eeagle
100+ Head-Fier
Hey Sheldaze, any long-term testing notes on the pairing of the dacport HD and the AKG K7XX? I just picked up these cans and would like to get a portable DAC for my Microsoft Surface 3.
Thanks!
I've used the DACport HD with my K7xx. You can't go to far wrong with a Asahi Kasei AK4490 DAC chip (the same DAC chip is utilized on the new Schiit Bitfrost, recently released TEAC UD-503, Grace m9XX, and Astell & Kern AK380 - among many others).. The DACport HD handles pretty much everything I have thrown at it and handles them well.
Bear in mind that the Amp in the HD is Direct Class-A (no caps in the signal path) so it runs hot and requires a lot of energy even at idle, so not the best for a battery powered device. I use it when listening to music, and unplug when not.
I have also used a Meridian Explorer with my K7xx and it too does an excellent job and runs a lot cooler. It also has LEDs that show the bit rate of files being played.