But what else?
No, it’s not Nespresso, so, I’m running Audio-TECHNICA ath-a700x, I listen do random music (literally everything) and gaming, plus movies, but while the A700 never displeased me, I think the Fx-6 well, could have done better.
What’s up these day as upgrade that doesn’t cost a ton (under 150)?
It doesn’t really need to do much, just run my headphones, MAYBE also a pair of speakers in the future, but tha’s it, I’m still fairly new, so, don’t need all the extra stuffs
What amp are you using?
honestly the biggest upgrade in audio is always the drivers. i always say upgrade them first but if you really want to upgrade the DAC amp. fior a $150 you have the fiio k5 pro if you want to run unbalanced and the ifi zen dac which is pretty good if you want to run balanced. but for a little bit more money you can go with a topping d10 or smsl m100 and any fo the $100 amps like the 2 magni’s or the liquid spark.
Hi. Welcome to HFGF!
Are you talking about the FX-Audio DAC-X6? I’m going to assume you are because Googling what you typed doesn’t turn anything up other than the DAC-X6.
A few thoughts here…
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If you’ve been running your A700X off the X6 most of the time, you’re likely not getting the full picture of how well the headphone performs (or the amp, for that matter). The output impedance of the X6 is rather high and the driver impedance of A700X is fairly low. A high output impedance for a low impedance dynamic driver is usually not a good match. I’m guessing your headphones are sounding boomy and bloated in the bass and midbass?
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The X6 is a decent enough amp you could use it to explore some other budget headphones. You could look for used planars in your price range. Planars are not as affected by output impedance as dynamic drivers. You could also look for dynamic-driver headphones with impedance over 80 ohms. Both Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser have options with worldwide availability. I think AKG does, too.
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Right at 150USD is the Fiio K5 Pro. Going this route would give you a clearer picture of what your Audio Technicas actually sound like (or are supposed to sound like). Availability of that Fiio model can get sketchy, demand for it is high. If you can’t find one, then as @RiceGuru suggests, you could look for a separates route. You could also wait on a DAC for now. The DAC in the X6 isn’t fantastic, but it is functional. Use the line out on the X6 to feed any of the JDS Labs Atom, Monolith Liquid Spark, or Schiit Magni 3+ or Magni Heresy. They’re all really good for the price and it will come down to availability in your area.
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yessir
it is indeed the Dac-x6
And yes, there is some kind of “confusion” I’d have expected them to me more clear
I really like the headphone toh, so I’d rather update the Dac/Amp than the headphone
I think I got these suggested a while ago in other places, so I didn’t know they weren’t a good pair, even if something wasn’t “clear” to me, I used to run other headphones before, (actualy the Cal aurvana live).
I see the Fiio k5 has indeed low/medium/high gain, I just started to get into these details, since I applyed the high gain mod on the Dac-x6 but quiclky went back, it indeed doesn’t pair well with the AT700x.
is 150 still a “way too low” budget for a Dac/Amp to pair with the A700x? Money isn’t a problem, but I also don’t like to spend on things I don’t use:
The Dac-x6 is fantastic because it’s very simple, intuitive, and has “few” things it does, but still does them decently 
I knew they made the Dac-x7 for example, at double the price, but I think it doesn’t really double the sound quality, so… not worthy to dig into the matter proably.
No. The K5 Pro will get the job done plenty well.
Good for you 
Are you interested in an all-in-one? Grabbing something like a Topping E30 and one of the 4 ~$100 amps mentioned previously will outperform the K5 Pro. It will add ~$80 to your total cost, too. Yes, this is two boxes as compared to one, but won’t really drive up overall complexity very much.
Yeah, unfortunately there isn’t a direct relationship between quality and price like that.
Final thought, if you’re after an all-in-one solution, the Schiit Asgard 3 with a DAC module goes for $300. If you have any plans on exploring other headphones the Asgard has the muscle (and finesse) to handle just about any price-appropriate headphone.
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If i where you i’d get maybe a D10 and maybe a schiit 3+. I have the ATH a900x andi found it lacking as a headphone. if you only have enough money the best inprovement would be headphones. I suggest you try the Harmonicdyne Helios. its really something else and cheaper at 180$
Got My Fiio Pro today
well, I’m already hearing some difference in the positioning, where voices, instruments comes from…
and it’s definitively visibile how even at low gain, I’ve to pump up the volume now before hearing anything 
Seems good
The next step may be to try and upgrade even the Headphones, but, not right now 
Thanks
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Awesome! Glad we were able to help.