[Formido]

Howdy all; first post on Head-fi.
 
I'm looking to purchase a DAC/amp combo for my K701, and I've narrowed it down to the ones mentioned in the title.
Which would be the better choice?

 

[Parall3l]

I'd say wait a little. The Schiit amps are just released and there isn't much impressions around. The O2/ODAC is rather hyped up, but there are measurements proving that it indeed is neutral, both by it's maker and Tyll at InnerFidelity.

The Schiit amp and DACs have rather impressive specs looking at Schiit's site, not to mention they'll be cheaper than the O2/ODAC combo. I'd wait if I were you.

 

[SurfWax]

The fight that everyone wants to see!

Magni and Modi vs ODAC and O2, for the World Tag Team Titles, in a STEEL CAGE!!

 

[h4mm3r 0f th0r]

i want to see this too but there is no real comparison or review thread...

 

[MrGreen]

Do you really need to compare two dime-a-dozen options at length, when you're only going to be using them once in the signal chain?

Chances are your headphones are going to have a significantly higher impact on degrading the sound than either of these, because DACs aren't really complicated anymore (not that R2R/Ladder were complicated either, but thetasigma is nice and easy to make). 

Stop worrying about the public opinion, sheeple and just read the information for yourself at your price point. It's easy to understand which amps and dacs are good. You don't need to have a degree in reading graphs, and very few people don't understand the specs of amps, whereas almost the entire community can't read headphone graphs properly. How is the opinion of the uninformed masses going to change your opinion?

It's not. And if it does, you're making a bad choice by not learning about things you wish to invest time and money into.

 

[SurfWax]

Well there goes the fun tone of this thread

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Well there goes the fun tone of this thread

Hopefully we won't have to listen to hoards of morons who praise nwavguy as the saviour of bargain amplifiers when you can get comparable or better performance for less, and have been able to for a long time; as though he is some kind of messiah to bring about unique designs and ideas, instead of entry level knowledge and plagiarised boards.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Looks like somebody took a grouchy pill...

 

[mikeaj]

Hopefully we won't have to listen to hoards of morons who praise nwavguy as the saviour of bargain amplifiers when you can get comparable or better performance for less, and have been able to for a long time; as though he is some kind of messiah to bring about unique designs and ideas, instead of entry level knowledge and plagiarised boards.

I think we've been through this before, but AFAIK with a unique PCB—and the PCB routing and parts other than the DAC and USB receiver ICs obviously being the actual work involved in this kind of electronics—it's not plagiarism. Unless you're saying that he and Yoyodyne actually copped the boards and the whole thing from somewhere else?

Anyway, I agree that ODAC at $150 is not particularly a steal, definitely about entry-level knowledge. For O2, depends on what you consider comparable (comparable with respect to what actually matters, considering headphones are usually more of a limiting factor anyway), what headphones?

Aside from a few basic attributes and situations (e.g. noise too high for IEMs, 5x gain too much? etc.), you're probably just better off picking whichever looks and feels better to you, anyhow.

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Do you really need to compare two dime-a-dozen options at length, when you're only going to be using them once in the signal chain?


Chances are your headphones are going to have a significantly higher impact on degrading the sound than either of these, because DACs aren't really complicated anymore (not that R2R/Ladder were complicated either, but thetasigma is nice and easy to make). 


Stop worrying about the public opinion, sheeple and just read the information for yourself at your price point. It's easy to understand which amps and dacs are good. You don't need to have a degree in reading graphs, and very few people don't understand the specs of amps, whereas almost the entire community can't read headphone graphs properly. How is the opinion of the uninformed masses going to change your opinion?


It's not. And if it does, you're making a bad choice by not learning about things you wish to invest time and money into.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Class-A-12-6-series-6N11-12AU7-Tube-valve-vacuum-Hybrid-Headphone-Amplifier-AMP-/110991304768?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item19d798e840

I would say "F" it all and get something like this, and this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Assembled-CS8416-CS4398-DAC-Board-Support-USB-coaxial-/221119625071?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337bc1b76f

both sellers are legit, cheap, and they work great. Find a cool little stand for your dac like your amp has and you are good to go fro well under 100.

 

[Fizz]

Quote:

Looks like somebody took a grouchy pill...

I was under the impression this was him in a good mood.
 
Best option might be to wait until more opinions come out about the performance of the Magni/Modi.

 

[hydralisk01]

Damn i thought this thread was a comparison =D

 

[fabio-fi]

lol guys the unit is still new, need to be patient before starting more "comparison" threads 

 

[muad]

Quote:

instead of entry level knowledge and plagiarised boards.

proof or it didn't happen

 

[fabio-fi]

Quote:

proof or it didn't happen

Hmm...