What music is best for life in a tiny box?

"So, as a start, I think I am going to go with the new V-DAC II and the Creek OBH-11. I will continue to use my AKG 240s. So $550 is a modest start, and I will see where to go from there.

What are your thoughts?"

Sounds Fine.

I've heard some AKG phones require a lot of power to sound best (not sure if those specifically).

Assuming this is the case, the only thing I might consider otherwise in your case is that this may a good time to consider a tube based headphone amp, if you can find one that meets your overall needs.

Why? A tube amp etnds to soft clip, which might enable you to drive inefficient phones more effectively and with less fatigue from a small box than SS perhaps.

Tube amps and good headphones can be a match made in heaven and can be a great way to test the waters of tube amplification if interested, IMHO.

Just be sure to keep a few spare tubes around in case.

With a SS amp, you probably have less to worry about in regards to maintenance though, so in your case, that may well be the best way to go.

Benchmark DAC 1, Genelec 8020a and just use your laptop. For headphones I like the Sennheiser HD 25 Pro - nice clean extremely detailed but highly dynamic sound and the best thing is they block out 17 dB of outside noise (great in a noisy environment) - these headphones have been a pro favorite for decades.

@Swamp Thanks for the input. I found and read the review in SP. Looks interesting. I really like that is can be used to record from vinyl. It has made my short list with the V-DAC II and the Centrance DACPort(though I am very dubious about its ability to drive headphones. I may go with the LX).

@Mapman the original model of 240s I had were 600ohm. Definitely were hard to drive. My kids broke those. The replacement I bought are 55 Ohm, much easier to drive, but they sound no where as nice as the older ones :(. I have been interested in tubes for sometime now, so I agree, I might get into it! I know Sam Space in SP review a Chinese made tube headphone amp. I just need to find that old review.

@Shadorne I know I said $2k budget originally, but I don't think that is responsible right now. So, I think my budget is really about $500-700. So that kinda rules out Benchmark's stuff. Thanks for the heads up with Sennheiser. Those have made my short list too!