I'm kind of surprised a thread hasn't been made for this wonderful all in one DAC/Amplifier from SMSL. This little box has outputs for two speakers and a subwoofer (!) and a headphone out. Stupid question but the 4.4mm headphone jack is a balanced out right? It's funny because in the ads and the...

What are some DAPs with a Cirrus Logic DAC that's not Astell&Kern? I have tried/owned AKM and ESS DACs. I'd like a CL DAC.

This should be fine for audio, no? It transfers the digital bits just the same. Just wondering because I need something flexible to position my USB dac/amp better on my desk. I'm thinking of something like these:  ...

What would happen if:   amp/dac output = 20-20,000hz headphone capability = 5-30,000hz   The amp/dac would limit the headphones in terms of frequency range, no?

I notice with brighter headphones it sometimes feels like the treble energy is digging a hole in my ear drums.

Anybody know of good test tracks where, say, there's a sound of a bass guitar (or some low bass sounds) looping over and over for a few minutes? I want to compare two different amplifiers and see how the bass sounds on each.

My setup is laptop --> FiiO E10K --> HD 600.   If my E10K already drives my headphones to more than adequate volume levels would it be fair to say I don't need to purchase a more powerful amplifier? And the DAC chip inside the E10K is a TI PCM5102, which seems respectable and comparable to the...