TA30 certainly looks to be really good. 2 issues I have is the price and more importantly, the lack of a balanced out. I already invested in a balanced cable for the Arya and ideally, I'd love to use a balanced out.
Agreed. That's why I chose xDuoo TA-20. and why I prefer "separates" - generally for the combo DAC/AMP the AMP isn't as strong, or the DAC isn't as strong, so you'll end up getting an external of one or the other as an upgrade.
Also, the TA-20 responds to a better DAC, as
@bgtip found:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-headphone-amplifier-review.10118/post-639291
IDk, I haven't heard the TA-10(r) or TA-30, the DAC in both might be great.
So, why not get a better DAC than the integrated one's?
A number of my DAC / AMP / DAP's have more output on balanced so that's been a good motivator to got to a balanced cable when upgrading, like a 2.5mm for mobile use - now 4.4mm for both mobile and desktop, and even 4-pin balanced, but I've pretty much standardized on 4.4mm.
The new HD650's custom cable is being built with 4.4mm instead of a 4-pin, and the follow on upgraded OCC Copper + Silver Plated mixed wire cable will also be 4.4mm. I also am planning a 4.4mm female to 4.4mm male "extension cable" so I can enjoy the shorter 4.4mm mobile cables with my desktop.
The TA-10 / TA-20 have the same power output on balanced and single-ended outputs, so there is less of a motivation to run only balanced cables and terminations. One of the reasons I got the TA-20 is for the "balanced" power on both outputs, as my Beyerdynamics are all single-ended cabled - and it was cheaper to get a new AMP than re-wire all of those headphones for balanced.
Eventually, I'd like to do that, re-wire the single-ended cabled headphones for balanced, as all of my other devices perform better on balanced, but for now the TA-20 takes me into tubes again, and solves the power shortage for the 600 ohm singled-ended headphones