Help deciding on a dac+amp

Hi everyone,
i’m here because i’m trying to find a new dac/amp (preferably all in one) for music and gaming (so low latency) but this is hell… so many products and combination, so far i’ve seen:
E30 + atom
G6 + atom
D50S
k5 pro
Mayflower ARC MK2
schiit hel

could someone please help me? can’t buy them all to test sadly. i come from a creative X7. i don’t need mic input or surround. 300€ max would be nice. mayflower or schiit is hard to find in europe

What headphones are you looking to connect to this DAC / AMP?

HD650 but maybe later upgrading to dt1990pro or 660S

So personally in that range, I would consider a magni 3+ with an e30, that would be a good pairing imo, if you wanted to step that up further the asgard 3 would be pretty sweet imo. The lake people g103-s is also very nice

1 Like

thanks for your answer. but i think i would like to avoid schiit i’ve seen in usa aftersale service is already bad so in europe… and i checked it would cost me 45$ delivery

1 Like

Gotcha, if that’s the case the lake people is pretty nice, neutral, well defined, would be pretty sweet

1 Like

i’ve seen you advice scarlett solo + atom, what would you think be the best between that, E30 + atom/magni/spark or k5 pro ?

That would be if you wanted a mic input, I wouldn’t recommend that if you didn’t need a mic input

I think the spark + e30 would be great if you wanted a warmer sound, and the magni 3+ if you wanted something neutral with a slight bit of smoothness, and the e30 + atom would be the most analytical

It is an amp only, so you would also grab a dac like the e30

thanks very much

can’t find any of these amps to be bought in europe :frowning: is there any alternative? topping A30 or A50 aren’t that good?

The a50 is pretty nice, should work well with all the headphones you plan to get, but do note in the future it does have a bit higher output impedance that doesn’t work the best low impedance headphones

hey,
i still struggle to find an amp in france, topping E30 will be available in 1 week according to the vendor but liquid spark only in july, and i don’t think A50 is good enough for the price.

i don’t know if i’m allowed to send links but can you help me check for a good alternative there please?: https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/amplificateur-casque-sedentaire-c-645.html?orderby=price&orderway=asc&orderway=asc

150€ max i guess

good day

This would be a great pick imo, would be sweet. It’s a tad warmer sounding amp but it will work well with what you are planning to use with it. I was not aware that audiophonics sold monolith amps

https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/amplificateur-casque-sedentaire/monolith-liquid-spark-amplificateur-casque-13w-50-ohm-p-14508.html

1 Like

i ordered the liquid spark from them but problem is it’s only available mid july. there is nothing better or equivalent to this?
i see SMSL SAP-12 on their website

I completely missed that, my bad. Another option might be this:

https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/amplificateur-casque-sedentaire/smsl-vmv-audio-va2-amplificateur-casque-audiophile-analogique-p-8555.html

Although I personally would prefer the spark. This is a solid amp as long as you use the high jack

ok thanks. you don’t think the SMSL SAP-12 is better?

I think for the headphones you have the sap-12 might lack on power for the headphones you have in mind

The Topping DX3 pro is a great amp/dac that’s available on that site. I would order that.

i hesitated with that or the d50s but apparently E30 + spark is better and same price even lower ?

DACs are the same in my book. Spark is a very good amp. Cant go wrong with either decision