tomgrossi
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2001
- Posts
- 18
- Likes
- 10
Hi. This has been mentioned in a handful of older threads here and there but since there have been a number of new offerings I'd love to get updated advice.
I just put some speakers and an amp I had in my basement in my office, but find the sound quality from my laptop dock headphone output unbearably awful (there's a bunch of buzz in the background) so it seemed like an excuse to get a USB DAC. Since the amp I have in not an integrated and has a fair amount of gain, I need something that can act as a good volume control. I imagine I will use it most often with the speakers and when I do use headphones I most often use at the office are pretty easy to drive Etymotic ER4Ps. That said, I do own a pair of HD600s at home and an iPad so having enough power to drive the HD600s and having portability would be nice to haves, though not a deciding factor.
I've found a number of potential options in the <$150 range that seem like they could fit the bill but I was curious if people could weigh on on how they think each might perform as a preamp. (Note: the amp is an old solid state Harman Kardon PA2100). Form factor does come into play here. Also note that since this is for in office listening (with my door closed) and the amp has a fair amount of gain, performance/ease of use at low volume settings may also play in. Here were my initial impressions but I haven't seen or heard any of these so I'd love feedback:
Nuforce uDAC 2: LOVE the form factor. I really like the front dial and the fact that it has RCA outs so I wouldn't have to plug/unplug the speaker amp into the headphone jack when switching from headphone to speaker listening. When I first came across it I almost ordered it on the spot. But I'm a little worried about some of the negative feedback here, particularly regarding things like the channel balance at low levels since that's where it will likely be most used.
FiiO E7: Seems very versatile. Bonus since it can be portable. Don't really like the display/volume buttons but could live with them. Imagine the digital volume control might work better than analog as low settings but now sure. Since it has two headphone outs I could leave one permanently connected to my speaker amp and just turn it on or off with its power switch.
FiiO E10: Looks really interesting. Like that it has a high/low gain switch. Like the dial. Like the price. Only downside is that I assume the line out on the back doesn't respond to the volume control so I'd have to plug/unplug every time I wanted to switch. Is the volume control analog or digital?
iBasso d-Zero: Just saw this one. Also has hi-low gain switch. Like the E7 but I prefer the dial (though not as much as the other two dials). Also only one output so I'd have to plug/unplug.
Is there anything else I should consider? I don't want to break the bank here since this isn't my primary listening rig and the amp/speakers aren't that great but I also am pretty picky so in general I'd rather spend a tiny bit more and get something I love than less for something that I'm at all annoyed with.
I just put some speakers and an amp I had in my basement in my office, but find the sound quality from my laptop dock headphone output unbearably awful (there's a bunch of buzz in the background) so it seemed like an excuse to get a USB DAC. Since the amp I have in not an integrated and has a fair amount of gain, I need something that can act as a good volume control. I imagine I will use it most often with the speakers and when I do use headphones I most often use at the office are pretty easy to drive Etymotic ER4Ps. That said, I do own a pair of HD600s at home and an iPad so having enough power to drive the HD600s and having portability would be nice to haves, though not a deciding factor.
I've found a number of potential options in the <$150 range that seem like they could fit the bill but I was curious if people could weigh on on how they think each might perform as a preamp. (Note: the amp is an old solid state Harman Kardon PA2100). Form factor does come into play here. Also note that since this is for in office listening (with my door closed) and the amp has a fair amount of gain, performance/ease of use at low volume settings may also play in. Here were my initial impressions but I haven't seen or heard any of these so I'd love feedback:
Nuforce uDAC 2: LOVE the form factor. I really like the front dial and the fact that it has RCA outs so I wouldn't have to plug/unplug the speaker amp into the headphone jack when switching from headphone to speaker listening. When I first came across it I almost ordered it on the spot. But I'm a little worried about some of the negative feedback here, particularly regarding things like the channel balance at low levels since that's where it will likely be most used.
FiiO E7: Seems very versatile. Bonus since it can be portable. Don't really like the display/volume buttons but could live with them. Imagine the digital volume control might work better than analog as low settings but now sure. Since it has two headphone outs I could leave one permanently connected to my speaker amp and just turn it on or off with its power switch.
FiiO E10: Looks really interesting. Like that it has a high/low gain switch. Like the dial. Like the price. Only downside is that I assume the line out on the back doesn't respond to the volume control so I'd have to plug/unplug every time I wanted to switch. Is the volume control analog or digital?
iBasso d-Zero: Just saw this one. Also has hi-low gain switch. Like the E7 but I prefer the dial (though not as much as the other two dials). Also only one output so I'd have to plug/unplug.
Is there anything else I should consider? I don't want to break the bank here since this isn't my primary listening rig and the amp/speakers aren't that great but I also am pretty picky so in general I'd rather spend a tiny bit more and get something I love than less for something that I'm at all annoyed with.
