DAC + Headphone AMP combo

Award Winning Stereo Systems
B

bhaskie

New Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
223
Points
0
Location
Delhi
Hi,

I am looking for suggestions on a DAC + Headphone Amplifier that houses a discrete Class A headphone amplifier as well as a DAC with an asynchronous USB link.

I need the head amp to drive Sennheiser HD600's.
The DAC will be connected to a macbookpro's USB and RCA outs to a Marantz 7003 integrated amplifier (to stereo Bookshelves)

Budget is ~500 USD. I want it to surpass the Xonar Essence STX in quality.
I can stretch more if required, maybe till ~800 USD

Any comments on which of these match just right with the rest of my gear?

DAC+HeadAmp:
- NuForce Icon HDP
- Music Hall DAC25.3
- CEntrance DACmini CX

DAC:
- Musical Fidelity M1 DAC
- Emotiva XDA1
- Arcam Solo rDAC
- Cambridge Audio DacMagic

HeadAmp:
- Musical Fidelity V-DAC
- CEntrance DACport

Anything else that I should research?

The primary usage would be for listening to western classical, jazz and vocals. I prefer the sound-stage of the sennheiser HD600 and want the headamp to be able to drive the HD600 easily.

Thanks,
Bhaskie
 
Last edited:
HD600 is fairly decent impedence HP. Most of the DACs themselves would be able to drive them but with a dedicated amplifier things would be better.

VDAC as far as I know is not asynchronous. Might want to read about HRT Streamer II+. Also in moderate budget you can probably have a look at Yulong d100 + Matrix Mstage.

In shoe string budget UDAC-2 would be better.
 
Budget is ~500 USD. I want it to replace/surpass the Xonar Essence STX in quality. I can stretch more if required, maybe till ~700 USD.
 
NuForce HDP may be a good option for those looking for a DAC with an onboard headphone amp.
Having the DAC and headphone amp in one box is more convenient.

BTW do your macbookpro have an optical/co-axial out?
 
ravi_d said:
NuForce HDP may be a good option for those looking for a DAC with an onboard headphone amp.
Having the DAC and headphone amp in one box is more convenient.

BTW do your macbookpro have an optical/co-axial out?
Click to expand...

Precisely why I am looking for the headamp in the same box. Convenience. However I am willing to go the other way if I see significant improvement in that.

Yes, the macbook pro has optical out, so I can use the optical in of the DAC to connect to. However, I would like to have USB as well in the DAC since I have other laptops as well. Any specific dacs that have optical in only and raelly good? I can check them out.

Thanks!
Bhaskie
 
After having used the nuforce for some time, I feel their products are little hyped. Under 700USD, you can easily accomodate the combination of Yulong D100 and Matrix M-Stage.

Check few reviews here to believe how good they can be together:
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&so...hbP1EhKBA&sig2=Ta9KgObwFDMLoni3mvhzIQ&cad=rja

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&so...JTqXfcLvQ&sig2=8KOlxo9ealps61OI21WQuw&cad=rja


There is little comparison between D100 anf HDP, if you would like to see:
NuForce HDP vs Yulong D100

HDP might be all in one wonder at a little less price but the separate components together will any day pawn the HDP.

My vote: D100 + M-Stage. Even if you upgrade to Senny 800 later, you wont feel the need to upgrade your other components.
 
vasishta.sushant said:
After having used the nuforce for some time, I feel their products are little hyped. Under 700USD, you can easily accomodate the combination of Yulong D100 and Matrix M-Stage.

There is little comparison between D100 anf HDP, if you would like to see:
NuForce HDP vs Yulong D100

HDP might be all in one wonder at a little less price but the separate components together will any day pawn the HDP.

My vote: D100 + M-Stage. Even if you upgrade to Senny 800 later, you wont feel the need to upgrade your other components.
Click to expand...

I have read some nuforce reviews as well, but never used them. It seems the D100 is pretty good with a good power supply. However I would have preferred the D100 without the headamp section if it is not that good. I don't want to spend the extra money on it if I am going to get another headamp.

I am not sure how the D100 will perform with classical and jazz. I am reading some reviews on it now.

I am very happy with the HD600, I just need something to drive it well.
 
USB only is not a good idea. Yulong D100 seems interesting. Any idea if these are available in India? I can use just the DAC for now and get a separate headamp for the HD600. That will require another extensive research. phew!

BTW have you used the nuforce HDP or just the udac?
 
bhaskie said:
USB only is not a good idea. Yulong D100 seems interesting. Any idea if these are available in India? I can use just the DAC for now and get a separate headamp for the HD600. That will require another extensive research. phew!

BTW have you used the nuforce HDP or just the udac?
Click to expand...

Hi bhaskie, Yulong D100 is known for it's bright character among many headphiles so if ur headphone is on the warmer side so then only think of buying it else don't buy it.
 
bhaskie said:
Precisely why I am looking for the headamp in the same box. Convenience. However I am willing to go the other way if I see significant improvement in that.

Yes, the macbook pro has optical out, so I can use the optical in of the DAC to connect to. However, I would like to have USB as well in the DAC since I have other laptops as well. Any specific dacs that have optical in only and raelly good? I can check them out.

Thanks!
Bhaskie
Click to expand...

I have a Little Dot MK3 tube headphone amplifier connected to my DacMagic to listen to my Grado SR80i headphones. The experience is good but its very inconvenient to carry around.

For DacMagic the optical works better than the the USB. The Arcam rdac is known to work better with USB as it uses asynchronous USB.
Technically the asynchronous USB is superior but what I read is there are DAC's which don't have asynchronous USB implementation and work better than other asynchronous USB DAC's.
Practically it all depends on how that particular interface is implemented for a DAC.
If you have both options USB and spdif you can try both and check with is working better for you.
bhaskie said:
USB only is not a good idea. Yulong D100 seems interesting. Any idea if these are available in India? I can use just the DAC for now and get a separate headamp for the HD600. That will require another extensive research. phew!

BTW have you used the nuforce HDP or just the udac?
Click to expand...

Yulong D100 seems to be a good option but you have to order it from China.
 
Yulong D100 is out for now. I think it is too bright for my taste. Moreover it doesn't have a good headamp.

Ravi, I am thinking something like a CEntrance DACport at $400 for the headamp. It is highly portable. I will probably keep the DAC separate.

I have updated the original thread post with some more entries. Let me know if you have used any of these.

THanks,
bhaskie
 
Bluu said:
A trustworthy source recommended the Apogee Duet2 to me. You may wanna take a look.
Click to expand...
Looks good enough to be almost worth buying a Mac for!

However, I think it is Mac only gear. Bhaskie mentions having "other laptops." Just a warning in case they are not all Macs.
 
Thad E Ginathom said:
Looks good enough to be almost worth buying a Mac for!

However, I think it is Mac only gear. Bhaskie mentions having "other laptops." Just a warning in case they are not all Macs.
Click to expand...

Thad, on their website, they have a specs page with a Mac logo and another logo titled Universal. Not sure whether that means it will work with Windows. Need to read up.

EDIT: Looks like it is a Mac-only product. System requirement list a Mac.
 
Last edited:
Rega Turntables & Amplifiers
Order your Rega Turntables & Amplifiers from HiFiMART.com - India's reputed online dealer.

Similar threads

S
Internal DAC quality in Sony Tv 49" 4K (Model X70F) 2018
Replies
0
Views
304
Shammi Dang
S
Dbsilverton
Fosi K5 Pro Gaming DAC and Headphone Amplifier
Replies
5
Views
6K
Marcelo Thompson
M
Subbu68
iFi or FiiO
2
Replies
23
Views
5K
MasTerasTrix
MasTerasTrix
R
NAD M33 Amplifier Review
Replies
10
Views
6K
Prateek-Epitome
P
Kannan
FiiO BTA30 Pro - Versatile and affordable multi-functional DAC
2
Replies
25
Views
11K
Prateek-Epitome
P
Back
Top