Recommendation Request: Headphone Amp/DAC combo

If I were in the market,with your budget & cans,I would get a Woo Audio WA7 Gen3 "Firefly", a pair of nice NOS tubes & an upgraded power cord & never look back...
If you absolutely want to blow the budget then either an iFi Audio "Pro iDSD" or SPL Audio "Phonitor XE"with DAC module would get my $...

I had been looking for an SPL Phonitor SE.

Have settled instead on a Lehmann Audio Linear II. Very well regarded.

Personally at that level I’d be looking at a separate amp and DAC instead of a combo unit. 

@mlapenta , I recently moved from a Cayin HA-3A to the Black Ice Audio Aries DAC/Amp/Pre, and am really happy with the performance it offers with a huge range of tuning options (channel balance, gain adjustment, independent left and right high frequency control, bass adjustments) and it responds very well to 6SN7 tube swapping. 

I could see this unit getting most off of the gear swapping merry-go-round in your price range. It should offer enough adjustment to dial in any headphone to your liking.

Here’s an idea of what you could do with separates within your budget. You could even add a DDC to take advantage of the superior i2S connection on the DAC and get a significant performance boost — that’s what I did but you could always add the DDC later. I highly doubt a similarly-priced combo unit could match this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QMDM631/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.denafrips.com/product-page/denafrips-pontus-15th-r2r-dac

https://www.denafrips.com/product-page/denafrips-iris-12th

The Sony TA-ZH1ES is a little long in the tooth now, but you might be able to find a pre-owned one for about half of your budget. Lots of power, great sound, and a number of connection options. 

• Schitt Mjolnir v3 preamp ($1200) Class A with headphone amp. I use it as a preamp since my phones are unusual.
• Schitt Yggi+ LIM ($2200) | Schitt Yggi+ MIB ($2800) | Schitt Gungnir 2 ($1600)

The DACs I recommend depend on what your headphones sound like. If they are warm, then the MIB. If they are neutral or bright then the LIM or Gungnir 2. The Gungnir 2 is cheaper and uses the same DAC chips as the LIM.

I have the Mjolnir and use it with the Schitt Aegir v1 ($450 used) amp and the RAAL CA-1a and RAAL SR1a phones. Both phones are bright. The Mjolnir | Aegir | Yggi+ LIM are glorious and only bettered by my $7k RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp + Schitt Yggi+ OG ($2800). A lot more money for marginal improvement.

I would separate the investment. Get a good headphone amp first. All the integrated units I have tried so far (Teac NT-505, Tascam DA-3000, etc) sound poor on headphones, compared to my Audiotailor Jade OTL tube headphone amp. Get something similar, and then, decide about the DAC.

@o_holter this is nothing more than the same old tired audiophile dogma that should have died out years ago!
 Separates stopped being "better" decades ago!
 An all in 1 unit allows maximum synergy between components + $ that would go for a good I/C can also be factored into the budget for an all in 1...
 Another thing,an OTL amp is NOT going to drive his HE1000SE cans worth a damn!

@freediver While combo units have some advantages and can certainly sound very good, the point your missing is that DACs and amps are both critical and very personal choices. What are the odds that both the DAC and the amp in a combo unit are optimal for the OP’s particular tastes? Near zero. If possible better to pick both the amp and DAC that offer the specific sound characteristics they’re looking for. The Woo you recommended has a Sabre DAC — what if the OP prefers the sound of an R2R NOS DAC? At the OP’s budget good separates are well within reach and offer customization and future flexibility combo units just can’t. If the OP was limited to $1000 then yeah, a combo unit would probably be his best bet, but not at $3k.

Thanks all for valued input.  I agree with soix in that, maybe it's me but i've never been that impressed with any Sabre DAC.   I currently have a Chord Qutest.  And a R2R Hifiman.  

From my experience I would strongly consider Schiit gear as they are usually honkin' good deals for the money.  Yes, there is better to be had but at significantly higher pricing.  You can get a strong taste of the best with Schiit.  Hopefully that came out right.