[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zertman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks again everyone. Wow! I guess there are a lot of options out there. I'm a little overwhelmed. Those Hotaudios look good, though the amp seems a little weak. They probably would be strong enough for my 265HDs but I would like someday to upgrade my cans and they probably would have much higher impedance. Levin, The PC I using in with my cans is a laptop so I need something external. Plus, I want something with a headphone amp built-in. The Hifiman EF2 look good and very powerful output. I read your review of this, HeadphoneAddict and I am little worried about how the DAC sounds. You said that it lacked soundstage which is a quality I value very high in my cans. How does the DAC's of the EF2 sound compare to the Total Bitheads, emu 0404, or Travagans Green (or White).

The EF2 DAC uses the Burr Brown PCM2702E Japan DAC chip and seems better than a typical iPod line out or PC/Mac line out, is on the level of the 3MOVE DAC or Predator or Travagans White and Green, and below the Pico USB up-sampling DAC or the Apogee Duet or Mini-DAC. I haven't heard the 0404 or Bithead to compare. In my reviews I have found the PCM2706 based DACs to not be quite as good.

I believe Hotaudio makes only one DAC that should theoretically be on the same level, using the same Burr Brown PCM2702E Japan DAC chip. But, circuits make a difference in sound too, and the same DAC chip can still mean different sounding DACs at the line-out.

 

[moogoob]

I'd say go with the Bithead. Headroom's a fantastic company to do business with and the BH is a nice, highly flexible little bit of gear that can do double-duty as a portable amp to plug your iPod into if you lever need to.

 

[Zertman]

The only problem i can see with the Bithead is that it only runs on batteries and not AC. Sometimes I listen to my cans while im falling asleep and if I fell asleep while the musics playing the amp would be on all night and would waste batteries.