http://www.amazon.co.uk/Topping-Subwoofer-Amplifier-Digital-Headphone/dp/B00J9BG5HS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1419794080&sr=8-5&keywords=headphone+amplifier+and+dac
I'm not an audio expert but I'm looking to upgrade to a DAC and Amp with a budget a under £100. I found this and would like to know your thoughts on it.
Feel free to suggest others but I'm in the UK and the shipping from America is quite expensive.
I haven't heard of that company before, so I'm unsure of the quality.
A safe bet would be a product from a well known audio company such as Schiit. They have the Fulla amp/DAC combo for about $80 US. Another decent option is the FiiO E10k.
Alright then.
Looked at FiiO and saw both the E09K and the E17 for £100 each.
Do you know anything about these which I should know as I only have the budget for one of them.
They're fine. Topping is more or less a higher quality Lepai, but they are meant to be used as a speaker amp more so than a headphone amp (not that they can't do the job). If you only want something for use with headphones, for the money you can find better. The Fiios for example.
The e09k is a desktop amp only (no dac). The e17, and it's little brother the e07k, is an amp/dac that can be used as a portable amp. Both can be docked with the e09k, which allows it to use their dac for desktop use. Of course, the e09k/e17k combo will run you twice your budget (and a similar price to the better performing Schiit modi/magni and O2/ODAC combos).
The Fiios are good performers in the price range. If you want an amp/dac for under £100, the e17 is hard to beat (and the e07k at £69 is VERY hard to beat, and only lacks some extra connections and a little power vs the e17). The Schiit Fulla is a good choice as well (from what I've heard, I've not had the chance to listen to one yet), but lacks the flexibility of the Fiios in that it only accepts usb audio, and lacks a battery... but if you're only going to be using it at your desk, then that shouldn't be a problem. I'm pretty sure Schiit has a UK distributor also.
Thank you. Might save a little more and go for the schiit modi/magni after doing some more research. I plan on paring them up with a set of DT 880's but don't know what ohm rating yet.
How well does the stack power high impedance headphones such as 600 ohm.
I've never invested this much into audio before and so I'm not entirely sure how long this set up will last until it's reasonable to replace it.
The Schiit Stack does well with 600 Ohm headphones. As a matter of fact, judging by the tech specs, the Schiit Magni should actually power 600 Ohm headphones better than an O2 amp.
If you do decide to get the Schiit Stack, you could go for just the Magni at first to see if it's something you like. Unless you have a very (electronically) noisy environment, DACs don't offer as much improvement to audio as an amp will. To me amps offer 90% of the benefit, DACs offer that last 10%.
I'm probably going to be getting a Fulla shortly after the New Year's. I'll do a write up/review if it's anything special.
Alright then thank you for the help
Problem with the Fulla being that it won't be able to power anything much more than 250 Ohms or so, and even those might be rather quiet.
Please do. I'm curious about it since I've not seen one in the wild yet.
The Schiit Stack does well with 600 Ohm headphones. As a matter of fact, judging by the tech specs, the Schiit Magni should actually power 600 Ohm headphones better than an O2 amp.
Pretty much this.
It looks like it's positioned to compete with the Fiio E07k and E17, so that's not surprising. It's power specs seem to line up fairly well with the Fiios (slightly higher, from the looks of it).
Bought one, did a review.
https://teksyndicate.com/users/wiemerimer/blog/2015/01/07/youre-fulla-schiit-schiit-fulla-review