[wordfool]

I'm in the market for a dac/amp and am wondering what sort of premium, if any, we pay for portable vs. full-size options.

I want to spend no more than $150ish for something that'll give me better sound than my onboard soundcard (pretty much anything will, for what I gather) and have narrowed it down to a couple of portable units (Total Bithead, Nuforce uDAC, ibasso D2) and a couple of chinese ebay options (Zero and Aune).

But for the same money, will the desktop models outperform the portable units? For example, the ibasso, total bithead and zero are more or less identical in price, but are they gonna be more or less identical in performance?

 

[tintin47]

Always desktop. A portable will never, ever outperform a desktop in the same price range. The desktop will always win by a large margin.

 

[krmathis]

For the money you will most certainly get more in a desktop unit.
Small sized high quality components in general cost more than identical quality components where size is no factor.

 

[wordfool]

The desktop options in the $150 price range seem limited to a couple of chinese options on ebay, and the Zero that I had been considering has now lost my vote due to the reliability issues. Are there others I should be considering beyond the zero and aune?

 

[tintin47]

The little dot I+ is probably one of the chinese options. Watch the fs forums for good deals. A starving student or millet hybrid would be good options as well.

 

[DayoftheGreek]

The EF-2 is on sale for $169. I'm in about the same boat as you, and this looks like the best option so far for me. Might have to stretch that budget just a tiny bit.

Head-Direct.com | YUIN

 

[tintin47]

The EF-2 is a very nice amp for that price. Is that a holiday sale?

 

[DayoftheGreek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The EF-2 is a very nice amp for that price. Is that a holiday sale?

I think so.

 

[Uncle Erik]

A desktop amp will give you a great deal more power and control over your headphones.

I think one of the best budget options is to buy a used receiver. Many of them have headphone jacks and some of them sound quite good. You should be able to turn up a good one for $50 or less at a thrift store.

You also get the benefit of a radio tuner (FM can sound better than you might think), a phone stage in case you want to try a turntable and multiple inputs in case you want to run several sources.

There are a few threads here about finding a good receiver - take a look.

 

[wordfool]

I have a couple old receivers lying around (including one nice old 1970s Pioneer) but a full size receiver is not what I would call "desktop". It'll fit on my desk, but would be way too big, which is why I'm after a smaller dac+amp solution for headphones only.

The EF-2 also caught my eye, but I'm unsure how the stock tubes will work out since I read that they can be a bit harsh. The more I research the more I'm tempted to push my budget to $200, but then it potentially becomes a never-ending escalation as the next step up always looks more appealing.

I just missed out on a Fubar II dac locally for $90, which would have been a good foundation. The Fubar III is just too much money.

 

[tintin47]

^ Don't be sorry. I don't really like the fubar II, and I don't think it is very good at all. I am changing it out ASAP.

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

youd probably save alot of money just gettin a desktop first,, ive gone through afew portables and im gonna end up having to drop another 1k on a desktop so
god desktop first imo

 

[JMIJohn]

Anyone know if the aune will power 600 ohm dt990's?