Amp & Dac combo

[goblino]

What is your Amp and Dac combo that can run any headphones at a reasonable price?

 

[Curupira]

"Any headphone" shouldn't be a reasonable parameter as there are 5 or so headphones that are exponentially more inefficient than the rest, so getting a combo that could drive those to impressive levels would be much more expensive than getting a combo that would suffice for the other 99.9%.

And what would be a reasonable price? U$50,00? U$100?

I think the recently reviewed SMSL DL100, for U$170, is offering unprecedented performance and functionality (inbuilt PSU, remote control, xlr balanced outputs; usb, coax, spdif and hdmi arc inputs). It should drive almost all headphones to comfortable listening levels:

SMSL DL100 DAC and Headphone Amp Review

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the SMSL DL100 balanced stereo DAC and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $179. The DL100 is a fair departure from standard SMSL offering in that it uses a stamped steel enclosure instead of machined...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Koeitje]

I have a Fiio K7 because I needed an analog input, and most combo devices don't have that. In terms of power the balanced output should drive pretty much every headphone. If you don't need an analog input I would pick something else, because you can get similar performance for less money.

Measurements are also pretty good:

Measurements of FiiO K7 USBDAC/HeadphoneAmp - L7Audiolab

台式设备 作为国内在HiFi电子产品领域规模几乎是最大的厂商，FiiO的产品线横跨了从数播到小尾巴、台式机乃至于耳塞和线材。前阵子他们联系到我，给我寄来了当时即将上市的 FiiO K7 台式解码耳放，随着飞傲发布了这款产品，测量应该也到了解禁的时候

www.l7audiolab.com

 

[AnalogSteph]

Amplifier wise, I'd say the diminishing returns point is the Topping L30 II. The thing can get a Hifiman HE-6 to 110 dB peak (10 Vrms into 50 ohms!) with basically no distortion yet will also drive the most sensitive and impedance-critical of IEMs with no complaints, all for the princely sum of $149(US). That's hard to beat. You can use their matching E30 II (Lite) with it or any other half-decent DAC... this basically is the part where you can cheap out if you have to.

(I do mean that, btw. Typical Realtek onboard audio? Fine. I've had to run the IDT chip in my Latitude E6330 that drives my Atom Amp+ at 192 kHz to tame its digital filter ripple, but since then this is fine, too. Apple headphone dongle? Fine, if a bit basic. If you do need to drive those HE-6s you'll want to splurge on a DAC that can output closer to 2 Vrms.)

 

[Joe Smith]

My go to if buying new would be the JDS labs Atom stack - separate boxes tho for AMP/DAC.

For a single unit, the new SMSL one that Amir recently reviewed looked pretty damn good...

 

[Bob from Florida]

JDS Labs Element 3 MK2

 

[RoA]

FiiO K11 (non R2R) | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

 

[Robin L]

I've got the Topping E30/L30 combo, am very happy with it. Most of the time I use the two components to play back CDs on my speakers via a Yamaha AVR. However, the previously mentioned SMSL DL 100 would perform the same tasks (and more), take up less space, has the virtue of having a built-in power supply and perform at about the same level of fidelity. Also, at a lower price.