PieWithoutCrust
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2025
- Messages
- 1
- Likes
- 0
I hope this thread is welcome here. Otherwise, please tell me where it should be.
I'm trying to improve my WFH setup. Right now, I have an UD-501 connected to my private/gaming desktop which I use to listen to music to. Connected to this DAC is a pair of DT990 Pros @ 250Ohm.
This DAC will be repurposed somewhere else in the house. What I would like to achieve, is a combination of Streamer, DAC, Headphone amp and Power amp to be able to listen to music without having to turn on my PC - but to also have the ability to listen to music via my PC when I do want to. The speakers connected to it are nothing special - Q Acoustics 2010i or something, those will be upgraded at a later point. Still, pretty good speakers for the price.
As far as I see it now, it could be divided into two devices: a streaming DAC and an amplifier (power+headphones). Streaming is mostly from music on my NAS, with the odd Spotify session in between. My collection's mostly lossless FLAC and DSD, so native support for the latter is a must. I'll be using Windows 11 with Foobar2000 and Linux Fedora using MPD - the latter isn't an issue, but working drivers for Windows would be nice.
The reason that I'm asking here, is that I'm overwhelmed with all of the S.M.S.L. options. They seem to have quite the lineup, but also suffer from the Clone Wars with many externally different but internally equal devices. I'm also not looking for the very cheapest options, but it should also be kept a bit "reasonable". It doesn't have to be S.M.S.L. stuff, other brands are also fine. There's just so much to choose from, that one gets lost in the woods of choice... I was looking at the RAW-HA1 for a bit, but then I found out that the headphone amp is pretty poor, so that doesn't seem to be an option anymore.
Regarding shipping and stuff, I'm located in Europe, so some things may be more difficult to acquire than others. What would you guys' suggestions be? Any tips, things that I have forgotten? Thank you very much in advance!
I'm trying to improve my WFH setup. Right now, I have an UD-501 connected to my private/gaming desktop which I use to listen to music to. Connected to this DAC is a pair of DT990 Pros @ 250Ohm.
This DAC will be repurposed somewhere else in the house. What I would like to achieve, is a combination of Streamer, DAC, Headphone amp and Power amp to be able to listen to music without having to turn on my PC - but to also have the ability to listen to music via my PC when I do want to. The speakers connected to it are nothing special - Q Acoustics 2010i or something, those will be upgraded at a later point. Still, pretty good speakers for the price.
As far as I see it now, it could be divided into two devices: a streaming DAC and an amplifier (power+headphones). Streaming is mostly from music on my NAS, with the odd Spotify session in between. My collection's mostly lossless FLAC and DSD, so native support for the latter is a must. I'll be using Windows 11 with Foobar2000 and Linux Fedora using MPD - the latter isn't an issue, but working drivers for Windows would be nice.
The reason that I'm asking here, is that I'm overwhelmed with all of the S.M.S.L. options. They seem to have quite the lineup, but also suffer from the Clone Wars with many externally different but internally equal devices. I'm also not looking for the very cheapest options, but it should also be kept a bit "reasonable". It doesn't have to be S.M.S.L. stuff, other brands are also fine. There's just so much to choose from, that one gets lost in the woods of choice... I was looking at the RAW-HA1 for a bit, but then I found out that the headphone amp is pretty poor, so that doesn't seem to be an option anymore.
Regarding shipping and stuff, I'm located in Europe, so some things may be more difficult to acquire than others. What would you guys' suggestions be? Any tips, things that I have forgotten? Thank you very much in advance!
