Amp or DAC?

[BoomBoomBoy]

I'm looking for an upgrade to get the best out of my Grado SR325i phones.
Most of my music is streamed as FLAC to a Slim Devices SqueezeBox3 through the headphone out on a TEAC AG-5D A/V receiver connected with a Merlin Chopin cable.
What is my best upgrade path?

I considered a Benchmark DAC1 as the upsampling appeals to me but the price tag is a little hefty. Coming down in the price brackets I'm currently looking at a Behringer SRC2496 DAC as it provides the upsampling I was so smitten with, along with decent reviews of its use as a headphone amp.

But then again 100+ pages of discussion on this forum about the Heed Canamp makes me wonder do I really need the upsampling or should I just go for making the most out of 16/44.1.

Can anyone with direct experience of these products or just better knowledge in general about head-fi give me a little insight? Is it worth saving up for the DAC1?

In case it may be relevant my musical choices would be very wide ranging from ambient to metal but mostly well-produced rock like Porcupine Tree, Marillion, Pink Floyd, Rush etc.

TIA

 

[ken36]

Get the DAC1, it will be yours for a long time. You can find a used one on audiogon For $700.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....onv&1197466843

 

[poo]

I think the best answer is you 'need' both. You would most likely hear a benefit from upgrading either, but my advice would be to go for the DAC1. Essentially it offers both - the DAC is highly respected and the headphone amp is an impressive bonus - more than enough for driving any Grados IMO.

So if you need to save a couple of weeks - why not? Not like you'll be missing out is it?

 

[slwiser]

The Lavry DA10's headamp may be better than the Benchmark's. I have it and thought that I was going to use it for a long time but things sort of got out of hand for a bit.