[thehappydog]

So I've been lurking for a while now, and finally have decided to take the plunge into the audiophile world. In reading reviews of headphones, I'm getting the hint that the DT880/250 will be ideal for my listening (night listening in a quiet room. mostly post-rock, jazz, and rock).

My price range for a DAC/Amp is ~$230 (i know, not too great) and have been looking at the Zero DAC and the Maverick D1. How will these DAC/Amps work to power the Beyers? Would I be better off buying a separate DAC and amp for around the same price? Please help, the number of different options is overwhelming to someone new like me.

 

[igotyofire]

hmm. i cant speak from experience yet but i just ordered the maverick D1 off ebay, right at your price limit. The Zero DAC suppose to be bit cheaper. and i plan to use it as a pre-amp/dac. for my bravo amp. & i will probably be using the 600ohm dt880s in the near future heh.

 

[jpstereo]

The Maverick is a great place to start! In my opinion, the DT880 loves tubes but the headphone output in the D1 does not flow through the D1's tube. You can always save up for a seperate tube amp and then use the D1 as a DAC for your new amp if you decide to go that way!

 

[userlander]

You're better off buying separate DAC/amp, imho. Even if you have to get an amp or DAC now and save up some to get the the other one, you're probably going to be better off in the long run. Depending on what your source is now, with the DT880s you might be better off getting an amp first, DAC second so you can at least be driving them properly while you wait.

If you want a tube amp, the Audiotailor Jade sounds great with the DT880s - better than the DV336 according to Skylab - and is a really good buy for the money, imho. It has two inputs with different sound characteristics, so you can "tailor" the sound to your needs a little bit more than usual.

 

[thehappydog]

Does anyone have any experience with the Hifiman Ef2? Again, if these DAC/Amps arent going to be too great, ill get myself a tube amp now and wait on the DAC, but I'm not sure how great that will be, because I'm going directly into my Macbook Pro without any sort of USB interface.

 

[thehappydog]

Sorry for the constant mind changing, but I've been doing a little digging and here's what I've come up with:

Beyerdynamic DT880/250 - $270
NuForce uDAC - $99
Bravo Audio Tube Amp - $89

Coming to a total of $460 while on a $500 budget.

Thoughts on the setup before I pull the trigger?

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehappydog /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry for the constant mind changing, but I've been doing a little digging and here's what I've come up with: Beyerdynamic DT880/250 - $270 NuForce uDAC - $99 Bravo Audio Tube Amp - $89 Coming to a total of $460 while on a $500 budget. Thoughts on the setup before I pull the trigger?

uDAC doesn't really pair well with the DT880s, in my experience. Some people have noticed the same kind of thing with the HD650s -- seems to be a case of the mid-bass hump of the uDAC not being a particularly good match for these phones. I would avoid that combo.

What happened to the D1? That thing looks pretty awesome.

 

[thehappydog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by userlander /img/forum/go_quote.gif uDAC doesn't really pair well with the DT880s, in my experience. Some people have noticed the same kind of thing with the HD650s -- seems to be a case of the mid-bass hump of the uDAC not being a particularly good match for these phones. I would avoid that combo. What happened to the D1? That thing looks pretty awesome.

yeah, i think I'm going to just go for the D1. I'll probably end up upgrading in the future, but the D1 should be a good starting point for my first amp/dac.

 

[Weps]

I'm also looking for a (budget) amp for a DT 880 and was thinking about the Firestone Cute Beyond or the Meier Corda Swing. Any suggestions about those amps?

 

[userlander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weps /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm also looking for a (budget) amp for a DT 880 and was thinking about the Firestone Cute Beyond or the Meier Corda Swing. Any suggestions about those amps?

I've heard those Meiers synergize really well with the beyers. Between those two, I would definitely get the Meier over the cute beyond.

 

[thehappydog]

just bought the d1 and the beyers. if anyone wants, i'll do a little mini review once they both arrive. should be around a week from now.

 

[jpstereo]

Consider too the tubed Phenix G3-T7. A truly nice combo with the DT-880s!

 

[Mysteek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehappydog /img/forum/go_quote.gif just bought the d1 and the beyers. if anyone wants, i'll do a little mini review once they both arrive. should be around a week from now.

Please do, I'm now very interested =D

 

[Weps]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpstereo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Consider too the tubed Phenix G3-T7. A truly nice combo with the DT-880s!

Yeah, I've read an interesting review here, but they used a DT880 600 Ohm. I have a 250 Ohm. Will that be a big difference?

I must say I'm quite new into tube amps, so this is probably a pretty silly question... but what about replacing the tubes? You have to do this after a while, right? How long can you do with one set of tubes?

Btw, do they sell this Phenix amp only on eBay?

 

[igotyofire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thehappydog /img/forum/go_quote.gif just bought the d1 and the beyers. if anyone wants, i'll do a little mini review once they both arrive. should be around a week from now.

please note.....you want be able to amp headphones with the D1 unless you have some sort of RCA interconnect with a female TRS connector to your headphones. The D1 internal tube is only used on the rear RCA out of the D1. The headphone out as i believe as others are saying is at the same level as the input source, im not sure how that works exactly as i dont have 250ohm headphones or the dac in my hands yet.