[itsthedanyole]

Hi everyone! First off let me say thanks in advance for the help. So, taxmas is a cpl days away and I'm at a fork in the road as what to upgrade. I am currently running my desktop with spotify or apple lossless, asio4all, to a Musical Fidelity V-Link to coax Onkyo tx-ds838 to either my K701's, HE-400's or my Advents/Technics loudspeakers. Sounds great all around and have been loving my new found hobby!

Anyway, my problem is I can't decide if I should get a Fiio kunlun e18 , and a new pair of 701's as the pair I have now are WORN OUT, or should I get a schiit bitfrost which would make all my exhisting equipment sound better.
1-Does anyone think this fiio kunlun can beat my onkyo's DAC? 2-Is the kunlun a good match for he-400's? If the fiio is even a slight ugrade from my onkyo's DAC I will go that route with new 701's for now and get the bitfrost next year Only if the fiio and 400's are a match.

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[itsthedanyole]

Bump....anyone?

 

[billybob_jcv]

The bifrost is just a DAC, not a DAC+Amp. So, you would still need to feed it into your Onkyo. The only difference is that you would be feeding it into an analog input on the Onkyo instead of the S/PDIF.

According to what I could google, the Onkyo has a very good quality Burr-Brown DAC. However, I'm not sure what the capabilities of that Onkyo DAC are.

I don't understand the point of the E18? The E18 is intended for Android users - how does that fit into your current system?? I thought the E18 had a digital coax *out*, not *in*, so how would you connect the V-Link to the E18? Or, are you intending to replace both the V-Link and the Onkyo with the E18? That seems like a pretty significant downgrade in price.

 

[itsthedanyole]

Well, I have an android phone and wanted the kunlun to bring around with my 400's and think there may be a chance that the kunlun dac is better than my onkyo dac though it sounds pretty good. I know that the kunlun dac can't hold a candle to the bitfrost but kunlun is cheap, has a amp, dac, and may be a good temp upgrade for my home system by doing away with the clink and using kunlin as a usb dac.

So, kunlin and new k701 or bitfrost?
This is more of a matter of opinion I would guess.

 

[itsthedanyole]

I would be using the kunlun as a dac into my onkyo for headphones and loudspeakers and sill bring kunlun around from time to time and get bitfrost next year. The onkyo was a gift and is my baby! I have even thought of upgrading it insead of replacing it when I make my move to better loudspeakers. If that clarifies anything.

 

[itsthedanyole]

Well, thanks for all the help!

 

[imeem]

if you were considering getting the e18 for your android, makes sure your phone actually works with it. 

 

[Fullmetalsam]

Well, maybe you just need a portable DAC/amp
Then get the E18 and you'll be able to test it in your current system to see if it bests your Onkyo... but you'll know that you've got a great portable DAC/amp when you're on the go (and like Imeen said - make sure your phone is on that compatibility list).

And next year you get the bifrost...

 

[kraken2109]

Are you sure you need to replace the K701? You could probably just replace the pads.

 

[itsthedanyole]

@kraken, naw man, the drivers are worn out. They were abused when I got them off eBay for a bill. They are old as heck now and can't handle anything with bass without getting choppy in the highs. Atleast 2,000hrs on them. I've lent them out to many ppl as I have many musicians for friends. I love to get ppl into new hobbies!

@everyone else, I got the Fiio kunlun in yesterday and it DID NOT WORK WITH THE HTC ONE X that I had. The fiio site or manual(can't remember at this moment) said the one x was compatible. I tried a few setting changes to no prevail. I responded to my dilemma by buying a brand new HTC one. Love it! The pair work together seamlessly. The fiio+HTC one+tool on stock media player playing flac+he-400's=awesome!

For some reason poweramp player on HTC one = clipping. Which sucks because I love the eq and the visualizations with the media player. I think it may have something to do with beats audio whether it's on or not.

 

[itsthedanyole]

Anyone know of a eq that will work with spotify?

 

[itsthedanyole]

Just as an update, the V-LINK-Onkyo DAC wins the battle with the Fiio Kunlun. The Kunlun doesn't quite have the sonics my Onkyo does nor the headroom but does a pretty good job! even though the htc one has some pretty good sounding audio out the box, the fiio dac is better and the amp is only a little louder.... slightly disappointed.