DAC/AMP Is Dead, Need A New One

Dicehunter · 9 Dec 2016 at 16:27

So my SMSL M3 DAC/AMP died a few minutes ago, It made a slight clicking sound and just passed away, Itcost £40 so I'm not exactly annoyed.

So, I'm looking at an external solution and I'm looking at the Creative X7 as it seems to get glowing reviews from several people, I'm looking at the standard black version and not the more expensive "Limited Edition" which always seems to be in stock at Creatives store but costs £50 more and has 1.2 Ohms less headphone impedance and 100 watts of power compared to the standard editions 76 watts of power.

Anyone had long term experience with one of these X7's and if so what are your thoughts ?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/crea...ternal-dac-and-audio-amplifier-sc-097-cl.html

RSR · 10 Dec 2016 at 19:19

Have you looked or thought about the Schiit Audio stacks? Something like the Modi / Vali or Magi stacks?

sHo0sH · 11 Dec 2016 at 09:12

Is the Chord mojo out of your price range??

hthry · 11 Dec 2016 at 11:18

I have a schiit modi 2 and vali 2 stack and run my sennheiser hd650's from them and the sound is very good but I did upgrade the stock valve which was ok but not quite right

hope this helps

Arcane · 13 Dec 2016 at 10:04

I thought the x7 was excellent when I had it. I initially got it to free up some case space for SLI hybrids so sold my STX and got one. I was very happy with the results. Sounded as good to me playing music and was great for games.

Glanza · 13 Dec 2016 at 10:32

+1 for Schiit stack, run my DT770s spot on.

Combat Fighter · 14 Dec 2016 at 07:26

Glanza said:
+1 for Schiit stack, run my DT770s spot on.

Does make me laugh when I see this brand mentioned. . .

I would not of thought a stack of **** would sound (or smell) that good?

Glanza · 14 Dec 2016 at 09:16

Combat Fighter said:
Does make me laugh when I see this brand mentioned. . .

I would not of thought a stack of **** would sound (or smell) that good?

For the money I can't fault them, granted I've only got the entry level set but it's spot on and doesn't look out of place or 'too flashy' compared to other dacs / amps.

MorleySA · 28 Dec 2016 at 15:55

Arcane said:
I thought the x7 was excellent when I had it. I initially got it to free up some case space for SLI hybrids so sold my STX and got one. I was very happy with the results. Sounded as good to me playing music and was great for games.

I currently have the x7 Limited Edition, i can't fault it at the moment not with the amount of connectivity it has!

mistersprinkles · 29 Dec 2016 at 00:15

Had the schiit asgard. Sounded phenomenal

rids57 · 29 Dec 2016 at 01:57

Schiit Modi 2 Uber plus Schiit Magni 2 Uber or Schiit Vali 2 would be my choice.

The Modi 2 Uber has USB, Optical and Coaxial inputs, plus the more recent ones use the top of the line AK4490 DAC chip.
Both of the amps have pre-out RCA, so can also feed and control active speakers, with the output switching with insertion of the headphone jack. They both also have gain switching, so are able to drive anything from IEMs to pretty much anything short of the HE-6.