yea, i think it’s a good fit as it is the only example any of us have shown that doesn’t require a balanced cable to get the full potential out of the amp.
1 Like
Well, I ordered the FC-10 but then things got interesting. Apparently Flux will ship a new FA-22 this week which is a mix of their FA-10 Pro and the FA-12 and will have 2.5 watts on 32 Ohm which sounds very good.
I just contacted Abyss about how much power they recommend and the actually recommended the lower powered one. They say it will be more than enough for the Diana and even that it will be safer for the headphone speakers.
So I think I’ll go with the FA-22, which leaves me ~550$ for a dac. Any recommendations?
oh nice choice. Apparently, the gustard x16 sounds smoother and less thin than smsl and topping stuff. Would you be comfortable buying used for a dac? A denafrips ares ii is honestly one of the best dacs under $1500, and would probably never need to be replaced. It’s used market is around $500, but they are quite rare.
The Soncoz SGD1 would be another great pick over topping or smsl stuff in that price range imo.
oh i also forgot the schiit bifrost 2. That’s a really fun sounding dac, which is rare at this price point.
You mentioned you tried the FA-10, did you also try the FA-12?
The denafrips ares ii sounds excellent! It’s currently my first choice if I don’t hear about anything else.
I saw many people compare the Flux to Burson, so how is an FA-22 (the new FA-10 pro + FA-12 merge) with the Ares ii compares to a Burson composer + soloist or a conductor?
Let me add ifi neo idsd to the question as well
No only the fa-10. As a rule of thumb, if a manufacturer is selling two products around the same cost, but one has better specs, it usally means the other one has better internal components because they can inflate the cost of the better speced one as it would be more desirable. You dont need the power of the 10, so I would say the fs-22 is a better amp for that power requirement.
Burson makes much better amps than they do dacs. Also isn’t the conductor like $1300? We have strade very far from your original budget 
.
I think the ares and fa-22 would be a better combination. The composer is a $200 dac + $500 amp + $500 preamp. You dont need the preamp, so you are cutting yourself short of why you would buy an all in one like that. The flux is a purely a headphone amp that i think hits above its $750 price point and the ares 2 is cheaper than it should be because manufacturers are being forced to compete with cheaper made saber and akm designed models.
Indeed
But I assumed that would be the case as my goal is to find one good overall solution and be done with it. I’m not looking to have several headphones or amps and switch between them.
As the fa-22 + ares is $1500 I wanted to see if there is something better at this price point.
Could go small and portable 
…
I don’t really need the portability and I assume the portability hinders the performance no?
Depends on where you draw the line 
wise…hinders is probably the wrong word, as you go up tiers then yes portability is at a disadvantage due to size restrictions and power demands…but some Dap’s and portable Dac/Amps do perform well all be it a tad more expensive compared to their desktop buddies…I was just offering another option and generally shooting the breeze 
They are never a a worthwhile choice for planars due to there inferior current offets. Even the dialbo cannot compete with a desktop stack at 70% of the cost. Good for dynamics, but not for anything like the abyss stuff.
For portable,Abyss recommends at least this:
I agree with Jeffrey, that the ares is about the best you are going to get under $1000. The $500 to $1000 space for audio equipment has become so lucrative that manufactures like denafrips that would normally price such products over $1000, have decided to take a piece out of that market, with the consequence of their higher end stuff losing value. But the bifrost 2 is another consideration, having significantly higher end parts than its predecessor, but at the same cost. That’s just how competitive this market has become.
1 Like
thats way way too little power. I don’t think you understand why planars need high current. Its why a magni 3 with 3w at 32ohm is hopeless at powering very easy to drive planars like the lcd x. Will it get loud on that? Yes, but it will still sound compressed, and the bass will not be as defined as it can be. The ifi high power portables like the black label are the only ones that might have the power to drive these, but still nowhere near as good as an equivalent priced desktop unit. For the cost, its not worth being able to go portable with it, imo. Also, the Diana’s are open back. I know they market them as “probable”, but getting on a train with these things is the last thing you want to do.
1 Like
Man I got dissed for rec’ing the Diablo don’t think the xCAN’s gonna cut it 