Best value for money dac/amp for Focal Utopia 2022? ($1000-$1300)

[dazkyl]

I know these are easy to drive headphones due to their high 104dB sensitivity, however I need the value for buck king to power these. I need a dac and amp or 2 in 1 combo.

Budget is more or less $1000-$1300.

I just want to make sure that I get the most out of the headphones.

These are some options that are available to me.

Fiio K9 Pro ESS

MOJO 2 DAC + PORTABLE HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER

RME ADI-2 DAC FS

SPL Phonitor One d

SMSL M400+SMSL SP400

or maybe anything else from SMSL or Topping or Schiit?



Features like bluetooth, built in dsp are not important to me because I EQ straight from software. A remote would be nice though. However not necessary. I just want clean power to hear all the details and quality these headphones can offer.

 

[staticV3]

A Topping DX1 would give you all the clean power and details that the Utopia is capable of.
You can find measurements here: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/topping-dx1/

 

[dazkyl]

A Topping DX1 would give you all the clean power and details that the Utopia is capable of.
You can find measurements here: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/topping-dx1/

I currently have the Fiio k5. Am I settled with it?

 

[staticV3]

I currently have the Fiio k5. Am I settled with it?

As long as you hear neither hiss nor clipping out of the K5, yes.

 

[Brian Hall]

Just replaced a Schiit Modi+ with an Eversolo Dac Z8. The Modi+ was ok, but I wanted a little better and also a headphone amp. The price (at Amazon) for the Z8 was $699.

The headphone amp drives my Sennheiser HD 650s easily and sounds great.

 

[Dunring]

I'm using the SMSL DL200 which has plenty of power, sound amazing, plus a remote for under 200 dollars. I wouldn't spend more, just isn't needed for those.