Table top DAC and Amp advice needed

The Schiit products are amazingly good and are made or assembled in the USA. I have a small stack of Schiit right here on my desktop, the Valhalla 2 and the Modius as a headphone setup. At work I have their "Hel" headphone amp + DAC. I would not consider the Zen Air thing as it's just odd shape. If it were me I'd avoid the Zen Air and go with something better, like the Schiit or other higher rated offerings and build a solid little system.

Yes, for low budget gear, Schiit is an excellent choice. I have a few around for misc duty.

Hi ghdprentice,

Many thanks for your reply and after a bit of research I have selected a couple of different items.

DAC:

Topping DX3 Pro +

 

Integrated Amp:

Rogersound Labs iA255.1

SMSL AO200MKII

Topping PA5 II

Fosi V3

 

The reviews of the Gjallarhorn on this and other forums seem to suggest it is rather expensive and slightly behind these other in terms of performance. 

I'm leaning towards the RSL iA255.1, the AO200MKII is a little large for a desktop amp as this setup will be purely used for my pc entertainment (gaming, movies and music), the V3 is seriously interesting at that price range too and I'll want a test for the PA5 II

 

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Hi..IMO the Schiit is good but I felt a little overpriced compared to the build & sound quality of the Topping/SMSL & iFi gear..I like iFi's take on tone,extracting natural warmth from the Burr Brown chips Schiit didn't have.You simply can not buy better performance for $ & IMO the Zen's headphone circuit is superior in tone to any competetion at the price point...
As for the amp,SKIP the tiny Class A amps at that price..I have pure Class A solid state amplifiers & at 10 wpc(IF they really get close to 10 wpc) those tiny amps do not have transformer & heat sinking needed for reliability ...
Get yourself a REAL,pure Class A stereo amplifier from Douk Audio.https://www.ebay.com/itm/273008586195?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=VGPj6PsVTjC&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY...It's bigger than those other amps,gets pure Class A HOT & absolutely ROCKS for dirt cheap $.It will drive those 4ohm speakers of yours  WAYYY better than the other choices & I stake my 50 years of love of stereo you will be sitting in your chair & not even realizing you have this big SCHIIT eating(hahahaha great pun) grin at the sound so little $ can give..Spend the rest of your $ budget on an interconnect & speaker cables,put the speakers on some kind of isolation like cheap rubber/cork 4"squares & your styling...Good luck & please update us when your ready,It will help others newly coming into the hobby..

Hi freediver,

ROFL! Many thanks for that recommendation I'll certainly check it out. My only concern is the real estate it'll take up and I am in Singapore so I need to make sure it can accept 230V.  I'm a newbie so even if an AMP is the top of it's class I'll be hard pressed to say how good it is cos I have almost nothing to compare it again but I'll surely provide a tone deaf review with whatever I get lol!

Aliexpress has it at USD $190 however, it is no longer available... is there a newer version?

www.aliexpress.com/item/32675756694.html

Cheers,

 

 

 

 

The issue with the Douk Audio HiFi Pure Class A Power Amplifier Home Stereo Single-ended Amp 15W×2

Is it doesn't have a sub out.

 

Douk Audio has a aliexpress store

https://doukaudio.aliexpress.com/store/813423?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.367bB1yHB1yHsZ

I'm not sure if the link will be visible but from my earlier post, the link could then be used to the manufacture's page.

And I stumbled into their Vaccum tube page, long story short, I am now wondering how these guys will sound with the DX3 pro +

 

Douk Audio Vacuum Tube Amplifier Bluetooth 5.0 Receiver Coaxial / Optical Audio Power Amp Headphone Amp USB Player 35W+35W

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004978995104.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.3.30954ad5lzeZ7c&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21SGD%21SG%24%20244.14%21SG%24%20170.90%21%21%21173.73%21121.61%21%40211b88f116990860691782594e033c%2112000031220990975%21sh%21SG%21176238292%21

 

Douk Audio HiFi Valve Tube Amplifier Bluetooth 5.0 Stereo Receiver COAX/OPT Integrated Amp Audio Processor USB Music Player

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002010547736.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.35.30954ad5sFovLx&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21SGD%21SG%24%20387.76%21SG%24%20271.43%21%21%21275.93%21193.15%21%40211b88f116990860691782594e033c%2112000029450265327%21sh%21SG%21176238292%21

 

Then there is the Dayton HTA200  and HTA100 for considerations too.

 

If the Douk Audio HiFi Pure Class A Power Amplifier Home Stereo Single-ended Amp 15W×2 are some of their offerings 

 

Even this guy looks interesting:

Douk Audio HiFi Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier Bluetooth 5.0 Stereo Receiver USB DAC COAX/OPT Digital Audio Amp VU Meter 100W+100W

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003166879691.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.17.560f7b0bqEkCMo&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21SGD%21SG%24%20176.74%21SG%24%20114.88%21%21%21125.77%2181.75%21%40211b88f116990871212544871e033c%2112000029300028563%21sh%21SG%21176238292%21

 

Sorry if I know so little that my enthusiasm for ChiFi and cheap amps might offend some folks here.

Hi freediver,

I just got a message from Douk that the model you have recommended is discontinued so getting replacement parts etc will be an issue.