Looking for a usb DAC/headphone amp/ with pre-outs

I guess Schiit happens!....now the fun part of going through all the B.S. sending it back from Canada to the U.S.?!
From the short amount of time I got to use it,only the headphone output worked,so no much diff in sound from what I have already....so,I may just tell them to keep it and don't bother sending a replacement. Thanks,Huck
 
Bummer, well, it happens, however one would expect that a company that uses the "Made in the USA" strategy to attract buyers to have better quality control. I suppose they need to cut corners somewhere to stay profitable selling gear that has a thin profit margin.

Have you seen this: http://matrix-digi-usa.com/mini-series/mini-i-pro_2 ? Pushes your price range a bit but compact and it ticks all the check-boxes on your list. I got their USB to SPDIF converter and it is very well made. Not a well-known brand it seems so may be difficult to unload but if it works for your needs and you like it may not matter much in the long run.

Edit: also check their M-Stage series, HPA-2 Classic has variable outputs it seems.
 
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There's also Arcam irDAC-II, but it has no physical volume control knob. It was discontinued too but you might be to find one still new in box.

I don't think the irDAC-II is discontinued.

It does not, however, mute the line out when a headphone is plugged in.

It does, however, have a very nice headphone amp with a published and seemingly accurate (haven't measured it for myself yet) output impedance of 1 ohm. Stereophile did measure it and reports that's a good number.

I'm listening to Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball and John Prine's Souvenirs right now, and the soundstage over the speakers (Gallo CL-1) is awesome. The headphones (Senn 598) sound very fine as well - a very good tonal match with the main system.

(The Senns have a fairly variable impedance across the frequency band. Because of that, a 50 ohm output on a headphone amp makes them sound pretty awful - it blooms the bass badly. I looked at the Cambridge, for instance, and its output impedance into headphones is high enough that I know it'd color the sound a lot with my headphones.)

but the irdac, paired with the speakers on the desktop in near field mode, sounds extremely good. And the headphone section is very good as well.
 
It does not, however, mute the line out when a headphone is plugged in.

From the manual:

"Volume and Mute The volume (+ and –) adjusts the headphone and variable line output volume. The mute (@) button will mute the output of the irDAC-II."

Sounds like you can at least manually mute the line-level outputs while keeping the headphone output alive?
 
From the manual:

"Volume and Mute The volume (+ and –) adjusts the headphone and variable line output volume. The mute (@) button will mute the output of the irDAC-II."

Sounds like you can at least manually mute the line-level outputs while keeping the headphone output alive?

Nope, just tried it as an experiment - the line out and headphone out both mute at the same time, and I went ahead and tested the variable out as well - it also mutes.

I also tried another experiment recently, I ran the variable gain output into my Schiit Fulla 2 (which I like, but it's very limited as a DAC by only supporting USB input) to compare the headphone output of the irDAC against the analog amp in the Fulla 2. The Fulla 2 has maybe a bit more treble emphasis than the irDAC does? It didn't feel as if it was handling the low end as well, but the treble emphasis gives it a slightly wider-sounding presentation. This was not a blind test - this was me using a mic inside the headphones to be sure I had the gain set equally with each signal, then manually moving the cable.

Then I took off the headphones and put the CL-1s back on.

These headphones in my setup don't have a meaningful soundstage. They sound nice, and they capture the tonality of the music, but they don't, for me, do anything like what the little monitors can, with a well-recorded track, as far as "yeah, the upright bass is there on the left, and the singers are duetting center stage, and the pedal steel is off on the right, oh, and, oh yeah the harmony singer also plays fiddle."

I'm very glad I bought the Gallos on closeout.
 
I don't plan to encourage the folks behind MQA by ever buying MQA hardware until such time as it's Federally mandated.

I was very disappointed to see Pro-Jekt supporting it. Linn, Ayre, I think Schiit and a number of others have looked at it and see a poorly defined specification which, when implemented, won't benefit the listener but will cost everyone a great deal.

https://www.linn.co.uk/blog/mqa-is-bad-for-music

I'm sorry they went that route - until I learned that the S2 supported MQA, I was looking at it as a possible choice.
 
love the teac ud-301 and also think the pro-ject is interesting, but it is hard to find anyone who has really listened to it. only about $50 difference in price. i am considering using these as dac/preamps for my home system and it almost seems wrong because almost all the applications i see use these with a computer system, not an adcom power amp driving vandersteen 2ci's. am i nuts to want to buy these, or should i just get a regular cd player?
 
Bummer, well, it happens, however one would expect that a company that uses the "Made in the USA" strategy to attract buyers to have better quality control. I suppose they need to cut corners somewhere to stay profitable selling gear that has a thin profit margin.

Have you seen this: http://matrix-digi-usa.com/mini-series/mini-i-pro_2 ? Pushes your price range a bit but compact and it ticks all the check-boxes on your list. I got their USB to SPDIF converter and it is very well made. Not a well-known brand it seems so may be difficult to unload but if it works for your needs and you like it may not matter much in the long run.

Edit: also check their M-Stage series, HPA-2 Classic has variable outputs it seems.
Their stuff looks pretty good...just sent the Schiit away this morning..not sure if I want to go with a replacement or not...still thinking.Huck
 
Their stuff looks pretty good...just sent the Schiit away this morning..not sure if I want to go with a replacement or not...still thinking.Huck

for about the price of the schiit, Monoprice sells a desktop amp with USB in, line and variable out. and analog out.

https://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=120&cp_id=12008&cs_id=1200801&p_id=11567

the things to be careful of with that is that it has a gain switch on the back and is able to put out 6 volts in high gain mode on the variable line out - enough to clip an amp if used as a preamp, even if the signal it is pushing isn't distorted. probably also enough to damage your powered monitors. I have no idea why they built the system to potentially make trouble downstream.

the other issue is that the headphone output impedance is 10 ohms, so some headphones won't play well with it.

that said, it sounds pretty good, the connectors are not cramped and it takes a full size headphone jack.
 
for about the price of the schiit, Monoprice sells a desktop amp with USB in, line and variable out. and analog out.

https://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=120&cp_id=12008&cs_id=1200801&p_id=11567

the things to be careful of with that is that it has a gain switch on the back and is able to put out 6 volts in high gain mode on the variable line out - enough to clip an amp if used as a preamp, even if the signal it is pushing isn't distorted. probably also enough to damage your powered monitors. I have no idea why they built the system to potentially make trouble downstream.

the other issue is that the headphone output impedance is 10 ohms, so some headphones won't play well with it.

that said, it sounds pretty good, the connectors are not cramped and it takes a full size headphone jack.
Thanks! Huck
 
Huck,
If you decide the fulla is not for you....

A used Benchmark DAC1 USB is well within your price range. Balanced and single ended outs, variable gain on the front panel, super high quality build, great performance. There are two 1/4" trs headphone jacks on the front panel, the left one mutes the variable high level outputs. The output impedance is zero ohms.

The DAC2 HGC is even better but now around $1100 used. If you can stretch your budget you'll be amazed. It made a class A+ rating in Stereophile's
2017 Recommended Components.

I've got both a DAC1 and a DAC3 HGC and both drive my Audeze LCD-4 cans really well.
 
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Huck,
If you decide the fulla is not for you....

A used Benchmark DAC1 USB is well within your price range. Balanced and single ended outs, variable gain on the front panel, super high quality build, great performance. There are two 1/4" trs headphone jacks on the front panel, the left one mutes the variable high level outputs. The output impedance is zero ohms.

The DAC2 HGC is even better but now around $1100 used. If you can stretch your budget you'll be amazed. It made a class A+ rating in Stereophile's
2017 Recommended Components.

I've got both a DAC1 and a DAC3 HGC and both drive my Audeze LCD-4 cans really well.
I don't think I will be going with a replacement Fulla 2 and there are a couple of DAC1's for sale in my area...not sure what to go with right now/! Thanks,Huck
 
Sorry to hear that your Fulla came in toes up. Since your back "in-between", I'll offer a suggestion. The Oppo HA-1 seemed to fit your requirements. It seems to have been discontinued, so if you're not averse to used, it might be an option. In any case, I hope you get the Fulla squared away - it's always a letdown when you're expecting something new and there are problems.

Merry Christmas
Thanks! Huck
 
Yikes! You had me going - for a second. :)

Huck, good luck with your search.

I can tell you the Benchmark stuff is the real deal.
I'd put my DAC3 HGC up against much more expensive DAC's. I've got really good headphones and the DAC1 in my office system really lights them up.
 
Yikes! You had me going - for a second. :)

Huck, good luck with your search.

I can tell you the Benchmark stuff is the real deal.
I'd put my DAC3 HGC up against much more expensive DAC's. I've got really good headphones and the DAC1 in my office system really lights them up.
Thanks......maybe I just made a step to the side,instead of one or two up when I ordered the Schiit?!...not really looking to make a giant leap up,just something better sounding with my 305's and headphones than the Audioengine D1. Huck
 
Thanks......maybe I just made a step to the side,instead of one or two up when I ordered the Schiit?!...not really looking to make a giant leap up,just something better sounding with my 305's and headphones than the Audioengine D1. Huck

don't waste time on the monoprice I mentioned - it would compete with the schiit, but I don't think either is better than your D1.

In addition to some of the other recommendations, keep an eye out for a chance to listen to an Ayre Codex. even used it's above your price range, but while I like the irdac ii, the codex was noticeably better when I listened to them side-by-side.
 
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