[Roller]

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I just googled the E17, although i am not an expert this device looks legit. Seems small, portable, can be used with my computer + ipod. It seems that i can not find a vendor that has it in stock ?

So far there have been some supply issues due to a lot of demand. mp4nation and miccastore are usually where people from the US buy them.

 

[Bleether]

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I own the HeadRoom Total BitHead and I used to own the NuForce uDAC-2 HP. I would recommend the NuForce uDAC-2 HP at $99.00 USD which you can buy it from Amazon. It produces a dead silent background and it creates a very clean sound. If reproducing music is your top priority, then this would be a good entry level recommendation. It will give you a taste of the high end and you can make a determination if you want your Asus laptop to be your source component or if you want to delve deeper into more traditional high end audio components such as CD players, headphone amplifiers, loudspeakers, power amplifiers, and headphones. I believe that simplicity is preferred to complex designs and the NuForce produced a cleaner sound than the HeadRoom Total BitHead. Get the Total BitHead if you want to power two headphones or earphones and you need cross feed. The NuForce uDAC-2 HP can accept up to 24bit/96kHz signals so it will work for DVD-Audio and DVD-Video source materials. Don't spend any more money until you make a firm commitment to get more involved in this hobby. You can make a lot of terribly expensive mistakes that you will regret. I have done so myself.

Being a student in college, i definitely don't want to waste money. All this information is a lot to take in, so i am going to take everyones suggestions seriously and do research on all these devices.
 

 

[Sil3nce]

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Have you ever heard either one?
 
Your profile indicates that you have not.
 
I have not heard the HRT music streamer 2 so I will not comment.
 
Please only make qualitative comments based on what you currently own or have owned in the past preferably with side by side comparisons if you owned all of these products at the same time.
 
The NuForce uDAC2-HP has produces one of the cleanest signals of any budget USB DAC and headphone amplifier that I have heard. It is a good value for the money in terms of price to performance ratio. I owned it for at least six months along with my HeadRoom Total BitHead so I can make my recommendations based upon pretty extensive listening tests.

I dear hope I've not offended. My response-
Does having things listed in my profile indicate having previous experience with such?
My profile doesn't list any of the dac/amp/equipment I've used. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out when I don't have anything listed asides from my current setups. I've had the udac, the udac2, and the ms2+ in front of me, if you're curious. And I've just ordered a ms2 for my sr202 setup.

That's quite a stretch stating the udac2 is one of the cleanest signals, and if that's the best thing you've heard, maybe it's better you're not here giving suggestions. And if you still want to respond, with your ears as the sole source, then please take into account the articles at headphonia, nwavguy's reviews, and the other review based not only on experienced listeners but qualitative tests.
 
 
 

 

[Sil3nce]

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Being a student in college, i definitely don't want to waste money. All this information is a lot to take in, so i am going to take everyones suggestions seriously and do research on all these devices.
 

Might I suggest a few reads regarding the udac2 if you're interested in that route?
If it's for a standalone dac as I've previously stated, the music streamer 2 has less noise floor figures, distortion levels, and better bypass routing.

 

[Bleether]

Quote:

Might I suggest a few reads regarding the udac2 if you're interested in that route?
If it's for a standalone dac as I've previously stated, the music streamer 2 has less noise floor figures, distortion levels, and better bypass routing.

Okay, so i went on you tube, and this device seems to be geared towards speakers? It didnt seem to have a headphone jack, and i am primarily looking for something that my ath-m50s will benefit from. (I have read some posts saying that M50s don't benefit at all from a dac/amp but i am sure they are wrong because like i stated earlier my iphone powers my phones considerably better than my computer.)

 

[Roller]

Quote:

Okay, so i went on you tube, and this device seems to be geared towards speakers? It didnt seem to have a headphone jack, and i am primarily looking for something that my ath-m50s will benefit from. (I have read some posts saying that M50s don't benefit at all from a dac/amp but i am sure they are wrong because like i stated earlier my iphone powers my phones considerably better than my computer.)

There has been great controversy around uDAC-2, and I honestly think you would do better to go with a product that has a more unanimous positive feedback, which is definitely not the case of uDAC-2.

 

[Sil3nce]

There has been great controversy around uDAC-2, and I honestly think you would do better to go with a product that has a more unanimous positive feedback, which is definitely not the case of uDAC-2.

Exactly, this is what I kept insisting to the Op.
Btw I think he's referring the music streamer not having a headphone jack.
@Bleether you can get a rca y-cable which would allow you to use the m50s, it's relatively inexpensive.
Otherwise, you can look into the Hrt headstreamer, it has a headphone out and functions as an amp as well.
Remember to take all suggestions with a grain of salt, own research!