[nsaylor95]

Hello,
 
After lots of research and changing my mind a lot, I've finally decided that I'm going to purchase a pair of AKG K550's. They'll be mainly used for music, gaming and watching movies. As the title states, what would be a good amp/dac to pair with these for music listening? I had been looking at the Schiit Magni/Modi combo and it's very tempting. I also noticed the Aune T1 which looks interesting for its price range. Are those two any good? Any other recommendations? Thanks in advance. 

 

[billybob_jcv]

I have heard the Magni/Modi, but not the Aune T1. It's hard to go wrong with the Schiit - they are nice products for a good price.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Hello,
 
After lots of research and changing my mind a lot, I've finally decided that I'm going to purchase a pair of AKG K550's. They'll be mainly used for music, gaming and watching movies. As the title states, what would be a good amp/dac to pair with these for music listening? I had been looking at the Schiit Magni/Modi combo and it's very tempting. I also noticed the Aune T1 which looks interesting for its price range. Are those two any good? Any other recommendations? Thanks in advance. 

The Magni/Modi would be nice.
The FiiO E10 USB-DAC-Amp ($75) would be a good value.

 

[nsaylor95]

I'm curious about the T1 because it's a tube amp and relatively low cost compared to others. Schiit definitely seems to have the highest quality. I've seen some reviews on the Fiio E10 saying it cuts off about the first .7 seconds of audio from songs. Do you know if this is true or not?

 

[Claritas]

You might have a look at O2+ODAC and also HeadAmp pico USB DAC/amp.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I'm curious about the T1 because it's a tube amp and relatively low cost compared to others. Schiit definitely seems to have the highest quality. I've seen some reviews on the Fiio E10 saying it cuts off about the first .7 seconds of audio from songs. Do you know if this is true or not?

I've seen several posts about the E10 and the delay, so I would assume it's true.

 

[altendky]

I've seen some reviews on the Fiio E10 saying it cuts off about the first .7 seconds of audio from songs. Do you know if this is true or not?

I have no personal knowledge but this post refers to a 7 millisecond delay (0.007 seconds) not 7 tenths.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/587912/fiio-e17-alpen-first-impression-final-thought#post_8013926

 

[nsaylor95]

The ODAC+O2 is a bit pricey for me, I'm trying to spend around $200-225. 
 
This is where I saw that it cuts out the first .7 seconds of audio.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1149KQGFBDJ4M/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005VO7LG6&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
 
In the review posted by Headfonia (http://www.headfonia.com/schitty-magni-and-modi/2/) They said "The Thorson Combo is a real win in my book.  I think most audio enthusiasts will go bananas for this setup. Unfortunately, I have already technically owned the Schiit Combo for some time. The Aune T1 DAC/amp sounds almost identically the same but due to tube customization and it being both a DAC and a very good amplifier all by itself, I am going to say the Schiit combo is a step or two behind the Aune in quality. I think the T1 offers more."
 
I'm pretty much stuck deciding between the T1 and Schiit.
From my point of view Schiit seems to have better customer service, (which is important to me, I tend to be unlucky and have things fail me) I emailed them at 1AM in the morning and got a reply just a few hours later on a Sunday (they say they usually don't email back on weekends!) whereas I couldn't even find Aune's email.
 
Is there a big difference with the tube amp vs the Schiit stack?