[zsgooner10]

buy a new set of cansssss!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Taowolf51]

I'd go for new cans. At this level, a better DAC or amp won't make as large of a difference as a better set of headphones.

 

[cyborg00900]

sorry for the late reply if i had 300 smackers to spend and in your exact situation i would do exactly this:

used /new beyerdynamic dt 880 250ohm they go for about $200-250  ( has been regarded of one of the best dynamic headphones at its time along with classics such as hd650 and akg k701/2 )

and a FiiO E10, simple. small. sexy.... its literally just plug, play and enjoy. (DAC/AMP)

and stick with just a dac considering you wouldnt be doing to much listening on the go hence why you should leave the portable amp factor out.

so all in all a very nice set of mid-fi cans and a DAC which meets all of your needs, all for about $300 or less. 

P.S. if you have any second thoughts on the portable amp just buy the fiio e6 for about 25 bucks you seriously cant go wrong.

 

 

[Fauxpas58]

Gentlemen and Ladies,
I'm sure this has been beat to death somewhere in this forum, but like my keys or wallet, I don't see it and my wife can't help!
I have the HD650's and the Schiit Valhalla II amp. I generally play my music on my iPhone 7 or a late model iPod, and I'm considering one of the higher end ($$$) players like Astell&Kern, Sony, Opus, etc. I'm finally getting to my question!
Do I need, or will I benefit by buying a separate DAC? I have the Schiit Bitfrost in my cart, but then I decided to ask people smarter than me (You!) if I was wasting my money or not! This whole DAC thing is kind of nebulous to me. It seems to me a DAC is like a light switch, it either works or it doesn't.
How do you determine the quality of a DAC. Example how does the DAC in the iPhone 7 compare to the DAC in the iPod or the Astell & Kern?
Thank you all for being so knowledgeable, the rest of us would be lost without you!

 

[gacnvnmovie]

Hi,
I'm new and want to have low-end DAC/amp but don't know what is good choice. My budget < 90$.
I see SHOZY Lancea, Cozoy Astrapi, Topping NX4 is same price 89.9$. Sale off from penonaudio and shenzhenaudio.
I have sony xba 100 IEM and listen pop/blue/R&B music.

 

[JackRM]

Intersting DAC+amp is right now on Kickstarter.com page. Search for Space Key DAC (I am not sure if I can paste here a direct link, I dont want to get a ban...) Starting price is 75GBP, but hurry up because campaign ends in 2 days.
The guys from this team made two another DACs in the past, you can find them on Kickstarters page too (Just type "DAC" in search and you will find them).

 

[ousooner15]

sorry for the late reply if i had 300 smackers to spend and in your exact situation i would do exactly this:



used /new beyerdynamic dt 880 250ohm they go for about $200-250  ( has been regarded of one of the best dynamic headphones at its time along with classics such as hd650 and akg k701/2 )



and a FiiO E10, simple. small. sexy.... its literally just plug, play and enjoy. (DAC/AMP)



and stick with just a dac considering you wouldnt be doing to much listening on the go hence why you should leave the portable amp factor out.



so all in all a very nice set of mid-fi cans and a DAC which meets all of your needs, all for about $300 or less. 



P.S. if you have any second thoughts on the portable amp just buy the fiio e6 for about 25 bucks you seriously cant go wrong.



 

 


Great advice, some I might take for myself. Looking to get some full size instead of IEM's this might be a great option since its right on my budget. Thanks!

 

[mfletch]

Gentlemen and Ladies,
I'm sure this has been beat to death somewhere in this forum, but like my keys or wallet, I don't see it and my wife can't help!
I have the HD650's and the Schiit Valhalla II amp. I generally play my music on my iPhone 7 or a late model iPod, and I'm considering one of the higher end ($$$) players like Astell&Kern, Sony, Opus, etc. I'm finally getting to my question!
Do I need, or will I benefit by buying a separate DAC? I have the Schiit Bitfrost in my cart, but then I decided to ask people smarter than me (You!) if I was wasting my money or not! This whole DAC thing is kind of nebulous to me. It seems to me a DAC is like a light switch, it either works or it doesn't.
How do you determine the quality of a DAC. Example how does the DAC in the iPhone 7 compare to the DAC in the iPod or the Astell & Kern?
Thank you all for being so knowledgeable, the rest of us would be lost without you!

Everyone's experience will be different, but this my experience.  I discovered this whole high quality headphone audio scene around January 2016.  I first bought a Teac HA-P50 off of Massdrop and pair of trp-50 mk III's.  This was a pretty obvious sound quality improvement from what I was accustomed to.  Then proceded to upgrade through several amps and several sets of cans to the point that a few weeks ago my desktop rig was the Jotunheim with built in DAC>Audeze LCD-3f's.  
 
A lot had changed in a little over a year, and to be honest I was suffering from a lot of buyer's remorse.  With diminishing returns, I was having difficulty really hearing where the $$ had gone.  While the sound was great, I found it hard to hear a significant improvement between a $500 desktop rig and a setup costing nearly $2500.  My most recent purchase was my Bifrost multibit, which I was hesitant to purchase because of course, how much difference could a DAC really make?  Well, I can say that this DAC has made a more impressive improvement in overall sound quality and clarity than any purchase I've made so far.  Will you have the same experience?  Maybe not.  Maybe so.  Each listener may interpret differently.