[optimumoptimo]

ok so i have a pair of sennheiser hd 598 and i been doing a bit of research and looking at amps and dac's under 200 and what im wondering is
so far from my research im leaning towards the audioengine d1 dac/amp and was wondering if this is the best option i did look into the magni/modi but i need a usb in for music and also for gaming a optical in and you only get one or the other with the magni/modi so any feedback would be helpfull thank you very much

 

[billybob_jcv]

At 10 ohms, the output impedance of the D1 is a little high for the 50 ohm HD598. It should work, but I would prefer to see it lower.

What you can do is get the D1, and then later, if you ever want to use headphones that are lower impedance, you could keep the D1 as a DAC, and connect the lineout jacks to a different amp that has a lower output impedance (like the Magni).

 

[optimumoptimo]

do you know by chance if i bought the mag modi if they have some kind of a connector i can get to allow both usb and optical into the dac or some other setup

 

[billybob_jcv]

No, as far as I know they do not. You can mix and match DACs & amps - they don't have to be from the same company. The Magni has RCA line-in jacks, so any DAC with RCA line-out jacks (like the D1) will work.

 

[optimumoptimo]

kookoo ya i did think about that kinda for a bit do u know of any other good dac's for around 100 that have usb and optical that i could hook up to the magni

 

[optimumoptimo]

oh ya one thing i was gonna ask is so if i hook the optical to my soundcard that should work with games for more of a surround sound environment right with the digital stuff they use in them right

 

[optimumoptimo]

oh i also see another dac/amp and it also has usb and optical called the creative e5 anyone know anyhting about this one how it preforms and if it would drive these sennheisers also i have some klipsh image x10s it should work for them i assume

 

[billybob_jcv]

The Soundblaster E5 is brand new - and I agree it looks interesting. The amp has a very good opamp and if they have implemented it well, it has the potential of being an excellent value for all the features it has. I have not seen any specs on the actual amp.

 

[optimumoptimo]

well thank you very much for your help i just emailed audioengine to see if i can have usb and optical plgged in at the same time and just switch them through the sound devices on the computer hopefully u can thanks again