[MoAv]

I think it'll bring better results and reduce bottlenecking .

 

[Hello]

Optical input or optical output?

Headroom's MicroDac has optical input.

 

[ayt999]

since this is the amp forum, you mean a portable amp with optical input? well, I guess something like the AOS Flute would fit that description, but it is a DAC / amp in one. since you need to do a digital to analog conversion you cannot simply have a headphone amp with digital input.

 

[MoAv]

Input , why you need output ??
I HATE headroom's amps , overpriced crap .
I think this option would serve well with my iRIVER H-120 and mabey save some battery life .
any others ?

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoAv I HATE headroom's amps , overpriced crap .

Then you may be out of luck. They seem to be the only amps that have a built in dac with optical input. I had the micro dac for a time and felt it was reasonably price, excellent build, sq, and versatility. The desktop portable also had good sq with and a nice dac for a reasonable price. But since you "hate" them and they are "overpriced crap" I guess you have to keep looking.

 

[MoAv]

The flute is 400$ DAC ...
Do you guys think it's worth that much just for the optical feature ?
Or should I just pick up one of those 150$ range portable amp which was my original thought ?

 

[Oddball]

The Flute is no longer being made, though you might get lucky and get one used. If you don't like Headroom then your only existing option that I know of is a portable amp.

 

[MoAv]

What about NON portable Amp + DAC device ?
All of my devices I use at home ( iRiver , computer , Home Cinema ) have optical out , so if I'm going to buy an amp for my 595 it might as well be with a DAC ...

 

[IronLion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoAv What about NON portable Amp + DAC device ? All of my devices I use at home ( iRiver , computer , Home Cinema ) have optical out , so if I'm going to buy an amp for my 595 it might as well be with a DAC ...

IMO, just because the devices you use have an optical out doesn't mean that it is in your best interest to buy one of the few amps out there that has a DAC built in. What you are assuming automatically is that any amp with a built in DAC has a DAC that is better than any of the devices you would hook it up to, which is really not necessarily true. Who knows, maybe you may be better off investing in a quality headphone amp sans DAC and seeing how that works with your devices and saving up for a portable or non-portable DAC in the future.

 

[Oddball]

It's interesting that you don't like Headroom's products because they're one of the few manufacturers who put the headphone amp and dac together. There are dacs which have headphone amps built in (as an afterthought, though they can be very decent), but those are around $1K.

 

[chrisfromalbany]

Do any portable devices or DAPs have a digital out so you could took it a external DAC?

 

[nikongod]

you could always get really simple, buy a prebuilt monica 2 dac, and a toslink optical to spdif digital adapter board, wire em together, and call it a day....

or you could buy an aos flute

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisfromalbany Do any portable devices or DAPs have a digital out so you could took it a external DAC?

iriver 1x0 has optical outputs. im tempted to get one because its smaller than my archos (spdif out) and then i would not have to switch the jumper for my cd player to go to my archos player. the aos flute rocks, btw.

 

[MoAv]

The flute is no longer in production . where can I find used ?
The headroom's DAC's are not exactly in my price range , even so I'd need to buy the Micro DAC + the Micro Amp , there's no two in one product , for portables at least . And thier products are quite big for my liking . the home made amps / DACs are much smaller and with better components build . I don't see any specs on the headroom site , are they trying to hide something ??
That's why I don't like headroom , I'm better of finding a freelancer like Xin that can make it custom made , so I know what I'm getting inside the box ...