Hi all,
Been a member for over 11 years but looks like I haven't posted here in a long while. I've been a huge audiophile since the early 90's with Jeff Rowland, Cary, Ayre, Accuphase, Jolida, Enlightened Audio Designs, YBA, Goldmund.....and many other nice bits of gear have passed and gone through my set ups. After many, many moons, my music requirements & gear have greatly changed and been simplified; as the budget has too.
For my small home machine shop, I'm looking for a outboard DAC that can connect to a dedicated iPhone or Ipad (recent 256gb model) as a “hi-res” music source for my work bench that I can sync up to my other apple set ups on the property. I never use headphones and DAC will only be needed for a integrated speaker amp (integrated).
Budget is well, in the budget category. I've been hearing good things about the Schiit Modi Multibit, the Luxury & Precision W2 dongle and AQ Dragonfly Cobalt or Red. $300 or less for DAC.
For me, it's all about the music and not about the tech science measurements. Looking for something musical and less fatiguing (I know, big ask with budget). I've gone down the accuracy & dry rabbit hole but found I'm much happier with vinyl, tube and silky sounding music.
Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks in advance.
PS> Also looking for a small used Tim Rawson Gainclone integrated amp or similar to try out (maybe a small Class A) but that would be for another thread.