Dac/Amp (combo?) for IEMs

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories DACs
21

Hmmm, how much is a topping a50?

22

169 eur = $190. Is the a50 much better than the a30?

23

Imo yes, it’s a decent bit higher preforming. Also stacks nicely with the d50s

24

Hmm alright, then I better start saving up :P. Looks like my e10k will have to do for now. I’ll keep my eyes open for a good deal on an a50 or a heresy and then use my pc line out or use the e10k as a DAC (it has a line out).
Thanks!

25

So I’m still looking around and find that I don’t really understand. Since I am planning to power mostly iems and easy to drive headphones (porta pro and possibly soon ksc75) I figured a combo with a balanced output would be best. The heresy is €10 cheaper than a Zen DAC, but the heresy doesn’t come with a balanced output (not a DAC). What would the advantage of the heresy then be over something like a Zen DAC with a balanced output?

26

So the heresy has way more power and is also a cleaner sounding amp imo. I think for iems, perhaps going balanced with the zen might be a nicer choice (as you don’t really need the extra power for iems unless you have like a p1 or something). I do feel like the heresy is the better amp here, but I think the zen dac offers a higher value prop for your use case imo

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27

Okay cool, that was also what I was thinking before I initially got in to this thread. So would it make sense to get a Zen DAC, and then if I need more power because at some point I would want to get into a p1 or something (which is somewhere on my wishlist eventually) to then add an amp and use the Zen DAC as just a DAC?
I can probably get my hands on a philips mcd908/12 without the speakers and with a broken dvd player for free, so I could hook up the Zen DAC to the receiver, so I’d have a tube amp. Any idea on the quality of this particular set by chance?

28

Yeah that sound’s like a really solid idea imo

Ah so that’s got a tube preamp and a class d power amp, that would be interesting. I don’t think it would be good for headphones, but you could hook up a headphone amp to the tube preamp for a hybrid amp. I personally haven’t tried it so I can’t comment too much here

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29

Awesome thank you :heart:

30

Unfortunately the cable I wanted to buy has 2 weeks delivery time… If I want a Zen DAC and a balanced 4.4mm cable it’ll set me back €187l ($210) since the only cable I can find is €38/$43 :weary:. Almost makes me consider moving…