Refusal to take responsibility.
Hi, Just thought I would make a note here of your handling of my issues. I ordered a pair of HD6xx headphones and then earlier today recieved the package. I drive to go and get it, as I like in the UK I had to pay import tax and handling fees. These total £47.92. The breakdown being £35.92 in tax and £12 in fees. These taxes were calculated of the shipping label of the box, which marked the shipment as the 6xx headphones of $199 value. Before leaving the parcel depot, I open the box to find a $35 lord of the rings mousepad. So now the problem is not only do I not have the headphones, but you have marked the shipment wrong so I have paid £47.92 fees for the handling of the mousepad. Which would have acrued £0 of fees if marked correctly as it is under £135. I go back to the desk but as I have already paid the fees I am unable to reject the shipment, but as the box said 6xx, there was no way for me to know before opening it. I contact support and they offer me a replacement, which...
Jan 17, 2025
That being said, I've heard tell the Benchmark DAC-3 is pretty insanely good. If you aren't into buying a cheap car, then perhaps check out the Audio-GD NFB-28.38 (which uses the ESS SabreDAC 9038PRO iirc), because that's a pretty great DAC/Amp.
If you're looking for a Resister Ladder Dac instead of a Delta-Sigma, then perhaps you want the R2R-11 from Audio-GD or the Massdrop Airist R2R.
Schiit Audio also makes some pretty great (hearsay) Multibit DACs, like the Bifrost Multibit, and the Gungnir(?) Multibit. Their Delta-sigma DACs are decent too tho.
It really depends on the sound you're looking for, and your budget. Even then, there's always more, better quality cables, USB Isolators if you're going via USB, higher quality Coax/Optical if you're going SPDIF...
And that's not even talking about amplifiers.
But insofar as as recommendation based on what I've used, which is admittedly entry level stuff...
A JDS Labs OL DAC + O2 Amp from Massdrop, or JDS Labs would be a fine start. I've used the Massdrop X Grace SDAC+O2 Combo and the SDAC and OL DAC measure similarly.
An SMSL M6 offers a decent dac and headphone amp, pre-outs OR line-outs depending on your setup, and remote operation. That's all pretty sweet imo.
I've seen lots of recommendations for the Audio-GD NFB-11 and R2R-11 though as well for starter products.
Anyways, sorry about the info dump, but I hope that helps you somewhat. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them and I'll answer what I can.