[fragaholic]

Hey, I'm looking for a dac/amp combo to use with my ATH A700s coming out of my laptop. While some of my files are lossless, a fair amount of my mp3s are lossy/generally not great quality. I'd like something that warms up my sound a little bit, maybe add a little bass, and might be able to fill in a few cracks in some bad mp3s. (A little coloration is no big deal to me) I really have to get something less than $200 (I wanted less than 150 but I'm thinking that the hybrid design of the ef2 will be good for my needs). Some seemingly good options are:

Head-Direct HiFiMAN EF2
Musiland SVDAC06
AUNE HIFIDIY.NET Mini USB DAC + Headphone Amp MK2
Tianyun Zero

I'm a little hesitant about the Zero, because of a few reliability issues I've heard about. The other 3 look pretty good with the price of the musiland and aune being fantastic.

So basically, I have a lot of ideas, but not much knowledge. ANY guidance on which solution to go for would be GREATLY appreciated. Right now, I'm leaning towards the aune or the ef2, but am open to suggestions.

Thanks a lot and sorry for the long post

 

[koven]

hard to beat the ef2 for the price

 

[fragaholic]

yea, that's kinda what i was thinking. Could anyone who owns any of these dac/amps give me their take?

 

[stang]

Yeah the EF2 is supposed to be fantastic bang for buck. Personally I skipped it and got the Zero DAC with upgraded opamps and got a Qinpu A-3. I can tell you the Zero is NOT lacking on build at all, I think it was an issue with the earlier models, since, they have been improved and mine's going great and don't think it will be upgraded for a pretty long time

 

[fragaholic]

ok thanks for the replies guys. I think i've decided to go with the aune. on ebay, it says i can choose a 110v or a 220v power adapter. my guess would be to get the 220v one but I'm not sure. Maybe i should have payed more attention in physics, but well i didnt. I'm not paying for electricity in my dorm anyway so 220v seems like the way to go, but I really dont know the advantages of a lower or higher voltage. Would the higher voltage give the amp more power to drive the headphones?

 

[jdc65]

If you live in the US or Canada get the 110V. Europe is 220V. If you aren't sure, post what country you are in. Don't get the wrong voltage!

 

[stang]

Knowing which voltage to get is common sense tbh. As jdc65 pointed out, America is 120V and European countries are 220v. Even if your power socket is 200V, get a 220V. Like here in Australia, we were 240V but aparently 230V now but some people still get a reading of 240V from their power socket because all that's been changed on paper. I switch my Zero DAC to 220V, works fine as it should.

 

[dongringo]

Some appliances run on 220V in the U.S. such as ranges and washer/dryers. 2 110V breakers combined equal 220V. That's why we are able to have 110V outlets and 220V outlets in our homes. As far as the dac is concerned, unless you plan on changing the plug to a massive 3 prong and plug it into a dryer outlet, go for the 110V.

 

[fragaholic]

well dont i feel a little dumb

, thanks for the advice