[jacobazizi]

Hi, 
I've been doing a lot of research to find a decent headphone usb amp for my macbook air for my HD 598's.  I'm looking in the $100-200 range.  
 
I've been looking at SMSL SD650, Yulong U100, JDS labs O2, Fiio E10K, Musical Fidelity V90 HPA, Firestone Audio Cute Curve, monoprice desktop amp, open to any other recommendations.  
 
Any and all recommendations would be very helpful, also any experience you've had with these amps I've mentioned would be really nice as well. Thank you so much in advance.

 

[jacobazizi]

what do you guys think if i went cheaper and got a Fiio E10K? would it be good enough for easy listening and video games and movies? or should i just get a Dragonfly V1.2 instead? 

 

[ivanlau1999]

You can also check Arcam rPac too

 

[jacobazizi]

Hey, thank you for replying, hmm thats a little out of my price range, what do you think about the Fiio E10k or the Meridian Explorer? 250 is kinda much since my headphones are only $200

 

[Me x3]

I guess you can't go wrong with the O2.
E10K also seems to be very appealing due to its DAC capabilities. HD598 are very sensitive headphones so E10K should have plenty of power for them.
 
My Fiio E10 (E10K previous version) does a good job driving my K702 that are something like 12 times harder to drive than HD598.
 
Best Luck!

 

[jacobazizi]

Thank you so much for the reply! After doing a lot ( and i do mean a lot) of research for the perfect usb amp/dac. The E10K looks like the best bang for the buck. I think i'll def get the 02 when i upgrade to a HD650 in the future.  btw your headphone are really gorgeous! i love the leather band on top! again thanks for the recommendations! 

 

[Me x3]

  Thank you so much for the reply! After doing a lot ( and i do mean a lot) of research for the perfect usb amp/dac. The E10K looks like the best bang for the buck. I think i'll def get the 02 when i upgrade to a HD650 in the future.  btw your headphone are really gorgeous! i love the leather band on top! again thanks for the recommendations! 

Thanks! Great pick! Hope you enjoy it very much

 
If you are thinking to upgrade to HD650, don't forget to consider HD600 which is cheaper and most people consider them slightly better sounding.
I haven't tried them yet but based on reviews, comparisons and measurements, HD650 should be great if you are looking for a darkish presentation (less treble than neutral). On the other hand HD600 should provide a slightly more neutral frequency response.
You can't go wrong with any of them but, sometimes the bigger number and higher price (650) are quite confusing when both headphones perform similarly and the cheaper is the most neutral between the two.
 
Best Luck!

 

[jacobazizi]

Yeah i cant wait to get my rig set up, i've been looking forward to getting a nice set of cans after getting into the hifi world with my audio engine a2+. I think you're also right about the HD600's 

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thank you so much for the reply! After doing a lot ( and i do mean a lot) of research for the perfect usb amp/dac. The E10K looks like the best bang for the buck. I think I'll def get the 02 when i upgrade to a HD650 in the future.  btw your headphone are really gorgeous! i love the leather band on top! again thanks for the recommendations! 

 
As the E10K comes with a separate line-output, so in the future you could plug the O2 into the E10K line-output, using the E10K as just a DAC.