[hebrewbacon]

Title says it all. I'm buying my first good headphone setup - a STAX Lambda Pro with an SRM-1/MK-2 amp, and I need a DAC to go with it.  I'm tentatively planning on a uDAC-2 but am not wedded to the idea. Any insights?  $200 would be my absolute upper limit, but $70-$130 is what I'm really planning on.

 

 

[loremipsum]

I'd suggest that for your first "good" setup you stick to the $100-300 range and slowly work your way up to see what your preferences are, rather than jumping in head first and thinking this is a stupid hobby when you aren't impressed, when you really just haven't developed an appreciation yet.

 

[hebrewbacon]

I've actually been lucky enough to have a roommate (Aflac) who's been slowly working his way up, with me getting to hear his new acquisitions as they've come in.  While the majority of my listening has been on SR60's and AD700's, I've had a lot of time with DT770's, AD2000's, K501's, HF2's and RS2's.  I've also gotten the chance to listen to STAX Omega 2's, HiFiman HE-5's and HE-6's, and number of other sets in the $600+ range.  From what I've heard, I'm willing to give up some of the impact of, say, the HF2's to have the kind of detail that the STAX can provide, and honestly I've made up my mind on the purchase of the STAX system!  I appreciate the warning though; I guess this is what a new job and a signing bonus do to a soon-to-be college grad.
 

 

[loremipsum]

I see. Well, I personally haven't listened to either the Lambda Pro or the uDAC-2 so I can't offer you any further advice if you know what you're doing. Maybe this thread would do better in the Source Gear forum. Good luck.

 

[BrucYSN]

I'd suggest that for your first "good" setup you stick to the $100-300 range and slowly work your way up to see what your preferences are, rather than jumping in head first and thinking this is a stupid hobby when you aren't impressed, when you really just haven't developed an appreciation yet.

X2 this is a good pattern , but if OP has experienced other products I guess it's ok then( lucky you without wasting all that money).

But given the reputation of O2 in transparency and detail revealing, i doubt the $200 dac would cut the deal. There are people claim they can hear the difference in ICs through O2 system that never happened before.

Although for your budget, the pisco DAC or V-DAC seems to be a wonderful choice. You can find them used well below $300 and it could sound up to %80 close to a $1k dac.

 

[padam]

You could get the HRT Music Streamer II (although for Stax it is worthwhile to go higher).

 

[-TheGrouch-]

You can't go wrong with stax, they'll be head and shoulders above most of the dynamics you've listened to. (and if you got these from the auction I think you did, it was at a great price too) In your price range I don't know of many dacs, but you might want to look into the music steamer II if you're planning on using a pc as your primary source. If you'd be willing to wait a bit and save to expand your budget you could check out the Emotiva XDA-1 or the Headamp Pico dac. I have no experience of the uDac-2 but there was a thread in the source section a few weeks back where a guy took a lot of measurements and came to the conclusion that the thing was kinda crap. I'm not seeing it there right now, but you might want to read through that thread.