Dac/amp - usb needed

413x · 1 Jul 2020 at 15:22

PapaLazaru said:
iFi Zen DAC then. No brainer for under £150.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/ifi-zen-dac

Id need an amp for this for passive speakers as well right?

EsaT · 1 Jul 2020 at 16:19

413x said:
Id need an amp for this for passive speakers as well right?

Correct.
Outputs of DACs are fit only for active monitor speakers with built in amplifiers.

413x · 1 Jul 2020 at 16:22

EsaT said:
Correct.
Outputs of DACs are fit only for active monitor speakers with built in amplifiers.

I think I'll just get an all in one. Otherwise my desk is going to be full of clutter

C64 · 1 Jul 2020 at 19:55

rids57 said:
I think it's built in China but the distributor will be in the UK as ifi is a British company.

it must be trash if richer sounds are all over it like the £100 chord mojo sold for £400

rids57 said:
I think it's built in China but the distributor will be in the UK as ifi is a British company.

I never knew that interesting, but they're all 1 year warranty max i'd imagine anyway
what put me off the zen is richer sounds liking it and being all over it
they always big up con hardware like the chord mojo performance of a £100 dac for £400

if were my money i'd go edifer speakers and schiit magni 3+ modi
clearly a proper amp and bookshelf speakers will always beat computer speakers though

rids57 · 2 Jul 2020 at 01:24

I've been using Edifier 1600Ts for years along with various Schiit stacks, from Modi, Modi Multibit, Vali, Vali 2, Magni 2, Magni 3 and most recently an Asgard 3.

The OP has recently posted that he wants to use passive speakers, so most of this thread is of no further import.

ps. ifi is a fairly recent (2012) off shoot of AMR, a company that manufactures very serious audio gear costing tens of thousands of pounds. They wanted an outlet that they could use for their trickle down tech from the AMR ranges, which has resulted in some highly respected ifi gear such as the iDSD and the iDSD Pro amongst others. They are guilty of some audiophool nonsense such as the $500 isolating power strip but nowhere near the same extent as Chord.

C64 · 2 Jul 2020 at 02:27

topping mx3 seems more what hes after an all in one speaker amp dac and headphone amp but as said it's send to china if problems

theres plenty of options out there for all in one units but are not all big brand names
Not a fan off jack of all trade products myself i'd rather have the best headphone amp dac and speaker amp i can afford in my budget in separate units

413x · 2 Jul 2020 at 18:28

C64 said:
topping mx3 seems more what hes after an all in one speaker amp dac and headphone amp but as said it's send to china if problems

theres plenty of options out there for all in one units but are not all big brand names
Not a fan off jack of all trade products myself i'd rather have the best headphone amp dac and speaker amp i can afford in my budget in separate units

Doesn't look like you can get close to price of the combined units separately

Ill probably have a look at the topping and smsl offering.

Both seem to have decent reviews for audio equipment

413x · 3 Jul 2020 at 17:57

I've reconsidered, mainly as I won't be getting speakers for a while
How much better is a separate dac/amp?

What I need to know is if it's definitely worth going separate

Yaayuh! · 3 Jul 2020 at 18:17

413x said:
I've reconsidered, mainly as I won't be getting speakers for a while
How much better is a separate dac/amp?

What I need to know is if it's definitely worth going separate

Main reason for me is that it makes it modular, gives you many options and makes it easier to upgrade/replace further down the line.

What speakers are you getting? Have you considered maybe getting (active) studio monitors instead? Thus removing the speaker amp requirement. You could then focus on getting a DAC and headphone amp with a pre-amp option.

413x · 4 Jul 2020 at 00:22

Yaayuh! said:
Main reason for me is that it makes it modular, gives you many options and makes it easier to upgrade/replace further down the line.

What speakers are you getting? Have you considered maybe getting (active) studio monitors instead? Thus removing the speaker amp requirement. You could then focus on getting a DAC and headphone amp with a pre-amp option.

Was looking at yamaha hs5
For active

But its more cables!

Yaayuh! · 4 Jul 2020 at 08:37

413x said:
Was looking at yamaha hs5
For active

But its more cables!

Yamaha HS series is a good solid choice.

You can keep it clean still. Say you got a Schiit Modi and Magni or Vali, other than power, you’d have :
USB to Modi, short RCA to Magni and a long split single RCA from the Magni to each monitor.

That’s my Schiit Bifrost and Asgard, but you get the gist.
All custom single RCAs from designacable.com, I strongly recommend them.
https://www.designacable.com/catalo...ted-rca-to-rca-lead-flexible-van-damme-cable/

413x · 6 Jul 2020 at 16:21

Yeah the cables don't look an issue on this.

I'm really torn. I think I might just go with the smsl.

My headphones aren't difficult to drive and it does look the cheapest option. I'm just looking at reviews as most of the time I'll use headphones

413x · 23 Jul 2020 at 11:38

This arrived. Smsl ad18

Cost 120 all in

Headphones are certainly better. I would say its amazing. It's good.

What is amazing is the connections.

Only using for headphones currently , but i have a specific requirement.
That is usb and Bluetooth in.

Setup

Surface laptop > kvm > amp
Surface book > kvm > amp
Desktop > kvm > amp
Phone > Bluetooth > amp

I use my work surface laptop and my desktop and my surface book via a kvm switch. So this connects via the hub to all these.

But when I'm using my work laptop I need to connect to my phone as I don't have Spotify on that.
I can flip between USB and Bluetooth so easily to get round that. It's great.

I actually only thought it had Bluetooth to headphones. Didn't realise it accepted Bluetooth in