It isn’t a surprise to anyone that we love headphones. We love building headphone rigs, we love matching DACs with headphones amps. We love them on the go, on the fly, and in the gym, but most of all, we love them in our homes, constantly adding new cans to our overgrowing headphone collection.
We tried plenty of two-box solutions consisting of a DAC and headphone amp, some were truly outstanding, some were mid-fi overachievers and some might kickstart a wonderful journey for you. FiiO’s K9 PRO is still our all-time-favorite DAC/Amp combo below a kilo-buck and it seems that FiiO made a similar performing unit at a lower price than ever before. DX5 by Topping was quite an interesting proposition for streaming heads, but if MQA is not on your audiophile diet, then their newest MQA-less DX5 Lite looks like a better deal altogether. EF400 R-2R DAC & headphone amp combo by HiFiMan made quite a stir last year due to ample power delivery and musical R-2R ladder architecture, but their newest EF600 do-it-all combo is so much more!
I’ll let Apos Audio introduce their newest goodies:
1) HiFiMan EF600 is many things. An R2R ladder DAC, a 5-watt per channel headphone amp, a Bluetooth receiver, and a fully functional headphone stand where you can stow your favorite set of cans when not in use.
2) HiFiMan Audvina isn’t a typical closed-back headphone. Inside each cup is a resonance chamber inspired by the architectural acoustics of the Bayreuth Festival Theater in Germany. Sound takes a circuitous route through the chamber, creating a much wider soundstage than is typically associated with closed-back cans.
3) FiiO K9 is a powerhouse when it comes to delivering high-quality sound. Cheaper than the big brother, it features Bluetooth 5.1, dual THX AAA-788+ amplifier circuits, and dual ESS ES9068AS DAC chips. With a genuinely balanced architecture, partitioned PCB, and isolated power supplies, it serves up immaculate sound for a fraction of the price.
4) Topping DX5 Lite is DX5’s little brother that boasts dual ESS DAC chips and Topping’s NFCA amplifier tech that lowered distortion to an impressively low 0.00009%. Both DX5s have the same awesome features minus the MQA rendering function on the Lite.
Why Apos Audio? It’s simple! They offer free priority shipping in the USA and Canada, the lowest price guarantee and you have 45 days to decide if you are satisfied with your purchase.
