Because Audiophiles neeeed to scratch as soon as the wound of the last audio purchase has almost healed… I’m looking to upgrade my personal branch of my over-inflated audio collection…
I have Shure SE846s, a Fiio X7 & K5 and the Marantz HD-DAC1. The currently used Marantz sounds decent but I tend to run out of… oomph at times. Hey, if you want a car that cruises comfortably at 120, don’t buy one with a top speed of 125…
I’m considering going to a balanced cable for the SE846s, and a DAC/amplifier.
Requirements:
- Higher power (the Marantz is rated at 800mW @ 32ohm, the Fiio a wee bit higher).
- Source will be PC - Tidal & NAS - formats from MP3 to DSD64 via jriver and/or digital from Cocktail Audio X50 from my soundroom controlled thru PC app.
- Remote not necessary as it will be right at my PC station.
- As a Magnepan fan I’ll likely try out the addition of planar headphones -y’know - once this purchase injury is JUST about healed…
- Budget is around $1500ish.
Because I have to research the livin crep out of anything before I buy - some of the units I’ve been looking at for about 2 weeks and considering are: (in no particular order)
Schiit Jotunheim with DAC
RME ADI-2 DAC FS - leaning towards this one…
iFi Diablo - although I don’t need portability and don’t really care for the looks of portable rigs
iFi Pro iDSD or Neo
SPL Phonitor E or SE
Monoprice Monolith THX
CA Dacmagic
Topping DX7
OPPO HA-1
I’d gratefully graciously appreciate and consider your input as my experience in this area is sadly quite inexperienced.
Oddly the SE846s have quite the audible hum from my SGCD… not that it matters as it is in a different room…
Also - the only MMCX cables I can find (relatively) local are the Fiio Silver series or CAMPFIRE AUDIO SMOKY LITZ - both at around $140 - recommendation?
Thanks!