Looking for a DAC/amp with adjustable treble/bass

[peternguyen]

Hi all. Could anyone recommend me a good DAC/amp that has adjustable treble and bass, or at least adjustable bass? My FiiO E17 has stopped working on me so I am now considering upgrading. I will be using this with my Beyerdynamic DT 880 250 ohm headphones, and the source will be my computer. Thanks.

 

[Twolf]

I cannot answer your question because I don't know such dac/amps, but won't a software EQ help you more?
They offer much higher flexibility and range of adjustments.

 

[peternguyen]

I don't want to get too off-track, but I was under the impression that software equalization is not as good as it being done on the amp.

 

[Twolf]

Compared to a basic EQ from a program like Windows Media player or Winamp - yes, that would be so.
But compared to a high precision VST based equalizer I don't think that's the case.
You can find free versions of the above that work with 32 bit or higher precision and offer minimal degradation to the signal.
A cheap hardware EQ is bound to be a lot less transparent.  Sonically transparent, mastering level EQs come with hefty price tags  and even those have sometimes sonic signatures, which engineers tend to purposefully "inject" in their mastering work.
 
More to the point, why don't you try a good software EQ and judge the results for yourself?
If you want just a simple bass boost there's a very minimalistic DSP for Foobar2000 called "real bass exciter". It's a simple .dll file (foo_dsp_bassexciter) you can copy/paste in your Foobar components.
I can't speak for its accuracy but the results are quite enjoyable.
Doesn't cost you anything to try it.

 

[nurxhunter]

Thought to chime.  Surprisingly good app, the exciter is.  I agree, unsure of accuracy, but it sounds nice on BD T70, which seem like quite accurate phones.  Seems better than bass boost with an equalizer.