[wavoman]

x2 on the Benchmark idea.

I just listened to my wife's markl'd D2000s (she had them balanced, so I used a balanced-to-SE converter cable that Mark Lawton threw in when he re-cabled/balanced the D200s, and did his famous markl mod on them) with a Benchmark DAC-1 (mine is old without USB, but the HP stage should be the same) and I was amazed -- great sound.

I always thought of this particular HP out as "thin" -- another poster used the same word -- that worked well with only a few phones (like beyer 880/600s) ... I never thought to try the D2000s, but I should have, since (especially markl'd) they are warm and lush, a good foil to the flat reference style sound of the Benchmark.

So get a used USB Benchmark, and use HP out. You friend will have a neat-o box right by his computer and love you for this. And he is set for the future -- he has every output he needs to step up to dedicated amps, connect an amp for speakers, etc.

You will have been a good friend.

 

[paara]

I use:
Denon D2000 (LA2000)
Head direct EF-1 amp
Devilsound USB DAC

Very happy with this set up

 

[mrarroyo]

Well I have a couple of Denons the D2000 and the D5000, both modded by MarkL w/ his Bubinga Wood cups and JMoney's leather pads. These cans sound fantastic out of Graham Slee Solo SRG, Musical Fidelity X-Can V2 w/ Pinkfloyd Mods, Jaycar SC amp, Isabellina HPA, and the Hifiman EF2. I have also had good results w/ a Singlepower MPX3 using the 6BL7 or the 5687 output tubes.

In your price range I would look for an used SS amp as a companion to the D2000. Maybe even an iBasso D10 w/ HiFlight's top kit.

 

[K3cT]

The D2000 has a slightly recessed midrange, sparkly treble to the point of slight sibilance and can sound plodding so it needs a fast SS amp that makes up for these shortcomings.

For $800 for DAC and Amp, maybe try a combo of Gilmore Lite and Audio-GD DAC19MK3?

 

[boomy3555]

If his Headphones are to be the Denon 2 K's then.I say the Ibasso D-10. DAc/Amp. It may be protable but can still handle the big guys. Next step would be to get the Headdirect EF1 for that tube flavor. The EF1 can sit on the desk and feed the Denons from the DAC of the D-10. Or you can feed them from the D-10 DAC/amp alone if you choose to go portable.

 

[DoYouRight]

what is with all of the portable suggestions, yes they may be good for a portable and compare to some desktops, but a budget of 800 would get him MUCH MUCH MORE...

 

[boomy3555]

Yes but he only has the 2K's. He should save his money for when he gets better cans. If he shoots his budget on a Woo or something in that range, then the 2k's won't be good enough and he'll have to upgrade the cans as well. Keep the gear inline with each piece. And since he's coming off of a laptop, there is still the possibilty that he may wish to go mobile as well.

 

[DoYouRight]

2ks arent that bad, he can markl them or get better cans later for not much more, good gear instead of mediocre is the way to go. those cans can be modded to la2000 and be very sweet, or he could add better cans up the road and hear what they are meant to sound like, which he couldnt do with say an hd800 and a d10

 

[FLAC Cannon]

I just bumped up to some 2ks and an iBasso d10.

While I don't have much to compare the d10 to I can say that it is delightful. I spent about the same on the d10 as the d2ks, shipping and all, and all in all I'd say their a good match. Furthermore, the headphones are largely the determiner of resulting sound so outclassing them is an exercise in futility.

 

[K3cT]

... I don't get it. Why go for portable if the one doesn't have the need to do so? The flexibility of a full desktop setup will be there in case the OP wants to upgrade to better cans in the future and while the D10 is decent it can hardly drive cans like HD650, HD600, K701 or K501 satisfactorily.

 

[DoYouRight]

^ what he said

 

[AmanGeorge]

I think the Benchmark DAC1 folks have the right idea. It's supposed to be a top notch DAC with a decent HP amp and a sound signature that should match the Denons well.

For what it's worth, the Benchmark is known to sound slightly thin. When I had the Audio-Gd Compass (which, granted, is in a lower league than the Benchmark), I also found it to sound a little thin. This bothered me a lot with my AKG K701 (which is why I sold the unit), but it actually sounded terrific with my Denon D5000s - the bass was much more controlled and punchy with the Compass than with the Head-Direct EF1. I'd imagine that the effect of the DAC1-D2000 combo will be the same - a slightly brighter source and amp will mate well with the D2000 and help keep the really bloaty bass under control.