone,
would be fantastic to get views from the forum on what is reccomended as an amp and a dac or a dac/amp under $4000, $3000,& $2000. maybe a top 2 or 3 in each range.
a separate reccomendation for tubes too would be so helpful. I have been searching the forums for a couple of months but there’s so much here and to cross check with more deeper dive reviews and would really find a ranking helpful.
I would like a slightly more airy, more pronounced treble sound than currently possible thru my current collection.
My absolute best recommendation would be RME ADI-2 Pro SE, and you don't need anything extra. It has more than enough power, loudness functionality, excellent professional level PEQ that allows you to tune any sound signature you like in addition to basic bass and treble, you can control these over a remote control and a PC application to control everything from an application is on the way, can drive two HPs in parallel with independent volume levels, excellent techical specifications - and I don't know any other single HP DAC/amp that can do half of the things it can.
Most of the people that use ADI-2 is sadly not touching the DSP at all and I don't really understand why.
My absolute best recommendation would be RME ADI-2 Pro SE, and you don't need anything extra. It has more than enough power, loudness functionality, excellent professional level PEQ that allows you to tune any sound signature you like in addition to basic bass and treble, you can control these over a remote control and a PC application to control everything from an application is on the way, can drive two HPs in parallel with independent volume levels, excellent techical specifications - and I don't know any other single HP DAC/amp that can do half of the things it can.
Most of the people that use ADI-2 is sadly not touching the DSP at all and I don't really understand why.
Hi DarginMahkum,
thank you for your message. the Pro SE has "Max power @ 0.001% THD: 4 W per channel Channel separation: > 130 dB @ 1 kHz" and on these forums I've read a few times that it needs ideally > 4 W for more headroom.
with the new software update I am finally able to use the PEQ settings using my Mac (it's too hard otherwise using the device) and begun to play with it but still learning how to. if you have the Expanse settings you use with your expanse can I request you to please share them with me.
owning an ADI 2 would you still recommend the ProSE?
How does the sound of the two devices compare? Now, I can make this short because, seriously, I tried and tried but couldn’t tell the difference in a real field test. Apart from paper, both devices sound similar.
Not sure if this extrapolates the same to the Pro SE version. I could imagine the difference between an AKM (old version) or ESS DAC (new version) to be larger in sound difference; though on the ADI forum people say with the same DSP filters they sound similar.
Hi DarginMahkum,
thank you for your message. the Pro SE has "Max power @ 0.001% THD: 4 W per channel Channel separation: > 130 dB @ 1 kHz" and on these forums I've read a few times that it needs ideally > 4 W for more headroom.
This is unfortunately one of the critics I have these forums. I find the >4W "requirement" an overly exaggerated value. To tell you the truth, I tested the Stealth with a Mojo2 which delivers only 0.6W via single ended output and it was excellent. The recommendation from Dan is 1W+.
with the new software update I am finally able to use the PEQ settings using my Mac (it's too hard otherwise using the device) and begun to play with it but still learning how to. if you have the Expanse settings you use with your expanse can I request you to please share them with me.
Frankly, Expanse is one HP that I rarely need to EQ, and if I EQ it rarely has to do with Expanse but rather with the recording. But for basic bass and treble adjustments, I would rather just skip the PEQ and use the basic Bass / Treble adjustments which you can change from the remote control. Otherwise, I sometimes tune it closer to Stealth - Dan posted some EQ settings for that here.
I still have the ADI-2 DAC and also the Pro SE. I personally don't think it is necessary, but if you like you can add a more powerful amp, and for that you don't need to spend thousands, really. You can buy a very transparent, colorless amplifier from Topping, SMSL etc. and tune according to the signature you like. But before adding anything else, Pro SE or another amplifier, I would recommend using the features of the ADI-2 to find out what it is you like and you don't fully like.
Not sure if this extrapolates the same to the Pro SE version. I could imagine the difference between an AKM (old version) or ESS DAC (new version) to be larger in sound difference; though on the ADI forum people say with the same DSP filters they sound similar.
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