Newbie looking for standalone setup (player+dac+amp+headphone) on a tight budget
Apr 2, 2015 at 4:56 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15
mikekiwi

mikekiwi

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I’m looking for a nice and affordable entry into a standalone headphone-setup.
 
In my living room I have difficulties in setting up decent hifi so I want to see if a reasonably good  headphone can act as an alternative. 
 
As the distance from my couch to my Sonos-Arcam-set is about 5 meters and wireless or a 6 meter cable is not ideal, I’m looking for a standalone setup, consisting of:
-    Audio player capable of playing flac  and preferrably HiRes and Spotify (and it would be very nice if it could play audio from my Synology-NAS). 
-    DAC
-    Headphone-amp (or a combo headphone+dac)
-    Headphone
 
I want to spend about €250. Is not much, I know, but I’m not sure if this will be a succes and don’t want to lose too much money if it doesn’t work.
 
Used gear is not a problem. Hardware will be place on a side-table, so it should be not that large. I already have a Sennheiser PX100, so I can use that as well. Any new headphone should be an improvement over the PX100.
 
What would you do in  this situation ?
 
Possible setups I looked at are:
-    Reasonable standalone audioplayer (Fiio X1/X3) + headphone
-    Android phone/tablet + dac/headphone-amp + headphone
-    Raspberry Pi + dac/headphone-amp + headphone
 
Of course there are lot more options, but as a newbie it is difficult to make a correct choice. So I’d love to hear your opinion about this and suggestions/alternatives…
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 5:13 AM Post #2 of 15
250 Euro is a tight budget for the play, amp, dac etc as you need a player that will output high-res audio via usb to make it worthwhile and that alone will eat in to the budget.
 
You are then looking for a pair of 'phones that will justify high-res listening which again will push the budget.
 
I would say look at something like the Sony NWZ A15 MP3 player - handles high-res files natively, has internal storage of 16GB but takes Miscro SD cards up to 128GB and then pair it with some reasonable easy to drive but quality 'phones (AKG K550's for eg or K701'a, something from lower down the Sennheiser range or Beyerdynamics DT880's).  You will be a little over budget but not by much.
 
Then, when funds allow you can add the DAC and Amp as the A15 will output high-res audio via USB.  I am due to pick up an A15 myself today and can let you know what I think to its internal dac fed straight in to a headphones, headphones via an amp and how that compares to using it as a feed to an external DAC / amp combo.
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 2:06 PM Post #4 of 15
Just throwing in a few options I just came across:
 
I can get a combination of a Pi + Fiio E10K + Sennheiser HD595 for about €150. Is it worth buying? 
 
Or buy a SMSL sApII Pro as amp and combine that with a decent headphone and player... 
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 5:55 PM Post #5 of 15
mikekiwi said:
Android phone/tablet + dac/headphone-amp + headphone
Click to expand...


This seems a good way to go because it would support the streaming apps you want. The downside is that your budget doesn't support buying it all. Do you already have an Android phone or tablet?

mikekiwi said:
Just throwing in a few options I just came across:

I can get a combination of a Pi + Fiio E10K + Sennheiser HD595 for about €150. Is it worth buying? 

Or buy a SMSL sApII Pro as amp and combine that with a decent headphone and player... 
Click to expand...


I'm not familiar enough with Rasberry Pi to know what you can get on a budget. However, I do know that Windows 7 netbooks can often be found used cheap. You can use a USB DAC/amp like the FiiO E10K with one of those.

mikekiwi said:
Or buy a SMSL sApII Pro as amp and combine that with a decent headphone and player... 
Click to expand...


Why not just buy headphones and a player that don't need an amp? Get the FiiO X1. Spend the rest on headphones that are easy to drive. Although you won't get your streaming app features.
 
Apr 3, 2015 at 2:00 AM Post #6 of 15
This seems a good way to go because it would support the streaming apps you want. The downside is that your budget doesn't support buying it all. Do you already have an Android phone or tablet? 
Click to expand...

Yes, I already own both an Android phone and tablet. So in this setup I only need a USB-OTG cable, headphone dac/amp + headphones
 
I'm not familiar enough with Rasberry Pi to know what you can get on a budget. However, I do know that Windows 7 netbooks can often be found used cheap. You can use a USB DAC/amp like the FiiO E10K with one of those. 
Click to expand...

The Pi will cost me about €25 (=$28). So that is a very cheap solution. You need a few extra things like a charging cable+adapter +sd-card, but I already have those available. So a Pi gives me a network audioplayer capable of playing Hires-audio and has Airplay-support for streaming solutions (using my Android phone/tablet with spotify-app)
 
 Why not just buy headphones and a player that don't need an amp? Get the FiiO X1. Spend the rest on headphones that are easy to drive. Although you won't get your streaming app features.
Click to expand...

You are right, that is indeed a very good option. Although the lack of streaming is there, I can always use the androids to use for it. Advantages are that it is really a portable solution. But somehow I got a feeling that a solution with external dac/amp results in better sound quality. But hey, I'm the newbie here, so I'm here to learn... 
L3000.gif

 
Apr 3, 2015 at 5:33 PM Post #7 of 15
You would be surprised how good the X1 perfomes and the X3 II is even better and can be used as a usb DAC/Amp combo for your PC;NAS or Smartphone. Unfortunately the X3 is out of your budget with 249 euro. So you could go with the X1 if you want a portable solution or you could buy a Schiit Fulla (http://www.amazon.com/Fulla-USB-Dongle-DAC-Amp/dp/B00UB5GK4O/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8) as a DAC/Amp combo and a long usb cable to your couch, the rest you could spend for the headphones :3. It's your hard choice.
For the headphones it depends on what you are looking for wether open or closed, in ear or over ear, bassheavy, more neutral
 
Before i forget welcome on head-fi sorry for your walled
smily_headphones1.gif

 
Apr 6, 2015 at 4:09 PM Post #8 of 15
Well,  the headphone is ordered,  I've chosen to go for a cheap solution,  the Takstar HI2050.  Reason is to get a cheap setup and if using it is a success,  I have a bit more experience in what I really want and then buy a better headphone  (and hopefully I then have a bigger budget for the headphones). 
 
So now for the electronics: I'm thinking more about a Pi combined with a Schitt Fulla or Fiio E10K then a portable version with Fiio X1.  Moneywise it's about ewual and thd Pi route gives me more features.  Portability is not my goal (as I will use the gear for 95% in my living room on my couch). 
 
Any opinions on Fulla vs E10K or alternatives like adding a hifiberry dac to the Pi and thus enabling me to buy an amp without a dac?
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 5:06 PM Post #9 of 15
Don't know much about Pis because i haven't looked into Linux but regarding Fulla vs E10k i would say the Fulla has the edge to top the E10k by a little bit. The problem for more options is that we are speaking of a low budget area where there aren't as many as you could wish. Maybe but just maybe it would be good to just gather a little bit more money and go with the Fiio X3II which can be used as DAC/Amp and would be enough for a long long time.
 
Apr 8, 2015 at 4:12 AM Post #10 of 15
Some feedback on the Sony NWZ A15.
 
Straight out of the box and headphones straight to the unit it sounds very very nice.  Beautifully open and detailed, good height and width to the soundstage and pretty much the best separation of instruments I have ever heard.  High res files play back well, the EQ and other sound enhancements for non-HR tracks are effective and it is easy to use.
 
Downside is the power output is rather low; it will drive sensitive 'phones ok but it really needs more power to keep a firm grip on the drivers of just about any phone.  The positive though is there is a great base to build on as the underlying SQ is excellent.
 
Through a headphone amp (in my case the ifi iCan Micro) then the issues with low output are resolved and the sound is finally released.  Just lovely and I could listen to it for hours.  I think the internal DAC is probably good enough and you could get by with just the unit and an amp.  I am going to try it through my DAC but the required cable is as rare as rocking horse droppings and has to be ordered in from Japan so can't comment on that at the moment.
 
The Pi route you are considering is interesting too - I have a spare Pi kicking around and may have a play with it but for primary listening sessions I want something easy to use and that will just work and the Sony gives me that which coupled with the ifi kit means I have a completely portable set up that I can listen to anywhere there is a mains socket.
 
If you ever listen via your android phone / tablet then make sure you pop it in airplane mode if your can - makes a massive difference to the SQ IME.
 
Apr 9, 2015 at 3:28 PM Post #11 of 15
So much doubts...
confused_face_2.gif

 
I decided to go ultra low budget and portable at first and then see how I'm using it and then decide what are the next best steps. The Takstar HI2050 was ordered last week, I just bought a Topping NX1 amp. Will used it with both my tablet (Neutron app on android, in Airplane mode (thanks for the suggestion!)) and a Pi with Hifiberry Dac attached. This has cost me now about € 125 .
 
When I used it I can always keep the NX1 for portable use and then upgrade the amp (and keep using the PI as source) or decide to buy a portable music player and use it in combination with the NX1 and use the phone or tablet for spotify...
 
Time will tell, this seems to be the best set-up for now for me.
 
Mar 7, 2019 at 5:06 PM Post #12 of 15
As of 2019, i personally think this is a good setup for mobile music lovers on tight budget:
- LG V20
- any IEM of good quality and price (KZ ZS10)

Reason: 64 GB storage should be enough for most people and their FLAC files. Sound quality good (not perfect as some people have 4000 euro worth of gear -.- or more) This modest setup costs about
170 euro for the V20 (2nd hand can be bought everywhere with 1 or 2 year warranty!), 35 euro for the IEM. about 200~250 euro. How can you beat this feather weight and low budget? Only negative point is, the phone ain't waterproof.....
 
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Mar 8, 2019 at 4:44 AM Post #14 of 15
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Mar 8, 2019 at 5:34 AM Post #15 of 15
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