Cadriel
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2013
- Posts
- 10
- Likes
- 0
Hi all,
I sit in a home office listening to music for most of the day - and my current speakers have decided to pack a sad. With this in mind, I've been looking at my options for an upgrade in sound - and so I'm here. Sound transport is my PC with onboard sound. Originally looked at a sound card upgrade along with speakers but have since decided to go the external DAC route as that seems to give me the best options going forward.
I'd like something with both optical and USB inputs. This is so I can pass through a dolby signal for gaming if I need to. I need something whereby I can plug my phones in, and drive a set of active speakers. The speakers will be some HiVi swan 1080's. My headphones are currently Sennheiser HD665's. They have a 6.3mm jack on them which is a PAIN.
I'm in the $300USD and below bracket - preferably lower.
I've done a lot of reading - and I'm restricted with the market I'm in, being in New Zealand makes finding some of these products harder. So far these are the options I have found;
FIIO E17 & E09k Package.
I can get this locally, and have heard it. Sounds great - but I need a desktop solution. The portability factor is a non-issue for me. I think some of my other options may produce a better sound. This would be where I'd end up at if nothing else worked.
Maverick Audio D1+.
This looks to provide a good set of input and output options and I like the fact that it is an all in one unit. Some of the comments I have read would suggest its not the best sounding unit - but it fits my price bracket and requirements. How does it compare to the fiio combo?
Audio-gd NFB-11.32
This is definitely hitting the higher end price bracket for me - but seemed to fit most of my requirements too. I'd be really interested in knowing how this compares to the other two options.
The maverick and Audio-gd are only options because I can import them at reasonable cost.
The magni / modi combo is not an option because of power requirements here.
What do you guys think? Am I missing the mark - is there something else I should be looking at?
Thanks in advance.
--
Cad
I sit in a home office listening to music for most of the day - and my current speakers have decided to pack a sad. With this in mind, I've been looking at my options for an upgrade in sound - and so I'm here. Sound transport is my PC with onboard sound. Originally looked at a sound card upgrade along with speakers but have since decided to go the external DAC route as that seems to give me the best options going forward.
I'd like something with both optical and USB inputs. This is so I can pass through a dolby signal for gaming if I need to. I need something whereby I can plug my phones in, and drive a set of active speakers. The speakers will be some HiVi swan 1080's. My headphones are currently Sennheiser HD665's. They have a 6.3mm jack on them which is a PAIN.
I'm in the $300USD and below bracket - preferably lower.
I've done a lot of reading - and I'm restricted with the market I'm in, being in New Zealand makes finding some of these products harder. So far these are the options I have found;
FIIO E17 & E09k Package.
I can get this locally, and have heard it. Sounds great - but I need a desktop solution. The portability factor is a non-issue for me. I think some of my other options may produce a better sound. This would be where I'd end up at if nothing else worked.
Maverick Audio D1+.
This looks to provide a good set of input and output options and I like the fact that it is an all in one unit. Some of the comments I have read would suggest its not the best sounding unit - but it fits my price bracket and requirements. How does it compare to the fiio combo?
Audio-gd NFB-11.32
This is definitely hitting the higher end price bracket for me - but seemed to fit most of my requirements too. I'd be really interested in knowing how this compares to the other two options.
The maverick and Audio-gd are only options because I can import them at reasonable cost.
The magni / modi combo is not an option because of power requirements here.
What do you guys think? Am I missing the mark - is there something else I should be looking at?
Thanks in advance.
--
Cad