[goathead111]

Hey, so I'm considering purchasing the Behringer Ultra-low " " DAC for 50 CAD as opposed to the 250 CAD DragonFly USB DAC. I was wondering which one you would recommend?

 

[serman005]

In my opinion, the Dragonfly Red is a good value. Have not heard the Behringer--sorry.

 

[goathead111]

In my opinion, the Dragonfly Red is a good value. Have not heard the Behringer--sorry.

Thank you for your suggestion! I have a pretty bad sound card on my laptop so, while I do think it will be a worthwhile addition, I find it very hard to justify the price. The reviews are very good though so I will definitely consider the DragonFly, possibly even a used one. Thanks again.

 

[audiobomber]

I highly recommend the Sabaj Da2 DAC/headphone amp (same as SMSL iDEA but normally lower priced). I believe that Sabaj is the manufacturer and SMSL is a distributor. It is an amazing little machine and is sometimes referred to as a Dragonfly Red killer. Here are a couple of technical comparisons with the Dragonfly Black:

https://archimago.blogspot.com/2017/05/measurements-smsl-idea-usb-dac.html

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...dea-and-audioquest-dragonfly-black-dacs.2397/

The price is right too: https://www.amazon.ca/Sabaj-Portabl...UTF8&qid=1542516934&sr=8-1&keywords=sabaj+da2

What headphones are you intending to drive?

 

[goathead111]

I highly recommend the Sabaj Da2 DAC/headphone amp (same as SMSL iDEA but normally lower priced). I believe that Sabaj is the manufacturer and SMSL is a distributor. It is an amazing little machine and is sometimes referred to as a Dragonfly Red killer. Here are a couple of technical comparisons with the Dragonfly Black:

https://archimago.blogspot.com/2017/05/measurements-smsl-idea-usb-dac.html

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...dea-and-audioquest-dragonfly-black-dacs.2397/

The price is right too: https://www.amazon.ca/Sabaj-Portabl...UTF8&qid=1542516934&sr=8-1&keywords=sabaj+da2

What headphones are you intending to drive?

Thanks for the recommendation. The headphones are Sony MDR-7506s.

 

[audiobomber]

For a bit more money, this is a solid choice: https://www.amazon.ca/Korg-DSDAC100M-Digital-Analog-Converter/dp/B00GTIUX0Y

Your headphones are an easy load, either one will drive them to more than tolerable levels.

 

[goathead111]

Also, noob question here but how do you determine whether a pair of headphones is easier or harder to drive? Thanks!

 

[audiobomber]

Without getting technical, you look at impedance and sensitivity. Your headphones are 63 ohms, which is lowish impedance, therefore don't need much voltage. Efficiency is 106 dB/W/m, which is very high, therefore don't need much power to go loud.

 

[Elecroestatico]

I highly recommend the Sabaj Da2 DAC/headphone amp (same as SMSL iDEA but normally lower priced). I believe that Sabaj is the manufacturer and SMSL is a distributor. It is an amazing little machine and is sometimes referred to as a Dragonfly Red killer. Here are a couple of technical comparisons with the Dragonfly Black:

https://archimago.blogspot.com/2017/05/measurements-smsl-idea-usb-dac.html

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...dea-and-audioquest-dragonfly-black-dacs.2397/

The price is right too: https://www.amazon.ca/Sabaj-Portabl...UTF8&qid=1542516934&sr=8-1&keywords=sabaj+da2

What headphones are you intending to drive?

Based on the amazon reviews looks like those sabaj devices have some serious build quality issues.

Based in your $250 budget I'm going to give a blind recomendation, I have never hear this dac but it has veruy good components and specs and based on other products of the same brand it might be worth taking a look, I'm talking about the topping D50.
Dual sabre dacs, dsd 512 and pcm up to 768khz at 32 bit, harmonic distortion of like .00005 % , a signal to noise ratio of 122db, coax /usb / optical inputs and a pretty display. I really feel it sounds really good and hard to beat for this price range but maybe get more info, try to see if there is a dedicated thread in here about that model

 

[Elecroestatico]

aune x1s is a good one i think about same price

 

[PaganDL]

Hi @goathead111,

I would suggest for your budget & being in Canada, look into the following in no particular order :

Lexicon Alpha
Focusrite Scarlett Series

Hope you have a great day !

 

[Elecroestatico]

penon audio is an online store with free worldwide shipping. I've never bought anything from them but here in the forum I heard many times of good service and successful deliveries to pretty far away countries.