Exactly why I preferred the EX5 despite its higher price https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ex5-review-dac-and-headphone-amplifier.24341/If it had a good headphone output, it'd be perfect!
There is the SMSL HO100If it had a good headphone output, it'd be perfect!
Indeed. Nice price too, no BT but I don't need it anyway. But, no remote?
And no DAC.
Hell yeah... I'm getting old...
(and got used to the convenience of a DAC/preamp/HPA in one box)The "oldschool Hi-Fi" way, separate devices for everything (like a preamp and a power amp, or two monoblocks for the high-enders).
By the wording "If it had a headphone amp it would be perfect" Was understood to me as he wanted an integrated device.
Ok, but sometimes it is really asked for too much. Comparatively nice design, stellar measurements, built in power supply, balanced outputs and this should still include an headphone amp for less than $250?
I agree, there was no mention of price but of course that's unreasonable. That said, I just look at the SMSL website and the options for DAC/AMPS are quite limited for some reason they seem to focus on separates, on that regard there seem to be better range of choices at Topping. Me personally, I don't own a stack but I find that quite limited. I like to have both headphone capability and feed to my powered speaker at desktop. In this config The amp don't have output and takes the XLR outs from the DAC. Is it confirmed that both the rca outs and XLR outs are active at the same time? In all case it seams a little less convenient but I'd have to see a bit more of the routing structure. I personally for desktop have a semi pro audio interface by Audient and it's simple, the outputs for the speakers, the Jack for headphones, both independent level easy to mute one while using the other. I purchased a separate headphone amp a while back, the Drop THX 789, and its just sitting there not being used because of the convenience factor. It's not practical in feeding the powered speakers.
I admit, it's always easy to ask for more and this is not supposed to be a do all device. At least I didn't ask for an integrated Purifi power module to drive some speakers on top... :-D
Does it matter though? Do you still have hearing between 19 and 20 kHz? I sure as heck don't!
It matters! I enjoy bugging my cat with mosquito noises that make it check everything around ("bug!") yet I can't hear. :-D Boli's (my British shorthair's name) reaction helps establish my system has good HF extension. Plus it's funny to see him embark on some imaginary bug hunt, trying to see which speaker the bug is on.
Well, depending on the use, I also prefer combined devices. I saw this dac and the headphone amp on Aliexpress maybe a month ago and was looking for a standalone dac/deadphone amp. This one looked nice, but since it wasn't measured yet, I opted for the Topping Dx3 Pro +. So maybe next time.
Were they by any chance in 230v countries?
Looks like a great choice. To be honest I am not so up to date when it comes to desktop DAC/Amps. I have a Topping E30 DAC in my main system but no headphone needed there. Out of curiosity, is it possible to mute the line outs when using the headphones? Does the volume control the line outs? To me this is key, every old preamps does that, any cheap music creation based interfaces too All control of my speakers are in the back and they are of the type that go to sleep without signal. I don't ever want to have to go back there. It seems like an obvious feature but I don't know where the market stands for this class of products. I may want at some point step into SOTA territory, but my experience with buying an headphone amp kinda pulled me out of it temporarily.
OK that's perhaps too low, but considering the price of my EX5 (314€ via amazon.de) you can have it for not that much more, if you want the convenience of an integrated device. To each their own, of course, some prefer one solution, some the other, there's nothing wrong with either.
