Need help choosing DAC+Amp for Hifiman Sundara

[Peib]

Hello

I had the Jds Labs atom combo but unfortunately the Amp is not working anymore and I give the DAC to a friend.

Now I want to buy a new dac amp and I cant decide between iFi Zen Can, fiio k11 and topping l30ii+e30 lite.

Fiio k11 is beautiful and I can buy some balanced wires for sundaras, but topping combo is more powerful.


Which one of these options woul you choose?

 

[Curupira]

A friend offers me a fiio k5 pro bought in 2020 (i guess its the AKM version) for 50 euros but it is not new

The FiiO, if it's in working order, would be the best option for you: it's clean and powerful enough for 99% of headphones and 100% of iems, and it also has digital volume control, pre in, pre out and optical/coax aside from USB.

If not it, then the k11 is a good buy as well, you don't need that much power for most headphones, and less wallwarts sure is nice. If you need a remote control though, nothing will beat the e30 combo.

 

[Peib]

The FiiO, if it's in working order, would be the best option for you: it's clean and powerful enough for 99% of headphones and 100% of iems, and it also has digital volume control, pre in, pre out and optical/coax aside from USB.

If not it, then the k11 is a good buy as well, you don't need that much power for most headphones, and less wallwarts sure is nice. If you need a remote control though, nothing will beat the e30 combo.

OK the k5 pro is in very bad conditions I just saw :-(
I delete that option

 

[Curupira]

OK the fiio is in very bad conditions I saw :-(
I delete that option

You can get the k5 pro at a great discount on sites like Aliexpress, and even the K7 pro, which is a balanced version of it with THX design and rgb lightning

 

[Peib]

Now I am reading in Reddit that Fiio k11 has high output impedance which means it will be harder to drive low impedance headphones like sundara. Where can i learn how to choose one amplifier over other one? I only look at mW/32ohms

 

[Curupira]

Now I am reading in Reddit that Fiio k11 has high output impedance which means it will be harder to drive low impedance headphones like sundara.

Sadly l7labs stopped doing measurements recently and they were the main database for these releases. Following and trusting the specs, it has 1.2ohm over Single Ended and 2.4 ohm over balanced. While not low, it's not astronomically high either, and it will only impact the FR curve of VERY low impedance (<16 ohm) headphones. The Sundara is 40 ohms, which is not that low:

Spoiler

So the K11, at manufacturer spec, will not have any problems driving it from either balanced or single ended. From balanced at max volume, it will drive the Sundara to aprox. 122db, which is instant hearing damage. For single ended, it will drive it to 119dB, which is also insanely high, so I wouldn't worry.

To learn about how to select good amps, read the thread below and them compare the results of independent measurements (like those of ASR or www.l7audiolab.com) or, as at last resort, compare them with the manufacturer specs

Audibility thresholds of amp and DAC measurements

Introduction A recurring theme on ASR is whether or not the various measured qualities of the devices are audible. In this post, I'll present some clear and visual thresholds for when those imperfections can be considered a potentially audible concern. I will not explain the basics of amp/DAC...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Verig]

K11 looks nice and will work fine.

 

[Tonton_ZEeD]

Hello

I had the Jds Labs atom combo but unfortunately the Amp is not working anymore and I give the DAC to a friend.

Now I want to buy a new dac amp and I cant decide between iFi Zen Can, fiio k11 and topping l30ii+e30 lite.

Fiio k11 is beautiful and I can buy some balanced wires for sundaras, but topping combo is more powerful.


Which one of these options woul you choose?

The Zen CAN is great with the sundara, this was my first setup with aTopping D10S dac, don,'t forget the magic analog bass boost, work great with the sundara witch i thought a bit lean.