Spec me a USB DAC + Amp for £400

[aaldrich]

Hi everyone,
My budget is around £400 for both a USB DAC and amp. I realise this may be low-end for some people on here, but you're all good sorts and can appreciate that we all need to start somewhere and I think £400 is a decent starting point. Current thoughts:

1) Musical Fidelity X-Can V8P. This unit has a USB DAC as part of the amp.
Pros: It's supposedly a good amp and if I decide to upgrade later by buying a better DAC and/or PSU it'll still be a good amp that will possibly sound even better.
Cons: I get the feeling that someone will tell me that having the DAC built into the same enclosure as the amp will result in a lower quality overall production.

2) Beresford 7520 -> Little Dot (of some sort, I await your advice).
Pros: I hear very good things about both of these brands as being able to produce relatively high quality in their price bands.
Cons: I'm aware that Beresford aren't popular retailers in these waters. I don't have a local Little Dot retailer (infact only the Chinese might) so returns could be an issue.

 

[Zanth]

Audio-gd Compass? Under $300 USD and is being sold at cost for a short time to reward the Head-fiers who helped with its design.

 

[aaldrich]

Interesting...I googled that and found their website. Whilst I appreciate the advice I would be keen on a tube-based setup, I'm very keen on tube warmth. Thank you for your advice though.

 

[anadin]

You have a wealth of DAC's to choose from seeing as you live in the UK.

There's a great offer on the Musical Fidelity V-DAC at the moment at an amazing £129 which includes free shipping.

Musical Fidelity Musical Fidelity V-DAC, Musical Fidelity Hi-Fi, Musical Fidelity Amplifiers - Acton Gate Audio

Another DAC is the excellent sounding Beresford TC-7520 which also incorporates a headphone amp.

Stereo Audio Digital to Analogue Converter USB/COAX/TOSLINK

Yet another good sounding DAC is the Cambridge Audio DACMAGIC.
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO DACMAGIC-08-BLK at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.

I've owned all of these DAC's and still have the Beresford TC-7520 so that tells you something.

As for a Headphone amp the the excellent NOVO Discrete Headphone Amplifier from Graham Slee retails at a little over £200.
http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/headphonea...eamplifier.htm

Any other questions fire away.

 

[paara]

Music hall 25.dac
• electro-harmonix 6922 tube output
• ti PCM 1796 24bit/192kHz DAC
• ti SRC 4192 asynchronous sample rate converter
• high precision active crystal oscillator master clock
• user selectable 96kHz or 192kHz upsampling
• asynchronous reclocking and anti jitter control system
• 8 x oversampling digital filter
• 4 digital inputs: coax (s/pdif), optical, XLR (AES/EBU), or USB
• 2 gold plated outputs; single ended (RCA), balanced (XLR)
• headphone output with adjustable analog volume control
• large high current oversize r-core power transformer
• thick brushed aluminum fascia and solid chassis
• 110v/220v voltage selectable transformer
• detachable power cord

$549.00

 

[anadin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paara /img/forum/go_quote.gif Music hall 25.dac • electro-harmonix 6922 tube output • ti PCM 1796 24bit/192kHz DAC • ti SRC 4192 asynchronous sample rate converter • high precision active crystal oscillator master clock • user selectable 96kHz or 192kHz upsampling • asynchronous reclocking and anti jitter control system • 8 x oversampling digital filter • 4 digital inputs: coax (s/pdif), optical, XLR (AES/EBU), or USB • 2 gold plated outputs; single ended (RCA), balanced (XLR) • headphone output with adjustable analog volume control • large high current oversize r-core power transformer • thick brushed aluminum fascia and solid chassis • 110v/220v voltage selectable transformer • detachable power cord $549.00

549.00 USD= 365.977 GBP

That leaves £34 for a headphone amp with a £400 budget.

I didn't even add on the shipping charges and Customs and VAT.

 

[aaldrich]

Thanks for the awesome recommendation. I went to their website and can't see any distributors in England/the United Kingdom. Not even eBay is of assistance.

 

[lutwey]

i think it would help if u list the phones you will pair it with. have u looked at the cantate. very promising amp.(just bought one) or strech ur budget and go for the symphony.
one question
where can i buy the compass???

 

[opipi0404]

Haha I'm also looking for USB-DAC + amp or USB-DAC as part of an amp for my dt 990 pro. And...I'm thinking about buying used ones and considering an Aria to be specific. I agree that Cantate 2 would help!

 

[anadin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lutwey /img/forum/go_quote.gif i think it would help if u list the phones you will pair it with. have u looked at the cantate. very promising amp.(just bought one) or strech ur budget and go for the symphony. one question where can i buy the compass???

The Symphony is £1200.

Don't you think that's stretching the £400 budget a bit.

 

[aaldrich]

Hi people,
Once again thanks for giving me some more choices.

1) I have looked at the Cantate - it didn't seem to be tube-amped. I am definitely after a tube amp. Otherwise it looked very impressive.

2) I'm already 'stretching' my budget at £400 = 451 Euros = 595 US$

3) I'm not too keen on the headphones I already own and may be changing them, so please take them out of the equation. I'm only keeping them in the hope that after a break-in period their bass will become more pronounced.

 

[Jian]

V8P sounds brilliantly with K701s and denons. But don't bother with its DAC, which will do neither good nor bad to your sound sys.