[squidman]

So been listening to my cans on older Asus Xonar pcie card or straight from the motherboard, and not getting the best out of my cans. For reference, AKG k612, AKGK271ii, Hifiman 4xxx on drop, Beyerdynamic dt770 pros, and some cheaper but still rocking Superlux cans. Apparently my cans would do a lot better with dedicated DAC and amp setup. Does anyone know of an integrated usb setup that would power them? Am aware there is a big difference between music production dacs which are relatively cheap! and hi-fi setups which cost a kidney or so. Looking for something in between, just to power my cans. Can throw around 3-4 hundred usd at it or so, but not more. Already have Fiio portable dac/amp for my mobiles, but that is a bit obsolete now. This is for listening to Tidal hi-fi on the desktop late at night and generally going on the piss and giving my mates some stick.
Well any advice welcome. If anyone knows of a DAC/tubeamp combination that costs less than a liver 2nd hand would be good to know. Very tempting with all these small tubeamp (microtubes, for guitar as well as headphone amp!) combinations. But solid state is also ok. Bit more practical. Of course play guitar, so bit keen on tubes!
Regardless some small dac/headphone amp combo is what I'm after. Good to be back here after many years away! Still the best place for all things hi-fi!

 

[squidman]

Have an older (but still good!) Yamaha mixing desk (analogue) but don't think that's the thing. Still coming from motherboard or xonar dac and from 3.5 mm jack. Looking for a small desktop thing which connects via usb 2 or 3. No USB C on computer, older mobos (have lots of computers!).

 

[XMarsX]

Check out the Schiit Asgard 3 if you don’t need a balanced connection. A fun amp that has a touch of tube flavor. You can add a DAC module to it and have an AIO solution.

 

[squidman]

Well the Fiio's looked tempting, but as Schiit got such good reviews going for entry level magni+ and the other one as a combo. Don't have proper hi-fi headphones so no point in going overboard, and my budget was only 400 bucks max anyway. Should be enough to drive my hi-fi man he-4xx anyway. Still comes to around 360 euro and have to pay 25% VAT tax on them, so will be around 425 euros all up depending on shipping. Still have Ausus Xonar soundcard, could in theory hook that up to amp, but don't think it's that great. Biggest problem is cables need to reach around to back of pc. Of course studio DACs are A LOT cheaper, but probably not as good sound or headphone preamp/amp. The Euro prices for the Schiits are much higher than the dollar prices by the way. Don't need balanced headphone out don't think, no headphones with balanced plugs anyway or xlr.
Thanks for the help all! Good to be back!

 

[squidman]

I went for the Schiit Magni + and the other one, as well as short cables. Fiio's are great, but wanted best possible sound. Not that I could hear the difference. Oh well. Not balanced of course, but don't have balanced cans. A little over my 400 USD budget, but not far. The Euro prices for Schiit are a lot higher than US prices. Very poor exchange rate at the moment, and especially as buying in NOK or norwegian kroner, especially bad. It is what it is.

 

[squidman]

Well as well the Schiit Modi+ looks good. And the stupidly expensive 6 inch rca cables. Oh well in for a pound etc!

 

[squidman]

Yeah all up it came to 425 euro, plus shipping plus VAT. So blew the budget a bit there!

 

[squidman]

Yeah well a bit stoked to get a dac/ amp combo to power my planar magnetic cans, the Schiit Audio budget combo. Magni+ and the the other one. Plus the cough cough 27 euro! short rca cables! Good enough for me, even my my tiny Fiio q1 portable dac/amp battery powered is miles better than my motherboard. Good little thing! Sounds great hooked up to desktop!

 

[squidman]

Well just an update, the NL Euro site for Schiit screwed up my order so delayed, but coming after 10-14 day's mucking around. Was 4800 nok or around 417 euro, then have to pay 25% VAT on that so aournd 1200 nok or 104 euro on import. So Significantly more expensive than versions in the US. The other option was of course the FiiO, which would have been several thousand kroner cheaper and maybe as good. There were some others out there on ebay, but didn't want to risk them. Shiit has a good reputation, figured I'd stick with that. And good 2nd hand market in Norway as well. So I went with what I figured was the best. May be proved wrong, who knows. Still a budget option if you can call it that at those prices! Not quite in the true hi-fi department of course.

 

[Tiax]

I don't know, i guess you'll get more street cred on head-fi with Schiit stack, but really any of the DX3 Pro+, Fiio K7, IFI Zen Dac v2 etc would drive your Hifiman just fine, and they are much cheaper in Europe.
Schiit and JDS Labs are just not worth the hassle.

 

[squidman]

Well see that! See dat! But buyer's remorse, already went with Schiit, based on reputation alone. On the way anyway, after screw-up in shipping. It was hard to figure out good stacks though, and Schiit came out on top online. So at least I know it's resellable and not total dog-crap. Maybe not the best, but not terrible. Just couldn't take the risk of a bad buy on some unknown! But yes FiiO Q7 was available here online for significantly cheaper. Oh well. Live and learn!

 

[Tiax]

So at least I know it's resellable and not total dog-crap. Maybe not the best, but not terrible.

I'm sure they will sound great.
But also i know that i can't tell the difference between my dac/amp and couple of more expensive stacks i've tried, so for me this part of the hobby is quite a bit overhyped.

 

[squidman]

Yepp my hifiman 4xx are over-hyped for sure, even through little fiio q1s, planar magnetics etc. My old akg k612s are miles better! But have bent plug, so bit risky every time I plug them in if they will break and sit there. Damn all headphones should have replaceable cables! At least hifiman has that! And akg k270's. Pretty stoked with hifiman's though, as good or better than other cans. But at around 300 buckaroos was a bit too expensive. Plus VAT of 25%. Will have to pay same stupid VAT of 25% for Schiit stack. Twice. Oh well supposed to be the best. Could have bought a FiiO7 for a lot less. Doubt I could hear the difference! Like you said, doubt one can realistically hear the difference!

 

[squidman]

Well I could probably hear it in the bass, is lacking in cans right now.

 

[squidman]

Yepp these cans have lots of distortion at high volume...hifiman 4xx. But otherwise comfy and good cans. Not super, not like planar cans are way better then normal cans. My best cans are still akg k612s, with the risky bent plug. Still looking to get a pair of Sennheiser hd600's. Oldie but goodies.