[Noob Meister Jr]

Hopefully an interesting question here. My options are limited in NZ so I'd prefer if you didn't try and give other recommendations, rather just focus on the options given.
 
I don't know how much of a difference a DAC really makes and the E17, E12 and Aune T1 are going for a similar price here, and I'm not really willing to spend more. 
 
So I guess it's
 
1) T1 vs E17
2) The winner of (1) vs E12 paired with my macbook air internal DAC.
 
And obviously this has to suit the 250 Ohm DT880
 
Looking forward to your responses

 

[rubinstein]

what is your budget?

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

what is your budget?

 
thanks for the quick response, but as mentioned in the previous post I am looking at spending approx how much those 3 listed items cost (which is the same(isn) price here in NZ, and budget is otherwise irrelevant as my options are limited in my country. I can actually give an exhaustive list of my options in that price range:
 
Fiio products
aune T1
xiang sheng dac-01 DAC
topping tp32, tp21, tp41, tp30
nuforce uDAC2
Little Dot1+
Pro-Ject Hed Box S
 
there are more expensive options but since people say that the headphone is where is most important i don't think i should be spending too much more than 50% the price of my headphones on an amp!

 

[rubinstein]

you are right about headphones has more influence on SQ than dac/amp.
But if you carefully choose a dac/amp, you would be able to use it for couple of years. The initial investment may be little higher, but it is worth rather thinking of spending for another dac/amp after few months.
In my case, I bought E 17 at the end of august. It is good for driving K 240 mk ii, but after buying HE 400, I started to wonder whether HE 400 gets full benefits from E17. E 17 can drive HE 400 loud enough, but SQ?!
I was considering Modi/magni stack and aune T1 for an upgrade from E17. T1 may need running cost for changing tubes and tube rolling. But at last, I have ordered Audio GD 15.32 few days ago. It can drive wide range of cans.
 
What I can suggest you is spend sometime to read about each product that you have sorted out.
I would also suggest you to consider Audio GD 15.32 in your list. It can be shipped to anywhere in the world, check this page, http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm
http://www.head-fi.org/t/648386/audio-gd-nfb-15-32-delivery-impression-thread

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

thanks! I can't find the price of that item on that site (probably because it's nearly 3 am lol. How much does it cost?
 
I'm not really keen on spending much more than $150 US, so $150 US max before shipping if the item can be shipped to NZ. 

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

think of it this way; if i were to get, say, the modi and the valhalla and dt880 250 ohm, I may as well have just got a denon adh2000 without a dedicated amp or DAC. what do you think would be better? I am a noob so I don't know but I would guess the Denon!
 
This is just hypothetical by the way, as those scenarios are out of my price range.

 

[rubinstein]

  thanks! I can't find the price of that item on that site (probably because it's nearly 3 am lol. How much does it cost?
 
I'm not really keen on spending much more than $150 US, so $150 US max before shipping if the item can be shipped to NZ. 

with that budget, I would go for E 17. it can drive dt 880 250 Ohm.

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

with that budget, I would go for E 17. it can drive dt 880 250 Ohm.

 
Thanks for the advice!
 
I find it interesting, I'm not sure I expected that answer. I kind of expected that the answer was going to be that it would be better to spend money on a better amp than pay money on a DAC.
 
I've never used a dedicated DAC but I find it hard to believe that since people, even with good DACs, can't decide whether they enjoy mp3 320 or flac more (according to tests in this forum!) then DACs are a waste of money. Although I understand some people hear distortion in quiet sections of songs when listening straight from their computer's headphone jack, I don't.

 

[rubinstein]

well, I already shared my experience.
dac/amp improves SQ.  Most of onboard soundcards do not sound good. It is better to use a dedicated dac/amp. you can consider a desktop budget dac/amp such as E10 for time being. Then go for an upgrade like audio gd 15.32.

 

[Noob Meister Jr]

thanks mate. any other opinions out there?