[spandexspartan]

I know this subject has probably already been discussed to death, but I'm considering getting the AKG K701 and I want to find a suitable amp/dac combo first.  Fairly new here and I've been searching through the archives but I'm hoping someone can indulge me with some advice.  
 
The important points:
 
- My laptop has a crappy soundcard so I need a DAC.
- Separate amp/dac would be ideal, but I don't have the funds for that at the moment.
- I want something that acts as a standalone DAC so I can upgrade to a better amp in the future.
- Budget is $350 for amp/dac.
 
My options so far from other head-fi threads:
 
- Yulong DAH1 Mark II
- Audio-gd Sparrow version A
- Audio-gd FUN version A (they don't have basic anymore?)
- Matrix mini-i
 
I am leaning towards the Audio-gd FUN because it has the best options and the OPA modules sound interesting.  The Sparrow doesn't act as a standalone DAC (although it's cheapest and has same chip as the FUN), and some people say the Matrix sounds metallic with the K701.  Yulong Mark II has a good DAC but I am worried it will be too bright with the K701.
 
Does anyone have experience with any combo of these?
How important is the chip? WM8741 vs AD1955.

 

[bobxxxbob]

Not hearing anything else on your short list I can only comment on FUN. I have the first model of FUN with AD1852 as the dac chip and moon OPA. The amp section handles K701 nearly perfect. Moon suits my preferences for K701 really well. But I consider the AD1852 sub par for K701. Too bright and phony sounding. This however might not be the case with newer Wolfson models. Couple of months ago I bough DAC19-DSP to feed my FUN and now I feel everything is great. As an amp I highly recommend FUN for K701, but I still have my doubts with the DAC section.

 

[alexsj]

I just bought the B version of the Audio GD fun a few months ago from Pacific Valve; perhaps that was a special order but it sounds great and was fairly inexpensive for a little over $200.  You might want to check with Pacific Valve to see if they will stock it again.  One problem though as a dac is that it does not do hi res (at least I can't set it to play hi res on my computer).