[gikigill]

Little dot Mk2 would be a good candidate too for that price.

A vintage amplifier with no resistors in the headphone out works well too. I picked up one for $38 in great condition and it sounds superb.

 

[doublea71]

Quote:

 
Aune T1.
 
You can get that in Vietnam for approx. $180 last I checked, and it's a really good package (superb DAC + amplifier that can push 1W into 32 Ohm). Definitely more than enough power to get the Mad Dogs (and even some other headphones that are harder to drive).
 
Though to be honest, I'm still seeing about getting one of those (the Aune T1) for myself... as I anticipate that there will be a Mad Dogs (or equivalence) in my near future.

Those are available here at a little headphone shop here in Saigon for about 175$ - it's a tube amp, so I'm not sure what to expect...but it has a DAC that plays 24 bit files, so it seems like it may be a good match. My wife will probably think it looks cool, too...maybe. Thanks, folks!

 

[gikigill]

Just a reminder that the Aune T1 has a tube DAC and a Solid State headphone amp.
 
If you bypass the USB port, its basically a SS amp.
 

 

[doublea71]

What is the purpose of a tube DAC? Very counterintuitive design - I assumed a tube was only for the amp stage...I know diddly about this stuff, so it figures that I'm perplexed. So the DAC is running through the tube (forgive my ignorance) once it is converted to an analog signal and then through the amp - am I in the ballpark? And why put the tube in the DAC instead of the amp? What's the benefit, if any?

 

[gikigill]

Umm... It's a tube dac instead of a SS dac. I heard the Aune but not my cup of tea. The tube probably adds some warmth to the output of the amp.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Can anybody else recommend a cheap ($200 max) amp for these? I know diddly about amps, so I need to ask. I have an E17 which is good for its DAC, but the amp section is lacking.

 
I would also say go for the used Asgard. If you can somehow come up with $50 more, grab the Asgard 2. It's a better amp than the original and more versatile. Also, as was pointed out some of the vintage receivers sound great paired with orthos. You can pick them up at yard sales and places like craigslist if you want to find a local sale. 

 

[doublea71]

Another question: are any other manufacturers doing the same thing by using a tube for the DAC and a SS amp?

 

[Bill-P]

The tube in the Aune T1 is used to buffer the DAC output if I'm not mistaken. So the performance of the DAC changes depending on the tube you're using.
 
On that note, not all tubes are warm. There are (a lot of) tubes that sound bright and analytical.
 
My guess is that they (Aune Audio) intended for the T1 to be a DAC first and an amp second, so they put more efforts into the DAC.
 
And to me, that makes sense. When I need to scale up to a better amplifier, I can still use the DAC section of the Aune T1.

 

[BobJS]

Quote:

Can anybody else recommend a cheap ($200 max) amp for these? I know diddly about amps, so I need to ask. I have an E17 which is good for its DAC, but the amp section is lacking.

 
Not what you asked, but just as a FYI, the DAC progression I took (not necessarily limited to the MDs) :
 
1. Listened through PC headphone out, thought it was OK
2. Got an E17, thought it was a tremendous upgrade in SQ from 1.
3. Got an AudioQuest Dragonfly, thought it was a significant upgrade in SQ from 2. 
4. Got a Lyr/Bifrost.  Thought the Bifrost was an upgrade in SQ from 3.
 
Who's going to recommend my next DAC?  And sorry to derail the thread.

 

[Greed]

Quote:

Another question: are any other manufacturers doing the same thing by using a tube for the DAC and a SS amp?

 
Not many. The design is very unusual. I don't see to much interest in having a DAC that can be colored a certain way via tube rolling. Typically, you want a pure, non-colored source and if you choose a colored amp. The other way around seems counterintuitive. 

 

[doublea71]

I may go for the Aune down the road...might do a bit more reading first, though. Did a bit of A/B action with my DJ100s (because that's all I have) and the MDs have a much richer, fuller sound. The DJs sounded okay, but I do prefer the MDs. They're a lot more comfortable, for one, and the sound is more cohesive.
 
I think the Koss may benefit more from the E17, but I was able to get plenty of volume out of the MDs. From my understanding, they would sound better if they had more power going into them (I may be wrong - still learning about amps and output, etc.) Hopefully the Aune T1 will widen the gap my ears hear between the DJ100 and the MadDogs....
 
I'm going to spend more time with them and try to get real familiar with their sound signature before I really blather on about them. Thanks to everybody for the amp advice (and keep it coming if you've got 2 cents on the subject).

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

Another question: are any other manufacturers doing the same thing by using a tube for the DAC and a SS amp?

 
I don't know of any other amp/DAC combos that are implemented that way, but the MHDT Havana, Eastern Electric Minimax, Jolida Glass FX, Prometheus Audio Tube DAC, Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2, Audio Horizons TD 3.1, Monarchy NM24, and the Lampizator are just some of the available tubed DACs.

 

[doublea71]

Quote:

 
I don't know of any other amp/DAC combos that are implemented that way, but the MHDT Havana, Eastern Electric Minimax, Jolida Glass FX, Prometheus Audio Tube DAC, Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2, Audio Horizons TD 3.1, Monarchy NM24, and the Lampizator are just some of the available tubed DACs.

Wow, and I've heard of exactly none of those - wouldn't happen to cost an arm and a leg, would they?

 

[jazzerdave]

Quote:

Wow, and I've heard of exactly none of those - wouldn't happen to cost an arm and a leg, would they?

 
Under $500: Maverick Audio TubeMagic D2, Jolida Glass FX
 
Under $1000: MHDT Havana, Prometheus Audio Tube DAC
 
Under $1200: Eastern Electric Minimax, Monarchy NM24
 
Over $2000: Audio Horizons TD 3.1,  Lampizator
 
The TubeMagic D2 is actually $250.

 

[doublea71]

Quote:

The TubeMagic D2 is actually $250.

This is do-able. Thanks for the tip.