[Nimzerz]

Currently I am very new into the audiophile world, but have spent a long time looking into it and have learned a great amount. I have just ordered the Dt880 250ohm premium headphones by Beyerdynamic and am wondering what DAC and AMP combo I should be going for. I listen to a wide variety to music (hence the reason that I chose the Dt880's) and have looked at both the Bottlehead Crack + Schiit Modi combo as well as the Onkyo A-5VL (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002C73WR2). I was wondering which would be better for me and why. 
 
I was also wondering if the JDS Labs Standalone ODAC would be a better option than the Schiit Modi.

 

[MattTCG]

Those are some very diverse choices at different price points. Are you prepared to build the crack?

 

[Amorgan]

Welcome to head-fi,
 
You may get more responses on the proper section. 
http://www.head-fi.org/f/5/headphone-amps-full-size

 

[Nimzerz]

Thank you Amorgan! I didn't notice that! And to Matt--My cousin would be prepared to build his with me so that I can learn from him. He would have no problem building it so, yes building it is OK with me. I'm mainly thinking that the Onkyo isnt worth it so I WILL go with the crack, but I was wondering (because i can afford the schiit right now) should I buy the schiit to go with it? or is there another DAC at around that price range (100-150) that would be of better value to me?

 

[Amorgan]

Yes, i heard the Crack with all the upgrades its a worthy piece of hi-fi.
As for Dacs, the schiit is well respected also the HRT streamers. 

 

[Nimzerz]

Do you think that the Schiit is the best dac to get within that price range? Also, is it better than the JDS Labs standalone ODAC? ALSO, what would be more worthy of getting as of now if I can still amp the dt880s to a high enough volume (the DAC or AMP)?

 

[MattTCG]

For the money, I prefer the odac with RCA's over the modi. 

 

[Nimzerz]

What's the advantage? One thing that I also consider is Amazon's return policy on the schiit compared to the odac. However, quality wise, is there any advantage of one over the other?

 

[MattTCG]

The advantage simply is the ability to resolve and convert the digital data into an analogue stream that sounds natural and lifelike. The modi sounds somewhat thin and metallic to me while the odac very nearly sounds as good as the bifrost by Schitt which cost substantially more.  

 

[Nimzerz]

So are you saying that the ODAC would be worth the extra $50?

 

[MattTCG]

^^ yep.