Looking for a good budget DAC + headphone amp for gaming

Parja

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Hey folks, I'm looking to upgrade from onboard audio to an external USB DAC + headphone amp with an emphasis on gaming. I'd also like to keep the price under $100. What would you recommend?

I don't have any headphones with terribly high impedance, so the amp doesn't need to be insanely powerful.
 
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I'd look at the Schiit Fulla to start with. Should be plenty.

I will say, also, that another option could be an audio interface as those start in the ~US$100 range (many cheaper), while providing more features other than strong headphone amps.

As an aside, if you're up for improving the setup later on, it might be reasonable to just get an amp like the Schiit Magni, among many others in that price range. Using onboard as a line-level output for a headphone amp should reduce any noise or distortion, so you'd see an improvement, and you'd be set up for a future external DAC and whatever else.
 
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There are more vendors to evaluate too, in addition to the different revisions of each. Main point is that they're more featureful and flexible than "audiophile" or "gamer" kit in that price range.
 
If you’re looking for lower in price but still decent quality check out SMSL, I picked up one of their m3 dac/amp combo off massdrop for $60.

It retails for about $80 i think though.

I will say ive been feeling the itch to upgrade to the shiit stack magni/modi thats double your budget though.
 
The Fiio K5 Pro is a much better alternative to the E10. Then pair the K5 Pro with a Micca Origain for speakers/sub.


That's $150. Did you completely miss the earlier post by the OP where they spit-up in rage over a $120 Schitt Fulla?

I offered him the best deal in his price range. You should learn to READ AMD REACT CORRECTLY,.
 
That's $150. Did you completely miss the earlier post by the OP where they spit-up in rage over a $120 Schitt Fulla?

I offered him the best deal in his price range.

Oh I missed that. 100 bucks... yea can't buy much with that. Good DACs cost money.
 
...spit-up in rage...

Ha! I'm not sure I'd put it *quite* like that, but Schiit's shipping costs are stupid.

I offered him the best deal in his price range.

Yup, I agree, especially for a device that has a mic jack, too...which is very nice since it's going to be primarily for gaming.
 
Get it on Amazon, no shipping if you have prime ( or a friend who does )

For more (total) than buying from Schiit directly. They just roll the shipping into the price and jack it up a bit to account for selling through Amazon.
 
Just get the Fulla. It's got a better mic input that pretty much anything else out there in its price range, and the headphone output is clean and powerful... and quiet. Unless you're using a USB mic of course, then the analog mic input would be useless.
 
Can vouch for the E10K being solid for the price.
Going from onboard to E10K it's a world of difference (especially for headphones that take well to amplification)
 
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