[sone]

I am new to Head Fi, and am looking for recommendations for some sort of DCA + Amp setup.   It doesn't matter if it's a DCA + Amp in one, separate, or any other alternative that will achieve the following goal.  I am new to high-end audio, and right now am playing music from my collection using my Macbook pro and its onboard sound card.  I have a pair of Grado headphones that I generally use to listen to CDs, MP3, FLAC, etc., although I feel like I am not making the most of them with my current setup, and that the sound quality all in all isn't that good.  I have gone to a few audio stores, as well as at friends' houses have heard the unbelievable quality that can be achieved with the right equipment.  On that note, I am very much interested in buying an amp (or something to play my music at a higher quality), and hooking it up to my computer or other digital device.   I am not looking to spend a couple of thousand dollars to start, so please keep any recommendations under $1000 in total.  If you have any options that are say in the $300-$600 range, that would be great because I am interested in getting something to start off with that isn't overly expensive so that it's easy for me to upgrade to a more complete sound system in teh future.  Thanks in advance, and I look forward to your responses.
 

 

[AmanGeorge]

Welcome to Head-Fi!
 
In your preferred price range, a Nuforce HDP  might suit you well - a recent 6moons review absolutely loved it, although they said its performance as a headphone amp was more notable than its performance as a DAC. Another really well-received piece of kit is the CEntrance DACPort - many have been impressed by the quality of this little DAC. It also has a headphone amplifier built in - the amp section probably isn't anything too special, but Grados don't need much to be driven well. I think either one would give you a great rig.
 
If you are willing to spend up to $1,000, you've got even more options. You could try joining the Schiit Audio early adopters club (if you're willing to wait, I'd imagine that the Valhalla, their SET amp, would sound great with your Grados - the Asgard should do just fine as well), and you'd have ~$600-650 left over to spend on a solid DAC of your choosing (my favorite to date has been the Music Streamer Pro, but I'm sure you'll get many great recommendations).
 
One more addition on the super budget side - a lot of people really like the Little Dot I+ with Grados. This company is known to put out great value products, and I'm sure this probably wouldn't disappoint. Last, another amp that is supposed to have epic Grado synergy (but is much more expensive) is the Mapletree Audio Design Ear+.