BEST $3,000 Amp/DAC that money can buy in your opinion?
Apr 3, 2017 at 2:46 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 31
AverageGuyNC

AverageGuyNC

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I have a Jotunheim and could pair it with a Yggdrasil.
I have a IFI iCAN pro and could pair it with a Gumby
I could get a really nice used combo off the for sale section from say, Moon Audio
 
What would you buy (new or slightly used) if you wanted the best amp/DAC possible for $3,000?
I like loud music with lots of bass-- rap rock edm etc.
Will be using Fostex th900 and Audeze lcd 2 and 3 and run them in balanced
 
​​The amp and DAC would both need to run in balanced,.. can be separate units or combo units.'
 
Please give me some ideas!
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 9:10 PM Post #2 of 31
How about a Bryston? 
 
http://bryston.com/products/power_amps/BHA-1.html
 
Matched with some PS Audio?
 
http://www.psaudio.com/products/stellar-gain-cell-dac/
 
or of course, the Schiit Yggdrasil:
 
http://schiit.com/products/yggdrasil
 
On the cheaper side, $1,500, I am really happy with my Burson Conductor V2+ all-in-one:
 
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/conductor-v2-plus/
 
But alas, it is not balanced....
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 9:13 PM Post #3 of 31
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 9:34 PM Post #4 of 31
Yggdrasil and Mjolnir 2 (MJ2) would be slightly over budget at $3150. MJ2 and a Gungnir MB dac would be 2100 ish. Gungnir MB and a Ragnarok would be 2950. All the combinations would be balanced the entire path. The entire Schiit line offers great "bang for the buck" in my opinion.
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 10:45 PM Post #5 of 31
tweakybiff said:
  How about a Bryston? 
 
http://bryston.com/products/power_amps/BHA-1.html
 
Matched with some PS Audio?
 
http://www.psaudio.com/products/stellar-gain-cell-dac/
 
or of course, the Schiit Yggdrasil:
 
http://schiit.com/products/yggdrasil
 
On the cheaper side, $1,500, I am really happy with my Burson Conductor V2+ all-in-one:
 
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/conductor-v2-plus/
 
But alas, it is not balanced....
Click to expand...


​Do you have much experience with those products or just going on reputation? Do you think the PS audio would be as good of a dac as the Yggdrasil? That's a little lower priced and I know PS audio is know for high quality stuff. If price were the same which one would you choose? I strongly considered the Burson Soloist at $399 on Amazon but went with the Jotunheim.
 
 Thanks, those look like great choices.
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 10:51 PM Post #6 of 31
tweakybiff said:
 
More ideas (I just did some shopping on this):
 
Sennheiser HDVD 800
https://en-us.sennheiser.com/headphone-audio-amplification-hdvd-800-acoustic
https://smile.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HDVD-800-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00BHBWWFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489022116&sr=8-1&keywords=Sennheiser+HDVD
 
SPL Phonitor X
http://www.economik.com/spl/phonitor-x/
https://smile.amazon.com/SPL-Phonitor-balanced-Headphone-Preamp/dp/B01MRJXTZM/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1489021528&sr=8-19&keywords=headphone+amp
 
SPL Phonitor e
https://spl.info/en/products/professional-fidelity-pro-fi/phonitor-e/overview.html
https://smile.amazon.com/SPL-Phonitor-E-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B01K9VSPOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489022163&sr=8-1&keywords=SPL+Phonitor+e
 
B.M.C. PureDAC MK2
http://bmc-audio.com/index.php/PureDAC-EN.html
https://www.moon-audio.com/bmc-puredac-mk2-dac-headphone-amplifier.html
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
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​I have not heard of SPL? Looks like good stuff tho. And I have heard that the PureDac is amazing. And I didn't realize there was a new version out.
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 10:56 PM Post #7 of 31
averageguync said:
I have a Jotunheim and could pair it with a Yggdrasil.
I have a IFI iCAN pro and could pair it with a Gumby
I could get a really nice used combo off the for sale section from say, Moon Audio

What would you buy (new or slightly used) if you wanted the best amp/DAC possible for $3,000?
I like loud music with lots of bass-- rap rock edm etc.
Will be using Fostex th900 and Audeze lcd 2 and 3 and run them in balanced

​​The amp and DAC would both need to run in balanced,.. can be separate units or combo units.'

Please give me some ideas!
Click to expand...


Gumby & Yggy are definitely the best bang for your buck you can get for DACs.
As for amps, that's a whole other story.For the Fostex, you don't really need a powerful amp, but for the Audeze's you definitely benefit from power.
 
Apr 3, 2017 at 11:57 PM Post #8 of 31
thenewguy007 said:
Gumby & Yggy are definitely the best bang for your buck you can get for DACs.
As for amps, that's a whole other story.For the Fostex, you don't really need a powerful amp, but for the Audeze's you definitely benefit from power.
Click to expand...


​Well I'm mainly looking for a good dac to go with the IFI iCAN pro, but considering selling/trading it towards a great dac for the Jotunheim instead. I'm wondering if the iCAN will scale better than the Jot with a high end dac?
But I could just sell it all and go for a whole new setup and just keep the headphones... -
confused.gif
 
 
Apr 4, 2017 at 12:14 AM Post #9 of 31
All I can say is that the Yggdrasil/Mjolnir 2 combination rocks!
 
Apr 6, 2017 at 1:52 PM Post #11 of 31

I have not heard any of them, just going by online research.  I have two Burson Conductors, an original, and the newer Conductor V2+, with the fancy Burr Brown volume control, and Sabre32 DAC.  I did not mention them, as they do not provide a balanced headphone output.  
 
Apr 7, 2017 at 1:56 PM Post #12 of 31
Everybody hear differently, Here in Head-Fi when you ask for recommendation, 80~90% will tell you to go with Schiit product.
Don't get me wrong I like Schiit products since I used to own first gen MJOLNIR, GUNGNIR combo and RAGNAROK, YGGDRASIL combo.
As for your music preferences I would go with MJOLNIR, GUNGNIR combo because to my ears these combo had the most dynamic and fun sound. when you go up to Rag and Ygg combo the sound become more "Reference."
Some music requires "dynamic and focusing" over "wide sound stage and Detail"
I don't know if it's just me but when I have such a wide sound stage I get distracted lol and also the "reference" sounds boring time to time.
 
Personally I don't believe in "Natural Sound" since we do not have much of opportunity to hear natural sound without any electronic equipment anymore.
 
I have little different music preferences but I still like the bass :)
My favorite combos out of all the gears I had(in my profile) so far
#3 First gen MJOLNIR, GUNGNIR + LCD-2, LCD-3(both non Fazor) : Punchy, dynamic
#2 RAGNAROK, YGGDRASIL + LCD-3(Fazor), HE-560 : Sound stage, detail
#1 PWD MKII, DNA Stratus + HD-800, LCD-3(Fazor), HE-560 : in the middle of #3 and #2 but more lively and lush, emotional sound if that makes any sense.
 
unfortunately I did not have all the gears at the same time so mix and match was not possible
However, I had Master-7DAC when I had #1 combo and prefer PWD MKII over M7.
you can always try other Schiit gears since they have 15 days return policy.
Hope it helped.
 
Apr 8, 2017 at 5:53 PM Post #13 of 31
DAC: Musical Paradise MP-D2 (upgrade caps and tubes later)
On Head-Fi:http://www.head-fi.org/t/802557/musical-paradise-m2-d2-ak4490-balanced-dac-reviews
Product Info: http://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=80

Amp: Wells Audio Milo w/ XLR upgrade
On Head-Fi: http://www.head-fi.org/t/820424/wells-audio-milo-impressions-and-discussion-thread
Product Info: http://www.wellsaudio.com/milo/
 
Apr 8, 2017 at 10:26 PM Post #14 of 31
senson said:
Everybody hear differently, Here in Head-Fi when you ask for recommendation, 80~90% will tell you to go with Schiit product.
Don't get me wrong I like Schiit products since I used to own first gen MJOLNIR, GUNGNIR combo and RAGNAROK, YGGDRASIL combo.
As for your music preferences I would go with MJOLNIR, GUNGNIR combo because to my ears these combo had the most dynamic and fun sound. when you go up to Rag and Ygg combo the sound become more "Reference."
Some music requires "dynamic and focusing" over "wide sound stage and Detail"
I don't know if it's just me but when I have such a wide sound stage I get distracted lol and also the "reference" sounds boring time to time.

Personally I don't believe in "Natural Sound" since we do not have much of opportunity to hear natural sound without any electronic equipment anymore.

I have little different music preferences but I still like the bass :)
My favorite combos out of all the gears I had(in my profile) so far
#3 First gen MJOLNIR, GUNGNIR + LCD-2, LCD-3(both non Fazor) : Punchy, dynamic
#2 RAGNAROK, YGGDRASIL + LCD-3(Fazor), HE-560 : Sound stage, detail
#1 PWD MKII, DNA Stratus + HD-800, LCD-3(Fazor), HE-560 : in the middle of #3 and #2 but more lively and lush, emotional sound if that makes any sense.

unfortunately I did not have all the gears at the same time so mix and match was not possible
However, I had Master-7DAC when I had #1 combo and prefer PWD MKII over M7.
you can always try other Schiit gears since they have 15 days return policy.
Hope it helped.
Click to expand...


Those are some nice setups! I'm really interested in #1 because I had not heard much about them. How do you think the ps audio dac compared to yggdrasil? And that amp looks crazy.

And you mentioned master 7 which I have heard great things about. I have looked at the master 11 (master 7 and 9 combined supposedly) hard. Would love to hear it. And it's a really good value for performance if the reviews are true! Maybe in the future I'll try it.
 
Apr 8, 2017 at 10:34 PM Post #15 of 31
m-i-c-k-e-y said:
DAC: Musical Paradise MP-D2 (upgrade caps and tubes later)
On Head-Fi:http://www.head-fi.org/t/802557/musical-paradise-m2-d2-ak4490-balanced-dac-reviews
Product Info: http://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=80

Amp: Wells Audio Milo w/ XLR upgrade
On Head-Fi: http://www.head-fi.org/t/820424/wells-audio-milo-impressions-and-discussion-thread
Product Info: http://www.wellsaudio.com/milo/
Click to expand...


That's a really good setup as well. I've seen the head trip listed on here a couple times for $$$ but not sure I would ever spend that much (4500 used) on just an amp. I wonder how that Milo sounds? It probably still beats most. And that dac is a new one on me but looks incredible! I bet that combo would be all anyone would need for paradise with a good headphone.
 
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