Recommendations for a new AMP/DAC Setup are welcome

[HarmonicTHD]

Thanks for your input!
But I get kind of more and more confused about the relation between price and value.
Right now, it appears to me that prices don't mean anything at all and that some kind of sound quality peak is reached at around 200 Dollars/Euros.
Above this price, you gain features like nice knobs or more power to drive demanding headphones, but no subjectively notable better sound quality.
Am I getting this right?^^

100% yes. And a bit of more or less headphone power, which you might need or not depending on your headphones.

 

[Lefuet]

I settled on the A30 pro D30 pro based on Amir's reviews and what I wanted for features going forward. The combo has lot's of options for outputs and the headphone amp is really powerful. I also wanted the pass through features to drive active speakers.

Okay, it makes sense to me. Thank you!

100% yes. And a bit of more or less headphone power, which you might need or not depending on your headphones.

From what is measured so far by Amir, in terms of audio engineering, Topping (and equivalent brands like SMSL, Sabaj) are top notch.
More recents and expensive gears in those brands are usually more powerful and offer additional features (more inputs, outputs, connectors, ...).
In terms of audibility, in most of the case, difference between them are hard to perceive because they are below our audibility threshold.
The difference may be noticeable if you listen at high level or/and specific recordings with low frequencies.
The less powerful ones won't be able to reach very high volume (and without distortion) or would go into protection sooner.

Thanks, guys!
Arrrrr… coming from a science background, I do like the idea that you measure things and don't fall for bias and subjectivity.
But on the other hand, I would have loved the idea that there is more about it. That's probably only the case if there is distortion.
It was the same back then, when I had to accept that I can't probably tell the difference between medium MP3-Quality with a bit rate of 192 and a that of a wave-file.

Therefore… I am not willing to kill my ears with very loud music, nor do I plan to spend more than maybe 2000 Euro for a headphone. Also, I don't plan to only listen to audiophile reference music just to tell myself that it was a good choice to buy expensive stuff.

Looks like something that supports headphones up to 250 Ohms will do the job. Probably something with nice knobs and switches like the HO200 or the A90.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Okay, it makes sense to me. Thank you!




Thanks, guys!
Arrrrr… coming from a science background, I do like the idea that you measure things and don't fall for bias and subjectivity.
But on the other hand, I would have loved the idea that there is more about it. That's probably only the case if there is distortion.
It was the same back then, when I had to accept that I can't probably tell the difference between medium MP3-Quality with a bit rate of 192 and a that of a wave-file.

Therefore… I am not willing to kill my ears with very loud music, nor do I plan to spend more than maybe 2000 Euro for a headphone. Also, I don't plan to only listen to audiophile reference music just to tell myself that it was a good choice to buy expensive stuff.

Looks like something that supports headphones up to 250 Ohms will do the job. Probably something with nice knobs and switches like the HO200 or the A90.

Yep. Spend your money on headphones (or speakers), they contribute orders of magnitudes more to sound than a plus minus 120dB SINAD amp/dac.

 

[KeithPhantom]

Therefore… I am not willing to kill my ears with very loud music

If you EQ and that EQ requires a negative preamplifier, you will need more amplification to get the same volume; this is the reason why to get an amplifier that surpasses what is 'enough' for the headphones.

Looks like something that supports headphones up to 250 Ohms will do the job. Probably something with nice knobs and switches like the HO200 or the A90.

A high-voltage amplifier will suit you better. And the A90 Discrete has a better volume knob than the A90 due to it being a resistor-ladder (perfect channel matching) versus a potentiometer.

 

[Lefuet]

If you EQ and that EQ requires a negative preamplifier, you will need more amplification to get the same volume; this is the reason why to get an amplifier that surpasses what is 'enough' for the headphones.


A high-voltage amplifier will suit you better. And the A90 Discrete has a better volume knob than the A90 due to it being a resistor-ladder (perfect channel matching) versus a potentiometer.

If only the A90 Discrete wouldn't be sooo expensive
Right now at the German Amazon page it's 600 Euros.

And it is lacking the switches… I somehow have more trust in manual switches. If the switch is set to low gain, it is set, and I don't need to be afraid for my poor ears getting blasted.

I am slightly tending towards the A30 Pro with the D10 B.

 

[Webninja]

DX7 pro+ is just a bit outside your budget. Was just reviewed here with top metrics. I have the DX7s, used daily without any issues and the knob feels good, screen is decent and works for both my monitors and headphones.

The DX7 pro+ just takes everything up a notch or two. I wish I had a reason to upgrade

 

[Lefuet]

I can't help it, the more I look at the recommended Sabaj A20d I tend to prefer it.
I don't really think that more than one font was needed for the screen, but maybe the use of a turntable is something that future-me should solve and this kind of DAC-AMP-combo is the way to go. And it is probably easy to upgrade if I would like to add speakers.

Likewise, I am not sure about the remote control. It looks to me as if it is needed to use the DAC while not being sturdy and lasting.
Is it possible to access the menu over the PC it is connected to? I wasn't able to find out a lot about this, but maybe someone can share some experiences?

And again a big "Thank You" to all those who helped me so far! It is highly appreciated!

 

[wacomme]

I have the DO100 dac and L50 amp. I use the system for both headphones and powered desktop speakers (via pass through). The system works well, though if I were to do it again I’d buy the A30 Pro instead of the L50 for the additional power. Although the added power is rarely needed, I use eq that sucks power, and occasionally I wish I had a bit more juice at my disposal.