After many many days of deliberation, Ive decided to go for the sound blaster e5. I'll be pairing this with my laptop, or an ipod touch 5th gen. Versatility of inputs and price were what sealed the deal. One day I may own the woo audio wa7, but today is not that day lol
PaulyGood to see that you have gotten help in your choice of dac/amp, I will probably go for the E1 since that is the best (only) dac/amp that fits within my price range and avalability.
wowsersDont be shy to go second hand, there are some great bargains out there if you look hard enough. I was watching a fiio e12 on ebay which was half the normal price. It came with cables and accessories too. Reconditioned or returned stock are another good way of squeezing as much as you can out your budget.
PaulyI'm not in the right area to use ebay (doesn't really exist in sweden), I also don't have an online bank thing to pay either, I used my brothers helping hand to buy the K7XX's :P I COULD buy something like the FIIO E10K from a site that utilizes the whole "pay on delivery" thing that we swedes likes so much. The E1 is in stock in a store close by where I live (really the only 'quality' dac/amp in my general area too), which is why I considered buying it really. I do have a behringer uca 222, so I at least have a low end dac/amp just to drive the headphones in the worst case scenario...
wowsersI'm from Finland and order everything from ebay which works perfectly. You can get almost anything from ebay shipped from Germany, UK or France, or a lot of stuff from HongKong with no postage fees and "gift without price" to avoid taxes (just gotta wait a bit longer for China/HongKong, 2-4 weeks). You seriously don't even have a visa electron..? You can use paypal with it to pay practically everything online.
parasemicNope, I don't even have my drivers licence either, and I don't want to keep buying things from my brother. I'm a student, I can't even afford most things.
wowsersFrom what I've read, that may be a bad decision. It may be more beneficial to wait and save up for a nicer amp (save the dac for later) because that cheap of an amp may make it sound even worse if it isn't able to power them well.
ryan.williamsI looked at some reviews from peopoe (and listened to people that have it in my area), and it seemed that they will power anything they throw at it, 32 ohm to some 250 ohm cans doesn't seem to matter either (the maximum is 600 ohms). One guy also said it used the same chip as one of the fiio's, which was a bit warm sounding (this was when it was ran in a pure amp mode), and I *love* warm sound, which should (read might) complement the K7XX 's really well if I know myself right...
wowsersI also read some reviews, and while they sound like very good portable amp/dac combos, the K7XX are supposedly extremely difficult to drive well with good sound. They are current hungry and despite the low resistance they need a ton of power. That's why I'm saying that it may not be the best choice. It may work great, as I haven't really seen them paired up on forums yet, but my money is on no, and in that case I'd save up for a better amp.
ryan.williamsThese are not hard to drive. They require more juice than you'd expect given their impedance, but cheaper amps like the Magni do a respectable job. One of the best and cheapest amps for these is the Matrix M-Stage. A lot of power on tap and super affordable. Don't believe it when people say you need a $1,000+ amp to drive these, that's just hog wash.