DAC/AMP for Focal Spirit Professional (mixing and mastering)

[estibi]

I just ordered Focal Spirit Professional headphones.
Do I need a dedicated DAC if I already have Focusrite Scarlett 2i4? If so, which one would be good enough?
The main usage will be mixing and basic mastering of my own stems.

[Tarekith]

How much do you want to spend? I can't recommend the Lynx Hilo enough, sounds amazing paired with my Spirit Pros. But I'm guessing that's a bit more than you want to spend?

[estibi]

That's way too much for me. I'm not sure what is the right balance between price and quality for DAC/AMPs.
Let say my budget is around 500 USD at this moment.

[Tarekith]

I have no idea what's available in that range, but hopefully someone else will chime in here with some ideas for you.

[estibi]

What is the minimum price range you would consider in regards to mixing and mastering? That 500$ is not a hard limit but rather an initial thought. I don't want to buy a "toy" DAC and later on replace it with something else.

[Tarekith]

I think given that you plan on only using headphones for your mixing and mastering, $500 should be more than enough.

[fishmonkey]

these are supposed to be very good for the price:

https://gomiyo.com/pages/comparison

http://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/109/miyo ... phone-amp/

[Tarekith]

I'd ask over on gearslutz too, seen a few headphone amp threads there over time, so maybe a few more people into that sort of thing.

[estibi]

I've just got a headphones. Wow.. I can now hear details I was not aware of.
I will definitely buy a D/A converter, Focusrite 2i4 is completely unsuitable for this job.

[Tarekith]

Yeah, they are great headphones for sure. I don't like open backed cans for some odd reason, so these fit my needs perfectly.

[estibi]

FWIW, I have got Denon DA-300USB

[sirbiss]

Imo you don't need an extra DAC if you have an 2i4.

And the impedance of your Focal Spirit Professional is only 32 ?, so no need for an AMP after your 2i4.

Don't waste your money.

[estibi]

I don't like volume control on 2i4. You can hear nonlinear volume gains in left or right channels especially when using low volume.

DA-300 has one rotary encoder for volume and the gain is done I believe in digital domain.
I also tested DA-10 for more mobile setup but the volume control was the same as in 2i4.