[DemonicLemming]

Buddy of mine was over tonight - a strong anti-headphone guy - and he happened to pick up my K501s and listen to some Nightwish on it.

I think he'd have disappeared out of my bloody apartment with them if I hadn't watched him.

Anyway, his goal now is to pick up a set of 501s and an amp. Now, the problem lies in the amp - he doesn't want to spend a huge amount on one, I'd say about $150 shipped at the max, since the 501s are about $200 on ebay and he's not a member here to pick up FS forum stuff - but he did like the way my Travagan White sounded. However, that's out of his range, and since he'll be doing stationary listening only, I thought the Zero would be a good choice....until I saw it doesn't have a USB connection.

So, 501 amp/DAC for under ~$150 shipped, with a USB input. Anything like that exist?

 

[DemonicLemming]

Well, possible bump to $250 if it'd open the selection up more....trying to get him to hit the $300 mark.

 

[argentum]

If he is a good buddy of yours you could pick up some FS stuff here if something attractive pops up and send to him. At the moment only lower end Little Dot and Darkvoice amps come to my mind, but alas those doesn't have USB input either.

 

[DemonicLemming]

I was thinking about that, and he's not too far off (other side of the state), so that'd be an option.

I did think to check out Firestore Audio, since I'm going to be buying a FubarII pretty soon, and saw that have a FubarIII, which is basically the fubar DAC and a Cute Beyond amp in one package. Something like $240 shipped. Hadn't seen anything about that particular amp on here, but it's one up for consideration, along with the Travagan's White.

On the tube stuff......he doesn't know what they are, let alone how to play with them or the differences in tube and solid state...I think he basically wants to turn the amp on, listen to some music, and keep it that simple. I'm actually pretty sure he'd be able to be content with a single set of headphones and amp, too.

 

[tranhieu]

the usb issue might be solved with a usb-rca converter

 

[Jeff E]

At $150 there are inevitable compromises. My experience with the K501 and the $159 total bithead was satisfying. IMO a reasonable solution at this pricepoint from a Head-fi sponsor.

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff E /img/forum/go_quote.gif At $150 there are inevitable compromises. My experience with the K501 and the $159 total bithead was satisfying. IMO a reasonable solution at this pricepoint from a Head-fi sponsor.

x2, another satisfied user of the combo.

 

[DemonicLemming]

Sent the link to the Total Bithead. At the moment, he's seriously considering the FubarIII, although I haven't seen anything mentioned recently about it on here.

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

here