# Best USB DAC/AMP to be used with my laptop



## Nikori

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum so pls be kind. 
   
  I own a pair of harman/kardon NC headphones which sound pretty great to me. However, i feel that these headphones could deliver much more in terms of sound quality if it was used together with an external USB dac. The problem is, i prefer to listen to music (mostly lossless) using iTunes on my laptop (which has Dolby Home Theatre v4 enabled - is this a scam btw??) and the sound is not to my satisfaction. It is so bad that i've resorted to using my iPod lately since it sounds way better. But i want better sound! Hence, the need for a dac.
   
  I've done some research and i'm currently considering these:
   
  a) Hifiman ef2a
  b) Fiio e17
  c) Fiio e10 (cheapest)
   
  What are your thoughts and personal experience with these products and feel free to suggest alternatives. Budget < $200
   
  Type of music that i listen to is very broad:
   
  a) Classic Rock - Queen, Dire Straits, Bon Jovi, Deep Purple, Scorpions, MLTR
   
  b) Ballads (lots of them)
   
  c) Kpop (don't laugh)
   
  d) Electropop, Pop - Michael jackson anyone??
   
  e) Classical Music - Mozart, Beethoven etc.
   
   
  I would really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.


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## Koolpep

Hi Nikori,

Welcome. And you have made some good choices I think. 

I would go for the Hifiman, if you need portability then choose the E17, both are very good for the money.

Enjoy your music and report back which one you chose and how it improved the sound....
Cheers,
K


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## Bob2000

What about the meridian explorer?? Any thoughts anyone?? Which dac is best for a Alienware m18 laptop and Sony MDR-1R?? Any answer would be much appreciated.


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## belisk

Audioquest Dragonfly?


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## DrSheep

Quote: 





belisk said:


> Audioquest Dragonfly?


 
  I second this, and based on personal experience it is well worth your money even at MSRP of $250.  It can output 24bits at 96khz and that's hard to beat.


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## DrSheep

Quote: 





bob2000 said:


> What about the meridian explorer?? Any thoughts anyone?? Which dac is best for a Alienware m18 laptop and Sony MDR-1R?? Any answer would be much appreciated.


 
  LOL I just saw this and I am running my AudioQuest DragonFly with the M18x R1.  I have the V-MODA VERZA too, but that's overkill just for a desktop/laptop setup.


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## Nikori

Yeah i'm kinda considering tht too. Still saving up money so i still have time to decide.  Is it any good btw? Have u tried it?


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## Nikori

What bout the Hifiman? It has lots of great reviews that mention about giving warmer sound and such. Is the dragonfly better?


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## Nikori

Oh u have the 1R's? I tried them out in Sony Store and they look and sound pretty good. One of the best designs i must say.


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## Nikori

Yeah, the Hifiman is my top pick at the moment. However, the Dragonfly is also something to look into. SUre i'll let u know once i've bought one. Going to the UK soon so i'm gonna purchase it there.


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## jawar

The iBasso D7 is amazing if using with laptop only and if need for portable use too then D42 is great buy, Both sound better than Fiio and many other DAC/AMPs in this price range.


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## NewAKGGuy

Quote: 





jawar said:


> The iBasso D7 is amazing if using with laptop only and if need for portable use too then D42 is great buy, Both sound better than Fiio and many other DAC/AMPs in this price range.


 
   
  I would second the iBasso recommendation.  They make very high quality amps and DACs at budget prices.  Fiio makes a good product that sounds pretty decent, but while the iBasso's are a little more expensive than the Fiios, they are well worth the few extra dollars for Newbs as they get you very close to the high-dollar amps in sound quality for substantially less coin.
   
  Once you have established the appropriate budget, you should first consider what you need in terms of portability, drive power, and power source (battery / USB / wall).  Some of these things will counterbalance each other.  Some pointers:
   
  1.  Think about the future.  If you hang around here too long, you may find yourself upgrading your phones in short order for something w/o noise cancelling and even better sound quality.
   
  2.  Portable dac/amps in which the amp section is (or can be) powered by a battery instead of just USB are more versatile in terms of what they can drive and they tend to sound better as the 5v on the UBS bus doesn't supply a lot of voltage swing.  For that reason I would lean towards the D42 rather than the D7 as the D7 is really a dac which can drive a set of headphones if you really need it to do so.
   
  3.  Don't be afraid to go to the FSoT forums and buy used.  That way you can experiment with many brands before you settle on one w/o much risk of loss.  You can pick up an iBasso D3 or D4 for about the same price as the Fiio e17 new.
   
  4.  Go ahead and ditch the Dolby signal processing.  As you get sucked into quality hi-fi and head-fi, you'll learn (as we all have) that pure, clean, unadulterated source/signals present the best opportunity for optimal sound quality.
   
  5.  It's no surprise that your iPod sounds better.  Most computer on board DACs & amps are terrible.  Most of the iPod DACs (with the exception of the 5G and 5.5G) are just decent, but better than most laptops.  While iPods benefit substantially from just improving the amp (especially if you have an old 5G or 5.5G with the Wolfson DACs), there are a few devices that also allow you to take a digital signal out of the iPod and run it through the portable's DAC - but they are relatively expensive.  If you buy a good DAC/amp combo you can use a line-out-dock to take the line level analog signal from an iPod and run it through just the amp section of your combo.
   
  GLHF!


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## BenF

The Hifimediy DAC will easily drive your headphones directly and will provide superior SQ to FIIO E10/E17 or Hifiman ef2a.
   
http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=62&product_id=83
   
  And it's only 49$ shipped!
  You should buy it while it's in stock, otherwise you may have to wait for weeks until it comes back.


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