Ive got about $300 what would be the best DAC and AMP for the price? I dont care if theyre combined or not. I was looking at the Mayflower ARC MK 2 or the Asguard 3. What other options do I have?
Well, what type of sound are you going for here? I do really like the asgard 3 with the 880 600 ohm, it’s a very good pairing, and you could grab a dac like the earmen donald or topping e30 and it would be very nice. Personally I’m not a huge fan of the arc for the beyerdynamic, I don’t think it really powers them that well
Sound wise I will mainly be using them for competitive gaming. Should I get the base Asguard 3 or the one the the AK4490 in it?
Do you think I could get but with just the base Asguard then get a good DAC later on?
Personally I would just get the base no dac asgard 3 as I think the ak4490 card in there isn’t the best, and getting a separate dac would give you more performance and more flexibility down the line
Another option would be a lake people g103s with one of the aforementioned dacs, that would also be very nice. The g103s would be cleaner and more neutral than the asgard (although still slightly warmer leaning), but not as organic sounding as the asgard (and the asgard is still pretty clean), both have lots of control and are good options
If you have to go a bit cheaper, a monolith liquid spark amp and liquid spark dac would be a great combo and would be a warmer smoother thicker sound, but it wouldn’t be on the same level as the 2 other combos mentioned, but would still power the 880 decently well
If your motherboard has a decent line out you can run it with your pc audio if you grab a rca to 3.5mm cable, but later on a dac can give you more performance
Gotcha, so im thinking. Base Asguard 3 with a Topping e30. Do you think that would be a good pair?
Also where can I get some good quality RCA cables from?
Also would the voltage matter for the Asguard 3? I see either 115 or 230
Yes that would be very nice imo
I mean schiit sells some quality rca if you are looking for something shorter, amazon basics or monoprice rca are nice without being expensive as well
Yes, depending on where you live you would choose the appropriate option. If you live in north america, you would most likely choose 115, and in europe it’s mostly going to be 230
Got it! Thank you SO MUCH for the help and the quick response!!
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