Amps, DACs, and Audio Interfaces

Updates

  • 10/1/19.
  • 11/26/19.
  • 12/6/, 12/13/19.
  • 1/10/20.
  • 1/15/20.
  • 2/1/20. Added Cobalt Shootout.
  • 3/15/20. Added Bravo Ocean Shootout.

Hey there friend!

Navigate the Site!

  1. Headphone Reviews & Comparisons
  2. Microphone Reviews & Comparisons
  3. Amps, DACs, and Audio Interfaces (You Are Here)
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  6. Beats, Production, & Turntables
  7. Gaming, Movies, & Pop Culture
  8. Build a Home Studio Guide
  9. Best Of
  10. Resources

Current # Demoed: 36. Current # Own: 6.

  • Own: DragonFly Red, FiiO K3, FiiO E10K, FiiO K5 Pro, iFi hip-dac, FiiO BTR3K.
  • Demoing: Creative SoundBlasterX G6, iFi Zen Amp/DAC, iFi Zen CAN Signature (Amp + DAC), FiiO BTR3K, SoundBlaster G3.

Contact me if you would like to send something for demo. I’m always looking to test new products out! Just use the form “All other Inquiries & Questions” ?

Audioengine

  1. Audioengine D1 Review (Demoed)

AudioQuest

  1. Audioquest DragonFly Red Review (Own)
  2. AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt Review (+ Comparison to Red, Chord Mojo, and DACport HD)

Audeze

  1. Audeze Deckard Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

Bottlehead

  • Bottlehead Crack Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

Bravo

Bryston

  1. Bryston BHA-1 Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

Cambridge Audio

  1. Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100 Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

CEntrance

  1. CEntrance DACport HD Review (Demoed)

Chord

  1. Chord Mojo DAC Review (Demoed)
  2. Chord Hugo 2 Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)
  3. Chord Poly Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

Creative

  1. Creative SoundBlasterX G6 Amp/DAC Review (Demoed)
  2. Creative SoundBlaster G3 (Coming Soon!) (Demoing)

FiiO

  1. FiiO Q1 Mark II Review (Owned & Sold)
  2. FiiO E10K Review (Own)
  3. FiiO A3 Review + Shootout with E10K & Q1 (A3 Owned & Sold)
  4. FiiO K3 Amp/DAC Review + E10K Comparison (Own Both)
  5. FiiO K5 Pro Review + K3 Comparison (Own Both)
  6. FiiO BTR3K (Coming Soon!)

iFi

  1. iFi micro iDSD Black Label Review (Demoed)
  2. iFi xDSD Review (Demoed)
  3. iFi xCAN Review + Shootout (Mojo & xDSD) (Demoed)
  4. iFi Zen DAC/Amp Review (Demoed)
  5. iFi Zen Blue Review (Demoed)
  6. iFi hip-dac Review (Own)

JDS Labs

  1. JDS Labs cMoyBB Review (Demoed)
  2. JDS Labs Objective 2 Headphone Amp Review (Demoed)
  3. JDS Labs Element Review (Demoed)
  4. JDS Labs ATOM Review + Objective 2 Comparison (Demoed)

Klipsch

  1. Klipsch Heritage Headphone Amp (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

M-Audio

  1. M-Audio Fast Track Pro USB Audio Interface (Owned & Sold)

Naim

  1. NAIM DAC V-1 Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

Oppo

  1. Oppo HA-2 Review (Owned & Sold)

Schiit

  1. Schiit Magni 2 Review (Owned & Sold)
  2. Schiit Fulla Review (Coming Soon!)
  3. Schiit Magni 3 Review (Coming Soon!)

Sony

  1. Sony TA-ZH1ES Review (Coming Soon!) (Demoed)

Topping

DAPS

  • FiiO M3 Pro (Coming Soon!)

Amp/DAC Comparisons

& Shootouts

  1. Magni 2 vs. Magni 2 Uber
  2. Audioquest Dragonfly Black vs. Red
  3. Chord Mojo vs. Hugo 2
  4. JDS Labs Element vs. Objective 2
  5. FiiO K3 vs. E10K
  6. FiiO K3 vs. K5 Pro Review & Comparison
  7. Topping NX4 vs. FiiO Q1 MK II
  8. iFi Zen Amp/DAC vs. Zen CAN Signature

Shootouts

  1. AudioQuest DragonFly Red vs. Cobalt vs. Mojo vs. DACport HD
  2. Audioengine D1 vs. FiiO E10K vs. DragonFly Red
  3. Audioquest Dragonfly Red vs. Chord Mojo vs. Oppo HA-2
  4. FiiO Q1 vs. DragonFly Red vs. Audioengine D1
  5. FiiO Q1 vs. E10K vs. DragonFly Red
  6. iFi xDSD vs. xCAN vs. Chord Mojo
  7. iFi Zen vs. FiiO K5 Pro vs. JDS ATOM vs. Bravo Ocean

Audio Interface Comparisons

  1. Audient id14 vs. id22
  2. Komplete Audio 6 vs. Scarlett 2i4
  3. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 vs. 2i4 (Coming Soon!)

Best

Interface

  1. The Best Budget Audio Interface
  2. The Best Audio Interface for Home Recording

Best

Amp/DAC

Older (Probably needs updating)

  1. The Best Budget Headphone Amplifier
  2. The Best Headphone Amp Under $100
  3. The Best Headphone Amp For The Money

Newer

Best

For Headphones

  1. The Best Headphone Amp for the Sennheiser HD 600 & 650
  2. The Best Headphone Amp For The Sennheiser HD 800
  3. The Best Headphone Amp for the AKG K701 & K702

Thanks for stopping by!

All the best and God bless,

 

 

-Stu

[Xtr@Ba$eHitZ]

Be sure to check out my Resources page for more helpful and informative articles!

4 Comments
  1. Álvaro

    Stu, I finally bought a Philips Fidelio X2HR on sale. I am starting to listen to classical music especially but I have a low budget and I wanted to ask you what things produce the most significant improvements:
    1) with a headset of sufficient sensitivity and low resistance, is a dac or external amplifier necessary? I read this (https://www.soundguys.com/do-you-need-a-dac-13488/) and it left me with doubts, is it possible that smartphones have improved their technology and the difference with a dac is small?
    2) To have a neutral and more analytical sound, is it convenient to equalize? If so, towards a flat curve or better aim at the Harman curve? (guided me in these recommendations https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq)

    Reply
  • Stuart Charles Black

    Hey man!

    That’s actually a great question. Amps and DACS are becoming sort of a meme, and I’ve been harping on this point for over a year now. I was just talking to someone on Instagram the other day about how phone dacs are closing that gap between bad quality and really good quality. In fact, whenever someone new asks me about a dac and they’re primarily using their phone, I ask them immediately which one it is so I can get a better sense of if they actually need a dac. I still think an amp/dac is necessary in many cases, but to answer your question: Absolutely. Smartphones have come a long way. I personally do most of my listening on desktop so I really do have a need for a good DAC.

    As for your second question, you’ll find different schools of thought on this. For instance, Metal571 prefers the Harman target AFAIK, and yeah, generally speaking, my preferences fall in line with it as well. I mostly prefer the Audeze house sound which is similar: Flat bass, slightly elevated mids, rolled of treble. I mostly find myself EQ’ing to to this type of sound. Similar to the Harman target, but not exactly in line with it.

    As you may or may not know, Classical does extremely well with some added bass emphasis (not too much), because the genre is really volatile and can easily sound tinny, bright, scratchy, and obnoxious due to it’s seemingly unpredictable variations in decibel level. I’m sure you’re at least partially aware of what I’m talking about. I find it to be very irritating at times, as most headphones don’t do too well in handling these discrepancies. Interestingly enough, I found the Philips SHP9600 to do very well with it, and really any amp/dac that has a warmer tone can also help mitigate those unwanted side effects.

    So if you wanted to take the plunge on something to pair with the X2HR, definitely give the hip-dac a look, as well as the FiiO Q1 MK II. Both of those have a warmer sound that pairs well with the genre. 🙂

    Let me know what you think!

    Reply
    • Álvaro

      Thank you very much Stu, it was very clear to me. My current smartphone is very cheap (Huawei Y7 2018), when it dies, I will try to look at something with a little better audio (used LG V, Nokia 6. or something like that).

      Reply
      • Stuart Charles Black

        Yeah man! Let me know if you need any further help if you do decide to purchase a separate dac for your phone, and just keep me posted in general! 🙂

        Reply

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