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.
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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.
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Man I got dissed for rec’ing the Diablo don’t think the xCAN’s gonna cut it 
the diablo can absolutely can. But you are paying a hefty premium for it being portable. If it was trying to be competitive as a desktop amp, it would cost $700, not $900.
and it still would not perform as well as amps like the cayin iha-6 or flux amps with their massive toroidal transformers and capacitor banks. Mobile audio, as impressive as it is, cannot compete with that.
10 character 
lol
I’ve used the Diana on several portables, and while they might limit moreso than a desktop chain, there are a few that can do an admirable job. There is also an extensive post over on the L&P P6/P6 Pro thread giving a rundown on several portables. The ones I’ve tried are the Lessfox BX-2+ and Woo WA-11. The BX-2+ is the stronger of the two as an amp, but the WA-11 is a DAC/amp combo and gives a little more warmth. In the more (trans)portable space, I’ve tried the Woo WA-8 and Broadway, with the Woo again being a DAC/amp combo and not ideal for the Diana, but the Broadway is designed around the Diana. There are also things like the Mass Kobo 428, Phatlabs Phantasm II, and Cayin C9 that can handle the Diana, but I haven’t tried either of those.
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