[nk126]

Hi. Looking for a dac/amp for use with a MacBook Air, Spotify 320k (mainly) and some apple lossless and flac files, driving B&O H6 (32 ohms, low sensitivity, relatively cold sound). Ideally the dac/amp would pair well with ety er-4s IEMs as well (100 ohms).

Must have usb input. Doesn't need other digital input or any output beyond headphone. USB, battery, or wall power is fine. Mainly wanting more power to open the sound up more, and as little noise as possible. Not interested in warming or cooling the sound, so to speak. Don't necessarily need DSD or other exotic format/resolutions.

Willing to spend up to $150, would prefer to spend less. Used or new. Desktop or portable. Chinese or "off brand" gear is fine, all things considered.

Thanks!!!

 

[cel4145]

A Macbook Air should have a very decent sound card. You could just go with a headphone amp to give you more power. Have you considered that option?

 

[nk126]

Yes. I got kind of sucked into the school of thought that external DACs are "better." But you may well be right - for my wants and budget, an amp might be the way to go. Any recs?

 

[cel4145]

I don't know the sensitivity rating of the B&Os, but the Fiio A3 portable headphone amp does a good job with many headphones and it's about $60. It used to be called the E11K (they rebranded it), so you can find plenty of discussion on it. If you want a more powerful amp, look at the Fiio E12.