Recommend me a Headphone DAC

Toothy1911

Toothy1911

Toothy1911

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Joined
27 Nov 2006
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1,328
Location
Coventry
Looking to get a headphone DAC for work (office environment). Can you help recommend me any?
I will mostly be using an android phone (S9+) with Deezer HiFi / Spotify. But may plug it into PC too.
I use an older set of Sennheiser HD555 open backs, but have also ordered a pair of KZ ZSX IEMS.

Don't want to spend too much because it will be left on my desk, and I know what I'm driving probably doesn't warrant anything too high end. So sub £100 ideally for good value. I'm tempted by the ~£40 mini DAC dongles, but I don't need it to be tiny and I'm wondering if I'd be better with something larger.
I don't think I need bluetooth or a battery. But don't mind if it has them for flexibility in the future. I'd prefer higher quality sound over features.

A few on my list:
Fiio Q1 Mk2 / Q3 / K3
Shanling UA1 / UA2
Xduoo Link / XD05 Basic
Cyrus SoundKey
 
After lots of shopping around I landed on the Fiio BTR5. I figure the bluetooth will likely come in handy. For the money (£75 @HiFiGo), I couldn't find any better.
I liked the idea of a dongles, but they were £40-60 or so. As I didn't need something super compact, I thought I'd spend a little extra for a lot more features and quality.
I listened to my friends BTR3K and loved the sound of it. I hope the BTR5 is a step up again.
FWIW I was very tempted by the Xduoo XD05 basic. Really wanted something that sat on my desk more like a mini amp, with dial and screen, etc. But it was £110, has way more power than I need and would require me to buy a separate add on if I need to use bluetooth.
I also found the Qudelix 5K which is basically a BTR5 but better... but availability over here isn't great so would have costed me over £100 again.
 
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