Hey, I want a new desktop stack for home and office use.  I have about $300 in budget and my current stable consists of Hifiman HE400S, AKG K7XX, and Grado SR235i, all phones that benefit from the warmer tube sound of my Aune T1 with vintage Russian tube.  I have a Fiio E07k too but the Hifimans specifically sound like crap out of it and in general it's just alright.  I plan on upgrading my 400S to a 560 in the next few months. 
 
I was looking at a Schiit Modi 2 + Vali which is a recommended starter stack (swapping the vali for the magni 2) and especially for the AKGs.  This leaves some room in my budget.  Maybe upgrade to a Loki?  Get better tubes? Buy a cable?  Or just pocket the money for the 560s.

Hmm... the Modi 2 and Vali probably won't be much of an upgrade, and you'll want more current for headphones like the K7xx and especially the HE-560.  I'd either get the Audio GD NFB-15 (solid state known to be on the warmer side), or just save up for a bigger and better upgrade.

rhamnetin said:

Hmm... the Modi 2 and Vali probably won't be much of an upgrade, and you'll want more current for headphones like the K7xx and especially the HE-560.  I'd either get the Audio GD NFB-15 (solid state known to be on the warmer side), or just save up for a bigger and better upgrade.

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I'd prefer to get something now. I also saw that Audio GD recommended, you think it'll be better? It's definitely within my budget. Perhaps my head equipment is already past the "starter stack" stage. Right now I'd be willing to bump my budget if I can get something impressive.

protegemaniac said:

 

Note you can't just "upgrade" to the Loki, it only works with DSD so if you have regular PCM audio files you'll still need the Modi (or Bifrost). The Loki has pass-through inputs so a PCM DAC can be used. This is because a true DSD DAC is very different from a PCM DAC - the first is 1-bit/2.8Mhz while the latter can be around 24bit/196khz.

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Oh I didn't even notice. No I don't have any DSD files.

Another option would be to keep your T1 as the DAC, and get a Garage1217 Project Ember amp.  Actually this sounds like a more attractive option to me than an NFB-15.

rhamnetin said:

Another option would be to keep your T1 as the DAC, and get a Garage1217 Project Ember amp.  Actually this sounds like a more attractive option to me than an NFB-15.

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This exact idea crossed my mind since I see the Ember in every amp thread there is. The drawback is that I would only have one great setup instead of two decent ones, so I would have to pick where to leave them. I believe I can work around this, though.