[zerodeefex]

 
Interesting... so how does Geek Out SE sound compare to them? Does it make sense to pay 700 dollars for it?

 
What is your use case? I use the SE on the go with a Triad L3 for HD800 or a Leckerton UHA 6S MKII for UERMs. It's a great little DAC, but what headphones are you driving? Are you using it on the go or at home? There's a bunch of questions to answer here.

 

[doctorjazz]

Haven't heard TransDac, but read raves, I believe in th Hifiman 560 thread, that started me looking for one.

 

[jexby]

Yes, someone's going to sell it to me for $700. I'm nott sure if it's better than DAPs and other DACs in this price range.

Not sure myself, but for that price (and being a cheap skate when possible) it doesn't tempt me over the Wyrd+GO450.
If Lotto $ drops in my lap I'd change my mind perhaps.

 

[kawaivpc1]

   
What is your use case? I use the SE on the go with a Triad L3 for HD800 or a Leckerton UHA 6S MKII for UERMs. It's a great little DAC, but what headphones are you driving? Are you using it on the go or at home? There's a bunch of questions to answer here.

Well, I'm using Shure's SRH1840. I will use it on the go and at home.
The thing I care about most is sound quality.
Does its sound quality justify 700 dollars price tag?
 
There are many other portable DACs in this price range:
 
ADL A1, Ifi iDSD Micro, Oppo HA-2, PHA-3, etc
 
 
Geek Out 1000 and android phone combo is certainly better than iBasso DX100, Sony PHA-2, Fostex HA-4.

 

[doctorjazz]

Unfortunately, I can't compare the amp/dac mentioned, but it is much better than the 1k. I don't know the turnaround time on the CEntrance M8 LX, they have had it about a week. It is very well regarded in about that price range. Don't know how long you have to decide, but I'll compare them when I get it back if you want.

 

[doctorjazz]

If I remember correctly, the TransDac was released in the late 90's, by Sonic Frontiers, which, as a company is no longer in existence. So, if you can find one at a good price, it does seem to be well regarded. I remember reading on Head Fi that it can be found very inexpensively, but, when I searched (and I didn't spend months exhaustively looking), I found very few, and for significantly more than was mentioned in the thread. As awareness on these things goes up, prices often do, availability does the opposite. (and, obviously, it won't do high resolution files, which may or may not matter to you...)

 

[zerodeefex]

 

What is your use case? I use the SE on the go with a Triad L3 for HD800 or a Leckerton UHA 6S MKII for UERMs. It's a great little DAC, but what headphones are you driving? Are you using it on the go or at home? There's a bunch of questions to answer here.

Well, I'm using Shure's SRH1840. I will use it on the go and at home.
The thing I care about most is sound quality.
Does its sound quality justify 700 dollars price tag?

There are many other portable DACs in this price range:

ADL A1, Ifi iDSD Micro, Oppo HA-2, PHA-3, etc


Geek Out 1000 and android phone combo is certainly better than iBasso DX100, Sony PHA-2, Fostex HA-4.

Given your headphones, I'd just stick with the Geek Out. Upgrade your transducers before bothering to upgrade your upstream gear.

 

[kawaivpc1]

Given your headphones, I'd just stick with the Geek Out. Upgrade your transducers before bothering to upgrade your upstream gear.

well, I'm going to get an LCD-X and T1 soon. What do you think?

 

[doctorjazz]

Dem's pretty darn good transducers you's producing! Why not go for a Chord, since you're going whole hog? Not that I know how that compares to the SE or other well regarded dac/amps personally, but it does seem from what I read to be the one to beat. Hey, the $2500 or so list fits in with the transducer prices...

 

[kawaivpc1]

Dem's pretty darn good transducers you's producing! Why not go for a Chord, since you're going whole hog? Not that I know how that compares to the SE or other well regarded dac/amps personally, but it does seem from what I read to be the one to beat. Hey, the $2500 or so list fits in with the transducer prices...

I'm broke.
I find Geek Out to be the best fit for my android phones since it's small and light. If I can get even better sound quality I'd love to get an SE version. But, 700 dollars price tag kinda bugs me. You can buy a Marantz DAC1 for that price.

 

[jbr1971]

 
I'm broke.
I find Geek Out to be the best fit for my android phones since it's small and light. If I can get even better sound quality I'd love to get an SE version. But, 700 dollars price tag kinda bugs me. You can buy a Marantz DAC1 for that price.

 
If you do end up buying the SE to use with your Android phone, be sure to buy a split USB cable and a portable USB power supply as there is a good chance the phone will not power the SE properly. And if it does, the SE may kill the battery a lot faster.
 
Jody

 

[kawaivpc1]

   
If you do end up buying the SE to use with your Android phone, be sure to buy a split USB cable and a portable USB power supply as there is a good chance the phone will not power the SE properly. And if it does, the SE may kill the battery a lot faster.
 
Jody

I'm using a Samsung Note 4 cellphone with a 10,000 mAh battery case. This cellphone can play up to 10 hours of music through Geek Out 1k.

 

[MikeyFresh]

 
Well, I'm using Shure's SRH1840. I will use it on the go and at home.
The thing I care about most is sound quality.
Does its sound quality justify 700 dollars price tag?
 
There are many other portable DACs in this price range:
 
ADL A1, Ifi iDSD Micro, Oppo HA-2, PHA-3, etc
 
 
Geek Out 1000 and android phone combo is certainly better than iBasso DX100, Sony PHA-2, Fostex HA-4.

Moot point regarding justification of a $700 price tag, the SE was a very limited edition and there are none for sale.
 
Even if there were one for sale at $700, quantifying sound quality and performance is a subjective thing, only you would be able to judge whether or not it was worth your $700, nobody else can make that determination, they don't have your wallet.

 

[doctorjazz]

I also think it depends how you plan to use it. Attached to a laptop or PC, with not too difficult to drive cans, sounds GREAT! If you plan to use DAPs, outboard amps, etc, for the money there are much more flexible options. I see Massdrop has the CEntrance mini, or something like that, which seems to be able to manage any input/output you can throw at it. They've been well reviewed for sound (waiting for mine to come back from the shop, can't comment first hand), and a bit less than you are talking about spending.

 

[ericr]

Well.. I went on GPlay hoping to find a trial version of the USB Audio Player Pro but it's a buy app only...

Found in the Description section for UAPP in the Play store:

http://www.audio-evolution.com/downloads/USBAudioPlayerPROTrial_1.5.1.apk