[wakeride74]

It will probably be a good few months maybe more before I recover from my recent purchases but now that I have no dedicated home amp I am looking at my options.

I would really like something that I could easily move from my living room (CDP) to the other room with the computer (as source) so I want to know what amp/dac combo units are available. For the sake of simplicity I'm really only interested in the all-in-one's

I know of:
Headroom Desktop
Meier Corda MkIII usb
Apogee mini-DAC

what else is there under the $1k mark?

 

[granodemostasa]

LavryDA-10
Benchmark Dac-1
hippo hifi the boat
zhaolu 2.5
Citipulse 7.2
Presonus Central Station
aqvox Dac USB

 

[Cousin Patty]

Corda Aria

 

[vcoheda]

Here are three to add to the list

- Corda Opera (a little over $1000 though)
- PS Audio GCHA ($1000 new; $650-$700 used)
- Headroom MicroStack ($600; maybe $400 used)

Also, to me at least, there is a big difference between a product which is primarily marketed as a DAC (the Zhaolu or LavryDA) but which also includes a headphone amplifier and one which is primarily a headphone amp with a DAC (HR and Meier Amps). In the latter category, I don't think the list is that long.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here are three to add to the list - Corda Opera (a little over $1000 though) - PS Audio GCHA ($1000 new; $650-$700 used) - Headroom MicroStack ($600; maybe $400 used) Also, to me at least, there is a big difference between a product which is primarily marketed as a DAC (the Zhaolu or LavryDA) but which also includes a headphone amplifier and one which is primarily a headphone amp with a DAC (HR and Meier Amps). In the latter category, I don't think the list is that long.

Which do you find sound better? I know I was very impressed with the Apogee; it didn't quite measure up to my Slam but for what it was I was impressed.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which do you find sound better? I know I was very impressed with the Apogee; it didn't quite measure up to my Slam but for what it was I was impressed.

I don't know. I just wanted to point that out, as people seem to lump them together, but I think it is misleading to do that. I suspect that a HA-DAC will sound better than a DAC-HA, because with the latter, the HA is a throw in. As a general statement I think this will be true. Some people said the HA on the new Musiland MD10 sounded very good, but I also got the impression that "good" meant good for a DAC -- not good enough to replace a true HA. The new Zhaolu D2.5 features for $50 more an optional discrete headphone amp module, so maybe that is one DAC that truly sounds as good as a dedicated HA.

 

[wakeride74]

My first interest (which I will be checking out at the meet) is the Headroom Desktop with home module and DAC... I like how transportable it is and I have always been a fan of Headrooms crossfeed. I had a Supreme for a while that I really liked.

 

[Ross1]

EMU 0404 USB (and the 0202 usb)
Headphonia (if you go with the usb option)

 

[RasmusseN]

Good list so far I've been looking myself but most of them are over my price range.