[Audiophile2]

I am looking for a DAC/Amp to drive my Grado Sr225i's,(pretty easy to drive). I am more interested in the sound quality of the DAC, I will be sourcing from my laptop and so i need something with a USB input. A major bonus feature for me is having a 1/4 inch jack because any adapters i have tried to use have broken easily. Three amps i was looking at were the Hi-Fi Man EF2A, the Maverick Audio TubeMagic DAC/Amp and for about twice the price, a NuForce Icon HD! I would like to know if one of the cheaper options (Hi-Fi Man or TubeMagic) would sound better than the other or if there would be enough of an improvement to warrant spending an extra 150-200 dollars. If there are any other DAC/Amps that would sound better for around the same price I am open to suggestion.
 
I listen mostly to rock/alternative but I have a lot of rap and electronic too, so bass is kind of important and is somewhat lacking on the Grados, A bass boost feature would be nice
Thank you for your input!

 

[hodgjy]

I'm not a Grado user, so I can't comment on to which amps would work well with those. 
 
But, I can say that I had a Maverick D1 for some time, and I cannot recommend that.  It was the most disappointing and regretful audio purchase I have ever made.
 
As far as DACs go, for $150 you can't do much better than the HRT Streamer II.  Once you get into the $200 and higher price brackets, the competition is very fierce and there are many great offerings.  I always felt amps are more important than DACs.  That's not saying DACs aren't important, because they are essential.  But differences are usually very subtle, whereas the differences in amps tend to be less subtle.

 

[Audiophile2]

thanks, i was really considering going with the D1 but now ill move on