Fostex DAC: HP-A3 vs HP-A4

[paprikman]

Hi!

I was looking for a dac and came to this point where I can't really tell which one to pick.

I've listened to both of them, each of them sounds nice to me (in different way, but I can't prefer one over another).

And I can't make a choice just because the A3 is almost two times cheaper than the A4 model.

 

Can anyone advice me on that? Thanks!

 

P.S. I'm using T50RP mk3.

[rice guru]

You don't need to spend that much cash to power that headphone at all a topping d10  or a khadas tone board and a JDs labs atom combo will sound cleaner. Or just as clean generally you don't want to depend that much money on a dac amp compared to how much you spent on your headphones

[paprikman]

4 hours ago, rice guru said:

You don't need to spend that much cash to power that headphone at all a topping d10  or a khadas tone board and a JDs labs atom combo will sound cleaner. Or just as clean generally you don't want to depend that much money on a dac amp compared to how much you spent on your headphones

Thanks for your response!

 

If we're talking about cheaper options, then the cheapest one that costs almost 0$ for me - just change my room layout so I could place my moxf next to the pc and use it as an audio interface. But it takes up so much space.

I've listened to some cheaper options like SMSL and I really didn't like them. Idk how could they all sound so different, having almost the same hardware.

 

Unfortunately, all the options you've listed are unavailable for me, since I live in Russia. And I'm definitely not buying any audio stuff online, since the it is all very subjective.

[rice guru]

6 hours ago, paprikman said:

Thanks for your response!

 

If we're talking about cheaper options, then the cheapest one that costs almost 0$ for me - just change my room layout so I could place my moxf next to the pc and use it as an audio interface. But it takes up so much space.

I've listened to some cheaper options like SMSL and I really didn't like them. Idk how could they all sound so different, having almost the same hardware.

 

Unfortunately, all the options you've listed are unavailable for me, since I live in Russia. And I'm definitely not buying any audio stuff online, since the it is all very subjective.

Ah makes sense

[Javilen]

I went with the A3 and enjoy them. Got it imported in white.  I am not sure if the pushing for the A4 would be worth it for the higher bit rate with high/low gain selection.  Both are only powered by usb.

[paprikman]

4 hours ago, Javilen said:

I went with the A3 and enjoy them. Got it imported in white.  I am not sure if the pushing for the A4 would be worth it for the higher bit rate with high/low gain selection.  Both are only powered by usb.

Thanks! Though I finally decided to go with ibasso dx120 dap, since it features dsd support, balanced output and can function as a dac for pc. Its price is just in between of ap-3 and ap-4.