[Leveler]

Christmas is coming, and the one thing I really want to treat myself with is an upgrade of dac from the one in my computer. My budget is of $200, and I've narrowed my optiones to the Audioengine D1, Maverick Audio D1 nad the fiio e7 plus e9
 
I mainly care about the DAC part, the amp being second since I'm only going to drive low impedance phones by now
 
I'm really gravitating towards the Audioengine because it looks the "less intimidating" pretty straight forward and convenient, but reviews have been mixed
 
The Maverick Audio looks like the best bang for you buck to be honest, but I prefer to hear some more input
 
The Fiios are just thrown in for the sake of it
 
any input would be HIGHLY appreciated.
 
Remember this would be my first external DAC so recommend what's probably best for a newbie

 

[KT66]

As a headphone amp the d1 is much much better than the e7. I have both.
However as part of my hifi going from RCA outputs to my prima Luna amp, the d1 seriously lacks bass


I don't know the maverick amp

 

[Leveler]

Quote:

As a headphone amp the d1 is much much better than the e7. I have both.
However as part of my hifi going from RCA outputs to my prima Luna amp, the d1 seriously lacks bass
I don't know the maverick amp

Thanks, as far as the DACS go, how do you think they compare?

 

[Leveler]

.

 

[KT66]

The d1 is in a different league to the e7 , the e17 would be a fairer comparison

 

[jm1122]

I had a lot of problems with my AudioEngine D1 using USB on 2 different computers.  Kept getting popping noises all over the place.  Switched to a glass toslink connection and it worked like a champ.  Also sounded a lot better.
 
The DAC in it is pretty good and amp was more than enough to drive my Grados.
 
I also had the FiiO e10 and the AudioEngine was much better except the FiiO had bass boost.  The FiiO was 1/3rd the price so this wasn't surprising.

 

[cheezies]

I sold my Maverick D1 (GE 5670 Tube) for the AudioEngine D1. I owned both for about a week so I was able to test them side by side. In my opinion, the bass was punchier, vocals were clearer and more forward on the AudioEngine D1.

 

[Leveler]

Quote:

I sold my Maverick D1 (GE 5670 Tube) for the AudioEngine D1. I owned both for about a week so I was able to test them side by side. In my opinion, the bass was punchier, vocals were clearer and more forward on the AudioEngine D1.

Thanks, The Mav. Audio looked  better because of the more features. But if the dac in the Audioengine is better I'll go for it

 

[bob439]

hey,
 
what have you bought finally ? and how is your experience.
I'm currently in your shoes.
 
thanks

 

[Leveler]

Quote:

hey,
 
what have you bought finally ? and how is your experience.
I'm currently in your shoes.
 
thanks

I ended up going for the Audioengine, overall I really like it, the first thing I noticed is how all the noise disappeared, since It's my only external DAC, I don't know how it stacks up with others, but compared to onboard, The sound difference isn't HUGE to my ears, but it does sounds more refined, more resolving (better separation) and somewhat warm and musical , the amp also has a lot of gain. If it is worth $179 depends on the person, but I'm extremely pleased with it

 

[zerocoolhifi]

Are the RCA outputs fixed or variable to the volume control?

 

[jaywillin]

variable, the d1 controls the volume