As the title indicates, I'm interested in upgrading my headphone amp. I currently have the FiiO E11 and the rest of my rig is in my signature. I've been looking at iBasso, RSA and ALO Audio and I'm looking to spend around $250.00. The E11 has a bit of hissing with my R-50 and I even notice it a bit with my full sized headphones. I'm looking for a metal amp, not the cheaper plastic iBasso ones and I'd prefer that the amp be an amp only, not including a DAC that isn't compatible with iDevices. If the amp costs $300.00 or more, I'll consider it, but I'm trying to save money, so please refrain from suggesting things above my current budget.
I've already ordered a custom LOD from Chris_Himself, so the higher-quality LOD is taken care of.
In the near future, I'll likely buy new IEMs and possibly headphones, so the rig will be put to good use. I'm also wondering if getting a balanced amp is worth the extra money since I might upgrade to a balanced external DAC in a year or two. I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but I've been researching amps constantly (my addiction
) and I'm still not quite sure what to get.