Best DAC + IEM Amp (for UE RR Custom IEMs)

[EJLive]

Recently bought a pair of custom IEMs. I went for the Ultimate Ears RR (Reference Remastered). I use them as an engineer/musician in Live situations… but my question is about home use.

Which DAC/Amp combo gives me the low-noise, great sound combo that I need for studio use? I’ve tried some options that all sound lovely, but the noise floor is spoiling all the fun. My Sound Devices USBPre2 is clearly not designed to drive IEMs, and the ifi units I’ve tried are all too noisy for my taste, even on the “IEM” settings.

Currently looking at RME (ADI-2 DAC fs).

Any other units that I should consider?

 

[staticV3]

Any other units that I should consider?

A Topping L30II and a DAC of your choosing.

 

[staticV3]

Thanks to its Low gain, the L30II has an extremely low noise floor of ~0.27μVrms(Z) (20-20k BW).

In comparison, the ADI-2 DAC FS via IEM out has about 0.69μVrms of noise.

That translates to about 75% more hiss out of the ADI-2.

That being said, the ADI-2 is a fantastic piece of kit and will more than likely still be completely silent via your IEMs.

If you can afford it, I highly doubt you'd regret the purchase.

Also, 0.69μV for the RME includes both the DAC and Amp whereas 0.27μV for the L30II is just the Amp, so in practice the difference will be smaller since you still have to add a DAC, which will add some of its own noise as well.

Still, if all you need is a low noise floor (RME is chock-full of pro-level features), that can be had for way less than the RME.

 

[EJLive]

A Topping L30II and a DAC of your choosing.

That brings me to the DAC question… ;-)

 

[staticV3]

That brings me to the DAC question… ;-)

Thanks to the L30II's negative gain, it hardly matters TBH.

You could use what you have at home, or get something basic like the SMSL SU-1, PS200, Topping E30II, E30II Lite, JDS Atom, Schiit Modi, ...

 

[EJLive]

Thanks to its Low gain, the L30II has an extremely low noise floor of ~0.27μVrms(Z) (20-20k BW).

In comparison, the ADI-2 DAC FS via IEM out has about 0.69μVrms of noise.

That translates to about 75% more hiss out of the ADI-2.

That being said, the ADI-2 is a fantastic piece of kit and will more than likely still be completely silent via your IEMs.

If you can afford it, I highly doubt you'd regret the purchase.

Also, 6.9μV for the RME includes both the DAC and Amp whereas 2.7μV for the L30II is just the Amp, so in practice the difference will be smaller since you still have to add a DAC, which will add some of its own noise as well.

Still, if all you need is a low noise floor (RME is chock-full of pro-level features), that can be had for way less than the RME.

It really is the “completely silent” bit that I’m after. The features of the RME would make it ideal… if indeed it is quiet. Not sure how to compare, but the ifi iDSD Signature that I’ve tested is audibly noisy to my ears.

 

[staticV3]

Not sure how to compare, but the ifi iDSD Signature that I’ve tested is audibly noisy to my ears.

I'm not surprised.

For just music consumption, I'd recommend people buy the $10 Apple headphone adapter and be done with it.

It, too, has a very low noise floor making it ideal for sensitive IEMs.

What might disqualify it for studio work is the lack of ASIO support and 48kHz being the highest supported sample rate.

 

[regan]

Topping L30II

Is L30 significantly worse than L30II?

 

[EJLive]

I went for the L30ii and E30ii. Will let you know how I get on with them.