[Doubting]

Hi people, hope you can help me with this one

I have the following gear:

Computer with sort of acceptable soundcard (creative xfi music)
Rotel rb991 200 watt power amp
B&W CM1
AKG K550

At the moment I use my headphones barely as I have to dive under the desk to plug em into the back of my pc. My speakers I use often and I love them; however, I am currently losing loads of quality due to the soundcard and cabling. So I would like to get new gear, preferably 1 device, that will serve as a DAC, pre-amp (to my Rotel) and headphone amp.

I was advised, in a hifi-store, that the Cambridge dacmagic plus will do the work for me. This is no cheap labour at 600 euro, though. It seems there remains a sort of barrier between the speaker hifi world and headphone hifi world. I was hoping that you guys might be able to give advise on what options the headphone amps bring and how they compare to the dacmagic plus ( wolfson 8740 chip).

I am especially interested in the tubemagic d1, which seems very popular around here and much more affordable than the cambridge.

Thanks

 

[Doubting]

No one can help? Also reading good things about Audiolab M-DAC, though this one is in the same range as the cambridge. How would for instance a more basic device such as hrt music streamer pro serve my needs?
 
Please, need advise
 

 

[proton007]

You have a power amp. All you need is a DAC + headphone amp.
Many options, based on how much you want to spend.

 

[Doubting]

Could you please recommend some? I am not in a position to demo DACs in my system at home, so I have to base my choice on experienced users' advises.
 

 

[proton007]

Whats your budget?

 

[Doubting]

(second hand) max 400 euro
 

 

[proton007]

One solution would be to go for a sound card, something like the Asus Xonar STX. It comes with a dedicated headphone amp, however the output impedance is close to 10 Ohms. But if you use headphones occasionally, it can work. No pre amp though. And very good value for money. 
Otherwise the Tubemagic would be a good option I guess.

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

Hi people, hope you can help me with this one
I have the following gear:
Computer with sort of acceptable sound card (creative xfi music)
Rotel rb991 200 watt power amp
B&W CM1
AKG K550
At the moment I use my headphones barely as I have to dive under the desk to plug em into the back of my pc. My speakers I use often and I love them; however, I am currently losing loads of quality due to the soundcard and cabling. So I would like to get new gear, preferably 1 device, that will serve as a DAC, pre-amp (to my Rotel) and headphone amp.
I was advised, in a hifi-store, that the Cambridge dacmagic plus will do the work for me. This is no cheap labour at 600 euro, though. It seems there remains a sort of barrier between the speaker hifi world and headphone hifi world. I was hoping that you guys might be able to give advise on what options the headphone amps bring and how they compare to the dacmagic plus ( wolfson 8740 chip).
I am especially interested in the tubemagic d1, which seems very popular around here and much more affordable than the cambridge.
Thanks

Ok first off, skip the soundcard option, your much better off going in your original direction of an all in one dac/amp/preamp. 
Secondly, skip the Maverick D1. I owned one for about 6 months. There are far better options out there for the money. The D1 is pretty unimpressive imo. Steer clear.
 
Your better off with something like the Matrix mini. This is a balanced DAC Which uses 2x AD1955 dac chips which imo is a great chip.  It's really musical and has a nice headphone amp. Also you have your balanced xlr out if you ever want to go for a balanced amp - which is recommend as you can build a pretty nice system on it. 
You have your pre/amp and you also have a 24/96 usb to spdif convert inbuilt if you ever need a decent coax signal. 
 
Next up I would recommend the Audio-gd nfb-10.32.  Now this is a wicked little unit. Dual flagship wolfson dac's WM8741, 32bit usb (just released) and most importantly a fully balanced dac with a fully balanced amp - and the preamp & remote to boot. This thing has everything and sounds pretty killer imo. It is imo the best value unit on the market atm for around $5-600 for a do-it-all. It's also got gobs of power. 
 
I would recommend the Yulong D100 mk2 & especially the Yulong D18 but they don't have a preamp, so they're out if u need that.
 
Lastly, & the Matrix Quattro. This is a really nice balanced dac with a great single ended amp, pre amp, remote etc. Basically a hi-end Matrix mini with a line-in so you can also use it as  a stand alone head amp if you want.
 
So depends what you want to spend. If your talking about a single unit, the nfb-10 is amazing with it's balanced amp. I would go that. If your going to add a dedicated balanced amp, then you have more options, especially if the amp has a pre-amp out's.
 
There are some amazing buy now days at that price point so your in luck. I learn't the hard way - actually it was pretty fun.
Best of luck and let me know if u have any questions.

 

[Doubting]

Thanks so much for your extensive reply.
 
I actually have looked at some second hand audio-gd's. As a matter of fact, I can get a nfb10se for around 300 euro; however, audio-gb has so many different models that all look alike that I'm not sure whether this is one of there good ones. What do you think?

 

[customNuts]

I'll pm you