Thank you all for these great options which are all new to me, greatly appreciated!
Small Footprint Streamer/DAC unit
Greetings,
I'm considering putting together a system comprised of three pieces: a Headphone Amp, Headphones, and a Streamer/DAC. Prerogative is quality pieces with very small footprints. I've seen many headphone amps with small footprints but not many combined Streamer/DAC's with small footprints.
Atoll's MS120 Streamer/DAC is a possibility with a footprint measuring 12"W 8"D 4"H. A smaller unit would even be better.
If anyone would care to suggest other Streamer/DAC units with small footprints, I would greatly appreciate it. Budget is $3K (perhaps a $4-$5K unit selling used for $3K).
Thank you!
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- 24 posts total
If you want all-in-one but are willing to compromise a bit on headphone amp quality, go with NODE ICON. Streaming and DAC are its strong suits. See the review here and here. If you want to get a high performing, small-footage setup under your budget, consider the following stackable combo in the top-down order: Schiit Midgard ($219; 9"x6"x1.5"; reviews here & here) Schiit Mimir ($299; 9"x6"x1.5"; reviews here & here) Volumio Rivo Plus (w/ Lhy LPS25va; $1,664; 10.6"x5.9"x2"; reviews here & here & here & here) Some reviews were on Rivo but Rivo+ tops it. If you want to save some but still get a mid-high performance, replace Volumio Rivo Plus with Node Nano ($379; 5.6"x5.6"x1.4"; review here) and place it on the top of combo near the Midgard’s ventilation outlet. |
I have had the Matrix Audio TS-1 for a couple weeks now. It uses the AKM chips so the sound is very good and includes a liner power supply port for easy upgrade. I have it in one of my headphone setups. The single ended out sounds pretty much as good as the balanced outs. https://power-holdings-inc.com/Matrix-TS-1-Music-Streamer-headphone-amp-p764399023 Similar in size to the Eversolo A6 but much better sounding. |
- 24 posts total

