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Sub 100 (bass oriented?) DAC for HD58x Jubilee.

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So I just ordered the HD58x Jubilee, and am now looking for a DAC to pair it with. This is my first introduction to audiophile level quality, so I don't know yet if I want to spend a lot of money on it. Basically I'm wondering which sub 100 budget DAC I should consider. I've looked at the Fiio EK10, I saw it has a bass boost (I like bass, heard the hd58x isn't too heavy on that side so thought this might be good). Would this be a solid choice? Do all DACs have some way to equalize your audio? Any good pairings for the hd58x? I'm a complete noob so I'm not sure where/which features I should be looking at. Thanks!
(Edited)
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Xtreem77
0
Feb 8, 2020
Hope I'm not to late for this bud I got hd58x and I purchased the fosi q4 amp/dac it sound absolutely amazing and highly recommended and has bass and treble adjustment and with the base boost switched on these headphones come alive. Cost £53.00 on amazon.
Bonddaboom
145
Feb 13, 2019
too bad you should buy topping d10 then save up for an amp. d10 is under 100 and I use it with $3000 headphones.
SerumZero
21
Feb 25, 2019
I don't notice any of that right now with the K3 so I think I'm good. Maybe not in 99.9th percentile audiophile terms :p
DarrylG
49
Feb 26, 2019
SerumZeroI'm thinking it should be fine. Have you ever seen this headphone power calculator? http://www.digizoid.com/power.php I fed the impedance and sensitivity of the 58XXs into it, and it says a headphone with 150 ohms resistance and 104 db sensitivity needs 39.69 mW to reach the "Painful" sound pressure level. I don't know how much power the K3 puts out at 150 ohms, but it's gotta be enough to drive the 58XXs to a loud enough level.
rastus
1391
Feb 12, 2019
Close to budget... just add a nice NOS tube (needed), or wait for the re-drop on MD, get Audivarna as a player and some 24/96 or better FLAC files of your fav: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aune-T1SE-Mk3-Tube-USB-DAC-And-Headphone-Amp/392235864108?hash=item5b5314502c:g:IlIAAOSwUPlcYHg4:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true A well written white paper, to help explain: http://m.marantz.co.uk/DocumentMaster/master/Marantz_DAC_White_Paper_6th_March-2018.pdf
SerumZero
21
Feb 22, 2019
rastusWill those things make a huge difference? I'm an audio noob, I don't know if I'd benefit from those things and I'm on a student budget. I wish I could hear a no-compromise setup so I could hear if it's something I want to save up for. The K3 with the hd58x is already mind blowing to me.
rastus
1391
Feb 25, 2019
SerumZeroYes, and head towards DSD native...
classAcans
24
Jan 29, 2019
hi , i have the K3 , its a great little amp but it will struggle to drop enough volts into 150ohm drivers , its better suited to higher impedances my galaxy s9 plus drives my t50rp mk3 better than the k3 ! . personally i prefer my sanskrit pro running into the LAmini class A headphone amp or any of Lee's headphone amps . i havent tried any of his all in one dac amp combos though . the LAmini drives my t50 with ease to ear bleeding levels with class A goodness. :-)
classAcans
24
Feb 12, 2019
Tried the fiio k3 and can confirm it cannot adequately drive the 58x , you get sound but its weak and low quality compared to a budget 1w class A' , LAmini (amazing amp for the money but needs 220v supply not 240v) and sanskrit dac.
SerumZero
21
Feb 22, 2019
classAcansI ended up getting the K3 and it sounds great to me, but I'm coming from a Razer Kraken so basically anything is better. What do you mean by 'weak'? Low volume?
PopZeus
386
Jan 29, 2019
FiiO has a successor to the E10K DAC/amp combo called the K3. No idea how much the sound is improved since I have never heard it, but it looks like a nice little device. There are some decent DAPs in the price range that also offer DAC functionality, like the Cayin N3, and (I think) the Shanling M0.
J0s3
1
Feb 14, 2019
How does the K3 sound with 58X? I'm thinking about getting it for the same headphones.
SerumZero
21
Feb 22, 2019
J0s3Well I'm not much of a reference as this is my first experience with gear like this, my last pair of headphones was a Razer Kraken (just to give you an idea of my baseline). That being said this combo sounds amazing to my untrained ears. I've been listrening to River-Leon Bridges on repeat and it really shines in tracks like that where the vocals are the focus. The hd58x's also sound a lot more spacious, and I was afraid that they'd lack bass to my preference, which is true except the bass switch on the Fiio K3 adds just the right amount (for me) of natural sounding bass. All in all I'm super happy with this. I'm not sure if I'm qualified to recommend this setup but seeing what I paid (about 300 EU for everything, including border taxes) I'm very satisfied.
HuaL
95
Jan 27, 2019
The E10K can push up to 150 ohms theoretically, so I think that'll be fine for you.
HuaL
95
Jan 27, 2019
ahh right. congrats on the new gear!
SerumZero
21
Jan 28, 2019
HuaLThanks!
dcha12
461
Jan 17, 2019
If that's your budget, spend it all on the amp. Having the DAC portion won't yield much improvement. Are you looking to use it portably?
SerumZero
21
Jan 17, 2019
dcha12Okay I was unclear on the difference between a dac and amp. Maybe I shouldve done a bit more research :s No I'll use it at my PC. Is the Fiio EK10 a dac/amp combo or just an amp? Any experience with it? Thanks for the reply.
Since the budget is so low, I don't think there are many DACs in this range. I have the HD58X and I power it with a Micca OriGen G2. The G2 is very analytical in terms of sound. I have also used my HD58X on a Massdrop CTH +SDAC/AMP, which I think has more natural bass, and the difference is minimal
I have never ran just an amp. The Micca has a gain feature and it is considered a DAC/preamp. The 3.5mm output of my laptop sounds like crap. Having the signal from the audio signal from the USB port makes it sound so much better.
SerumZero
21
Jan 18, 2019
erickongOKay I'll consider this. thanks!
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