Need suggestion for DAC/Amp for Denon AH-D2000

[FaH33m]

Have PM'ed you regarding the impressions with Audio-GD but I think if you post here , it may help others as well.

I had tried out the D2000 with Audio GD Compass .The sound is extremely neutral and everything seems to be very much under control. The bass is less than EF2A and uDAC .Rest of the sound was also neutral and sounded lot different than my uDAC /EF2A combo . Midrange and overall clarity was better than my combo at home but its treble extension wasn't till the end of spectrum . Audio GD Compass has a slight treble roll off and it was easily noticeable on D2000. Also soundstage ,I find it better on my combo than Compass. The Compass on the other hand is much clean and neutral sounding along with amazing bass authority.

Another problem is Audio GD being a complete desktop DAC + amp was way too strong for D2000. We had to keep volume at very minimum. 10%-20% Max.. If by mistake anyone increases it to 40-50% and it might end up damaging the drivers ..70-80% will surely kill the headphones.

 

[Brendon]

^^ Err I had mistakenly kept the Compass on high gain.

Thats the reason that your drivers almost blew. :ashamed:

 

[vivacious_tg]

Guys,

need a little more help.

How is Audinst HUD-MX1 compared to udac/udac 2?

 

[Brendon]

More neutral and better DAC and better amplifier as well. However its $79 more than the original uDAC and a little more than the uDAC 2.

The MX1 can drive HD650s and higher impedance headphones much better than the uDAC.

 

[vivacious_tg]

More neutral and better DAC and better amplifier as well. However its $79 more than the original uDAC and a little more than the uDAC 2.

The MX1 can drive HD650s and higher impedance headphones much better than the uDAC.

so do you think it is worth spending $50 more for HUD compared to udac 2 considering I have only denon's right now.

 

[bennysachdev]

The Audinst Mx1 like brendon pointed out has an excellent dac. Plus you can change the opamps to the ones some users at head-fi have recommended. Overall i always believe power is the most important thing in a dac rather then anything else and compared to the uDac, the Audinst can be power thru a power source. Which gives it enough power to drive your D2000 very easily. If you ever decide to go the DIY way, you can always change the PSU of the Audinst and put in a much more power / cleaner one. It would make the Audinst comparable to a lotta DACs twice its price.