[Zero000]

I've been looking around the fourms trying to find a amp for my K701, pretty new to this tube business and so far people have said that the Little Dot I+, Shanling PH-100, the Zero/DAC amp, and other Little dots. The reason why I haven't randomly picked one out is because I want a amp that has some sort of optical in/out and someway of hooking up my Macbook, gaming consoles, and other sources like my Cowon D2. And also I have no idea what cables to get to hook up my stuff. Any pointers?

 

[Akabeth]

If you're gonna feed a digital signal into a headphone amp (optical/coaxial) make damn sure you have a dac on the unit

I've actually never heard of a tube amp with a dac until a short search. Check this out:
glow audio integrated tube amplifier with USB and DAC

Apparently this has a 16bit USB decoder; good for a redbook I presume :\

 

[FallenAngel]

Budget?

Like Akebeth said, amps don't have digital inputs, DACs do.

Generally I recommend separate units.

For K701 a warm amp is best as they are overly cold/analytical for most tastes. Likely the reason people recommend tubes.

 

[Zero000]

Budget? let say around 500, anything cheaper would be nice too.
I don't really want to buy a preamp and a amp, just adds to expensives. Is there any quailty difference if I hook up a Xbox/PS3 to the optical out rather then using the RCA. And also could I just use my Boa as a preamp and avoid the terrible Macbook's audio line out port?

 

[mow_the_hawk]

Well to use the optical out you would have to buy a dac and an amp, or a combo unit. Otherwise you would have to use the analog out to the amp.

 

[kendal3334]

701 is pretty musical, so i think a neutral amp is better
im also finding an amp for my 701, i will try Graham Slee Solo in few month, hope they gonna be good partner