In your budget I would visit Headroom's website www.headphone.com they have many amps with DAC's integrated or in combination at various price points. Benchmark and Grace are others...but they are not within your stated budget. But if you can stretch they are great....
Does an integrated DAC/Headphone amp exist?
Im looking for a cost effective way of having decent sound and work. Loudspeakers are out of the question so headphones are the ticket. I was wondering if such a device exists as to not take up too much space on my desk as well as limit the cost of cabling. I would like to keep the cost under $1000 for the headphones, cabling, DAC and amp. I want somthing that is musical and easy to listen to for 8-9 hours a day and I prefer over the ear style 'phones and open air designs as to still be able to communicate with coworkers without removing the headphones each time to talk. I would be using my PC as the source. Can anyone recommend a good starting point for each peice of this puzzle? Thanks
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I have a PC only system now with a Benchmark DAC1 and the headphone amp inside is very nice. Not as nice as my Melos SHA-1 headphone amp which is smoother, but I had to do some serious A/B to decide if the Melos was worth keeping (it was.) I'm using a pair of Sennheiser 650s and they are amazing. However...I would wait for the new Benchmark DAC1 w/ USB(coming out next week, I think) You probably know this but if you use a non USB dac you'll need a proper sound card. Another (cheaper) way to go would be to buy a cheaper USB dac like a Scott Nixon tube dac (on audiogon now for $275) and then a seperate headphone amp like a Grado RA1 (on audiogon now for 250 used) - I've never heard any of this stuff, though |
Try HeadRoom. Here's the link that you might find useful Micro Line. I am running a slightly different set-up on one of their earlier amps, and I can run everything by battery for portable use, with the Sony CD Walkman D-NE920 [has optical toslink output]. I would also recommend going with the Senn. 650's rather than the 600's. Contact me if you need any advise, I've been trying different cables and batteries....working with this system for about 9 months, so I can give you some tips! |
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