[alexxfloo]

Hello,
 
After a week of reading i am not yet fully decided what to get for an AMP/DAC to drive my future Denon Ah-d7000. My budget is maximum 600$. What do u recommend?

 

[Jodet]

Check out the Nuforce HDP.   It sounds great on my D5000's.
 
 

 

[KZCloud89]

I was exactly in your dilemma two weeks ago.  I literally read thousand of pages on DAC/AMP LOL to come down with two choices.
The Audio-GD DAC-19DF + C2 for $730 or iBasso D4 Mamba - Woo Audio WA6 for around $800.  I eventually went for D4/WA6 as my setup for D7000 headphone.  I want to get the best amp I can get with my current budget.  I plan to upgrade to the DAC-19 DSP1 and some tube rolling later when funds allow and resell the D4 for little loss.  I understand your budget is at $600 but we only live once

 

[alexxfloo]

Now i have the xonar dx sound card, would you recommend to get a better amp and then get a nice dac or the other way around?

 

[wmf]

 
well the Denons will run ok from the Xonar plus an amp.....for now... get yourself a Concerto (a little over your budget though) ... then down the track save for a nice DAC  .. to go with the Concerto.
 
unless you want to get something complete upfront.... maybe the dac19 + c2 that was mentioned before  ....
 
otherwise a cheaper option on the amp, would be a matrix m-stage .. then you have some money for a DAC..... y2 might be nice too.  im just throwing around some ideas ..

 

[Achim]

Corda Aria maybe a "not bad" choice, or you need more budget for dac+amp I think.

 

[alexxfloo]

But if going for 1000$ what could i get best bung for the buck. It's very hard to decide just from reading and not heaving any experience with this kind of hi fi gear.

 

[hahahigh]

I use the Audio GD DAC19 + C2 pairing - my experience is limited, but the combo sounds great to my ears. It's worth a look.

 

[freakmax]

If you are Mac user.
I'd recommend Apogee Duet.

 

[Poetik]

If I were limited to that price I'd say my choice would have to be between the Nuforce HDP and the Audio-GD Fun. 
 
Both of those are below your price range and I'm sure you'd enjoy either one of them.
 

 

[Cya|\|]

Quote:

If I were limited to that price I'd say my choice would have to be between the Nuforce HDP and the Audio-GD Fun. 
 
Both of those are below your price range and I'm sure you'd enjoy either one of them.
 

Did you make a comparison between the fun (or sparrow) and the hdp?

 

[Poetik]

Quote:

Did you make a comparison between the fun (or sparrow) and the hdp?

Unfortunately I didn't.  I would have to go with the fun instead of the sparrow though and like I said for the price range I don't think you could go wrong with either the HDP or the FUN. 
 
 

 

[earhole]

alexxfloo, we find ourselves in the same predicament! Getting D7000's, budget is the same. I have been doing extensive research on the forum. I am leaning towards the Nuforce HDP, but am also considering the Matrix M-Stage amp or Schiit Asgard amp with a Nuforce Icon uDAC or Music Streamer DAC. What is your source? I will be using mostly Apple lossless rips of CDs coming out of my Macbook via USB or optical. Please keep me up to date on your decision and of course I am very curious to see if we get any other recommendations from the knowledgeable folks here. 

 

[alexxfloo]

I heard that nuforce doesn't fit that well with the denon. I also heard a good amp. is needed. I am now looking at a Stax rig with the 404LE. Still waiting fo the opportunity to hear the denons before i order them. I heard yestarday a stax system and was very pleased. It's very hard to make up my mind and don't want to buy something just be reading about it. The voices in the stax amazed me. They lacked a powerfull low end but in the 404 LE i heard is not a problem.

 

[saitoh]

Personally, I'd look for the cleanest/smoothest dac/amp possible to balance out the bass region of the D7000s. They arn't particularly difficult cans to drive, and I find that the sonic effect of tubes to be anti-productive for the Denons. The FUN was on my list for a while and is well within your price range, but I ultimately baught a friend's Grace 901 (for about what your price range is).