Looking for Headphone DAC/Amp

[hawkeye10]

Hello All,
New to this forum, aliexpress is having sale was hoping to buy a heaphone dac/amp to be used with my laptop for fostex th-x00(ebony)
between from $100-$150 . Looking for suggestions

Thanks

 

[maxxevv]

Topping NX4 DSD , Fiio Q1 MkII, SMSL IQ.
The latter two are great if you want to use balanced output.

If you prefer it without an attached battery, Sabaj Da3.

 

[mejobloggs]

What about Fiio E10k ?

 

[Sythrix]

Hello All,
New to this forum, aliexpress is having sale was hoping to buy a heaphone dac/amp to be used with my laptop for fostex th-x00(ebony)
between from $100-$150 . Looking for suggestions

Thanks

How loud do you listen? The sensitivity on those might necessitate a little more power than a normal situation would dictate. Those lower power portable solutions might start clipping on you if you tend to turn it up.

Topping NX4 DSD

This one would be my vote for the portable solutions, at ~150mW of power to play with, give or take.

What about Fiio E10k ?

This one should also have enough power for a comfortable range and headroom, but I think the NX4 measured a little better and is overall the more versatile option.

Otherwise, check out Amir's Master List if you want an idea of other options.

 

[hawkeye10]

How loud do you listen? The sensitivity on those might necessitate a little more power than a normal situation would dictate. Those lower power portable solutions might start clipping on you if you tend to turn it up.



This one would be my vote for the portable solutions, at ~150mW of power to play with, give or take.



This one should also have enough power for a comfortable range and headroom, but I think the NX4 measured a little better and is overall the more versatile option.

Otherwise, check out Amir's Master List if you want an idea of other options.

Right now I listen at max volume at laptop , however I prefer to listen at 60% of laptop volume .
Also if possible(not important) I want this to pair this with Hiby R3(it struggles to drive this , even at high gain ).
I was also looking at Topping NX4 DSD but was not sure if it can drive at 60%of volume

 

[Sythrix]

Right now I listen at max volume at laptop , however I prefer to listen at 60% of laptop volume .
Also if possible(not important) I want this to pair this with Hiby R3(it struggles to drive this , even at high gain ).
I was also looking at Topping NX4 DSD but was not sure if it can drive at 60%of volume

Your Hiby R3 player is balanced. If you could find a 2-pin Fostex cable with a 2.5mm TRRS connection, you could take advantage of that (twice the available power). However, I haven't had much luck finding a cable meant for the TH-X00, as I think the connection may be proprietary. Would need someone else to jump in and clarify if they could about this connection type. If any 2-pin would work, then they are available on Amazon for fairly cheap, but you need to make sure it fits first.

Also, your requirement of "60% volume" doesn't really mean much in the audio world except to that one device it came from. Headphone power requirements rise exponentially, for instance: requiring twice as much power for just a few extra dB of volume.

I can tell you the NX4 could power your headphones up to roughly ~116 - 117 dB before it started clipping based on Amir's measurements and your headphone's rated sensitivity/ohms (subject to some error). Now that's pretty damn loud and damaging for extended periods, so you should be able to find a nice middle ground. I say buy it off Amazon or somewhere with easy returns, try it for a few weeks and see if it meets your needs.

 

[hawkeye10]

Your Hiby R3 player is balanced. If you could find a 2-pin Fostex cable with a 2.5mm TRRS connection, you could take advantage of that (twice the available power). However, I haven't had much luck finding a cable meant for the TH-X00, as I think the connection may be proprietary. Would need someone else to jump in and clarify if they could about this connection type. If any 2-pin would work, then they are available on Amazon for fairly cheap, but you need to make sure it fits first.

Also, your requirement of "60% volume" doesn't really mean much in the audio world except to that one device it came from. Headphone power requirements rise exponentially, for instance: requiring twice as much power for just a few extra dB of volume.

I can tell you the NX4 could power your headphones up to roughly ~116 - 117 dB before it started clipping based on Amir's measurements and your headphone's rated sensitivity/ohms (subject to some error). Now that's pretty damn loud and damaging for extended periods, so you should be able to find a nice middle ground. I say buy it off Amazon or somewhere with easy returns, try it for a few weeks and see if it meets your needs.

Thanks for your detailed reply. After learning few basics of specs(sensitivity, impedance etc), I think Topping NX4 DSD suit my need and placed order on Aliexpress.