Amp / DAC for speakers AND headphones

[BigDan1190]

Hi all,

 

Can I please have some advice on what I need?

 

I'm currently running a Corsair Vengeance 1500 USB headset, and a Lepai 2020+ amp running a pair of Wharfedale 9.1 Diamond bookshelf speakers (passive).

 

I'm looking to get rid of the USB headset and just have a decent pair of headphones and a desktop mic. I would like a single piece of hardware that runs the speakers and the headphones, not sure quite how powerful the amp needs to be for the speakers but certainly more than the Lepai produces! lol.

 

Any advice much welcome.

 

I'm looking to buy from Amazon UK (as I have about £130 in vouchers) and I have an open budget but I definately don't want to spend any more than £200.

[xtroria]

I believe the only thing that would do such thing is schiit ragnarok which is a $1800 amp. 

 

Here's my recommendation. Syba dac (or fiio E10K) and DT770 for closed back, DT990 for open back. You'll still need your lepai amp though. 

[KaminKevCrew]

The easiest way to do that that I can think of would be to get a schiit magni Uber with pre outs, then get a speaker amp that amplifies the signal from the pre outs.

[ShearMe]

Topping http://www.amazon.com/TOPPING-Tripath-Subwoofer-Amplifier-Digital/dp/B00H6XDE4S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1433716412&sr=8-2&keywords=topping+amp

[SSL]

There's nothing good for a reasonable price that will do both. In particular I've heard that Topping has issues with headphone amps throughout their line.

 

I recommend:

• SMSL SD793-II (requires S/PDIF out, which your motherboard has)
• SMSL SA-50

The SD793 will handle digital-to-analog conversion and your headphone amp. The SA-50 will handle your speaker amplification with more power than the lepai to boot. Not only will these two devices be better than any single unit you can buy in the price range, you get the benefit of flexibility. You can run just your headphones, just your speakers, or both, all with independant hardware volume control. Should come in just under your budget, too.

[xtroria]

There's nothing good for a reasonable price that will do both. In particular I've heard that Topping has issues with headphone amps throughout their line.

 

I recommend:

• SMSL SD793-II (requires S/PDIF out, which your motherboard has)
• SMSL SA-50

The SD793 will handle digital-to-analog conversion and your headphone amp. The SA-50 will handle your speaker amplification with more power than the lepai to boot. Not only will these two devices be better than any single unit you can buy in the price range, you get the benefit of flexibility. You can run just your headphones, just your speakers, or both, all with independant hardware volume control. Should come in just under your budget, too.

 

I've been wondering what's the power output of SD793-II? 130mW @32ohm sounds really low for a brick powered amp, even E10K and fulla can do more than that

[SSL]

I've been wondering what's the power output of SD793-II? 130mW @32ohm sounds really low for a brick powered amp, even E10K and fulla can do more than that

 

I don't know. I believe that it is more powerful that the E10K; many reports of the E10K are that it isn't even as powerful as the old E10. Also, I think the brick is only rated to 9V so it's not going to be setting anything on fire even without the restrictions of USB.