[dorino]

I've got a pair of SR80i's that I love very dearly. I want to make them sound better. My laptop has a poor soundcard.
What do I do for under 100 dollars?
 
I'm dealing with a pair of headphones that's worth roughly 100 dollars stock, but it's getting about 200 dollars worth of mods done (recabling, wood cups) and I'm wanting to make sure I get good sound. I'm not quite ready to dive in to spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on amps/DACs.
 
What's my best option under 100 dollars?

What about under 200?

What about under 300?
 
And, finally, what's my best value?

 

[NA Blur]

I know my lab mate and myself really enjoy the Total Bithead ( $150 ) which is both an amp and DAC.  It can drive two headphones at once as well as be fed by USB or stereo mini.  It sounds really nice with Grado headphones.  My only gripe is that it does not have a bass boost, but of course that problem goes away using more bass emphasized headphones like the AH-D2000.
 
The Total Bithead is built really well.  I have had mine for years and it still looks new.  Everyone I let test listen to it ends up loving it.

 

[dorino]

Quote:

I know my lab mate and myself really enjoy the Total Bithead ( $150 ) which is both an amp and DAC.  It can drive two headphones at once as well as be fed by USB or stereo mini.  It sounds really nice with Grado headphones.  My only gripe is that it does not have a bass boost, but of course that problem goes away using more bass emphasized headphones like the AH-D2000.
 
The Total Bithead is built really well.  I have had mine for years and it still looks new.  Everyone I let test listen to it ends up loving it.

 
How would that compare to the FiiO E10, or the FiiO E17? Those are both looking promising to me, and part of me wants to wait for the E17. The BitHead also looks good, but it is of course outside of my ideal budget (under 100 dollars). Then again, so is the E17.

 

[pasan]

nm
 

 

[Sweden]

Best under 200 is probably something like Audinst HUD-MX1
http://www.head-fi.org/t/484163/review-audinst-hud-mx1-dac-amp-a-promising-newcomer-compared-to-audio-gd-fun-amb-gamma2
Best around 300 is maybe something like Audio-gd Fun.
 
It's really not correct saying saomething is "the best" when it's all about synergy with the headphone of choice.