[therover]

Hello, I am looking to purchase my first DAC for my esw9's. I've been reading around and to be honest got really confused. I read that different DAC's can sound very different from each other?..
I listen to mostly rock n roll, all kinds: classic, indie, punk, metal etc. I also listen to electronic music. Budget is around $300, I'm a poor college kid.
 
any recommendations would be appreciated!
the ibasso D10 looks like a good choice, any opinions/experiences?

 

[Hybrys]

I've heard otherwise with the D10.  I'd only get it if you need that level of portability, vs something that can be USB-bus powered.
 
The uDAC, SparrowBasic+Hiface, Audinst HUD-MX1, Matrix Mini-I... Etc.  Lots of choices.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/494290/all-the-dacs-money-can-buy-pt-3

 

[lxxl]

$300 isn't that poor, you should be able to get a decent DAC. If that is all you can spend, I'd look at something like a AudioGD Compass/Fun which comes with amp, cheaper ones like Zero also isn't bad, but try to stick with Desktop if you don't need portable.

 

[Equus]

D10 and ESW9 was what I primarily used to use and they're quite good together.  The caveat to my experience is that I changed out the opamps a while back, so that adds cost.  Price/performance-wise, as Hybrys as lxxl pointed out, you will be paying some more for the portability in comparison to some other options out there.  Totally depends on what you need and want.  If portability is a factor, my opinion is that the D10 is good with a pretty decent DAC with a lot of input options.