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$100-ish budget dac amp for sundara?

Samudra1825

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Is there such thing as decent $100 dac amp or should i just save up? I don't see myself upgrading headphone in the near future (most likely will only side grade) so sundara is all I want to drive. Btw I live in Indonesia, all the schiit/topping/jds stack cost like $350-$400 (same as my sundara), sadly (I mean even if they're $100 for each component it's still out of my budget CURRENTLY). Something like fiio or chinese brand is properly priced here, so i'd like the recommendation towards there IF possible. My budget can actually be $200 if there's something appropriately drive sundara AND it's quite available in SEA, but if not, I'd like to ask what's the best thing $100 can get me even if it's not "proper" and save up in the future. I imagine sundara won't be happy if only fed with laptop power but is I don't know exactly how much power I need since I don't know how loud I listen. And btw, is there a cheapskate way to measure *roughly* how loud I listen to? Also I'm new here so I apologize for wrong place to ask/not having tags/etc
 
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Samudra1825

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Btw if you're wondering why get sundara anyway, it's supposed to be a birthday present!
 

Astojab

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I can recommend the Hidizs S9 Pro. It drives my Sundara to pretty loud levels on the unbalanced output. If you need more you could get a balanced cable for the Sundara (which are usually too expensive) and blow your eardrums out.

I also own a Topping A50s with a E50 Dac and honestly I don't hear much of a difference if its roughly the same volume.
 
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Samudra1825

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I can recommend the Hidizs S9 Pro. It drives my Sundara to pretty loud levels on the unbalanced output. If you need more you could get a balanced cable for the Sundara (which are usually too expensive) and blow your eardrums out.

I also own a Topping A50s with a E50 Dac and honestly I don't hear much of a difference if its roughly the same volume.
Got it, noted thank you!
And yeah i sometimes wonder why very big power is required for planar headphone in general while having 90-ish db/mw, like i get it when it's he-6 but other than that, i don't know why audiophile slenders people who use their sundara with dongle. This solidify my decision to just go for dongle first and then proper dac/amp to satisy my curiosity (or just borrow it from someone hopefully). Again, thank you
 

Astojab

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Got it, noted thank you!
And yeah i sometimes wonder why very big power is required for planar headphone in general while having 90-ish db/mw, like i get it when it's he-6 but other than that, i don't know why audiophile slenders people who use their sundara with dongle. This solidify my decision to just go for dongle first and then proper dac/amp to satisy my curiosity (or just borrow it from someone hopefully). Again, thank you
That is true. I am using the oratory Preset with a minu 7db on the Preamp and I am still only at 65% on the balanced output. I've also seen that the Cables on Aliexpress are actually a lot cheaper. If you want to use EQ it might be worth it to spend the 15 bucks.
 
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