[ggilman]

Looking at the Audioengine D1 as my first DAC/Headphone amp.

Is there anything better in this range that will power Sennheiser HD 558's and still allow me to expand to desktop speakers in the future?

 

[teb1013]

Looking at the Audioengine D1 as my first DAC/Headphone amp.

Is there anything better in this range that will power Sennheiser HD 558's and still allow me to expand to desktop speakers in the future?

I use an Aune T1 tube dac/amp with my HD558s. It is great with these headphones. It all depends on if you want to try out tube sound, which I love. The Aune costs a little less than $200 USD depending on where you get it from and which tube comes with it.

Good luck in your search.

 

[yay101]

What's your over all price range? The go-to start pack is the schiit magni and modi. For a bit more things like the O2 and ODAC come into play, but as posted previously the T1 is basically the equivilant in the tube realm.