Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Platinum Balanced Limited Edition DAC by Alex Cavalli (AKM4499) $499.99 + Free Shipping

stone_

Jan 18, 2023 12:38 AM

1.8K Comments

Joined Aug 2011

stone_Jan 18, 2023 12:38 AM

1.8K Comments

this is a DAC, not an Amp

5

vid1900

Pro

Jan 18, 2023 1:31 AM

3.5K Comments

Joined Sep 2016

vid1900

Pro

Jan 18, 2023 1:31 AM

3.5K Comments

Title says "headphone amp" but this is clearly just a DAC.

1

ShrewdNarwhal844

Jan 18, 2023 2:27 PM

186 Comments

Joined Jun 2019

ShrewdNarwhal844Jan 18, 2023 2:27 PM

186 Comments

Quote from smeesmay

:

Always wondered about these...

Do I really want to pay $500 to blow my hearing? I mean either headphones are loud or not...not really sure what amplifying speakers that are touching your ears really does.

With headphone amplifiers (Which this is actually not, it's just a DAC) it's not about the volume it's putting out, it's the sound. Most phones and cheap electronics have DACs that aren't great, the signal-to-noise ratio is bad, they just, in essence, sound substandard. A headphone amplifier is more of a sound conditioner than anything else, giving you a smooth, balanced, and higher quality experience.

Then you've also got headphone amplifiers with DACs built in, which is more common. A DAC actually takes a digital signal and turns it into analog, which all sound that hits our ears actually is. Basically anything that can feed you digital music, from a CD player to a smartphone, has a DAC in it, but most of them are cheap and not that great. A DAC (like this one) takes in a fully digital signal from a variety of sources, and does the signal conversion to analog by itself, and generally does a better job of it.

None of this is actually necessary, of course, and most people wouldn't notice any real difference. But if you spend a lot of time listening to digital music and a lot of time with headphones on, you can notice the differences and develop preferences. That's why things like this exist.

7

j505

Jan 19, 2023 12:22 AM

8 Comments

Joined Oct 2021

j505Jan 19, 2023 12:22 AM

8 Comments

Quote from smeesmay

:

Always wondered about these...

Do I really want to pay $500 to blow my hearing? I mean either headphones are loud or not...not really sure what amplifying speakers that are touching your ears really does.

This is literally the most ignorant comment. 1st, this is a dac, not an amplifier. 2nd, you must not be into HiFi… You can also have headphones play loud with great quality or you can be cheap and and have them play terribly.

4

smeesmay

Jan 19, 2023 12:40 AM

1.1K Comments

Joined Jul 2012

smeesmayJan 19, 2023 12:40 AM

1.1K Comments

Quote from j505

:

This is literally the most ignorant comment. 1st, this is a dac, not an amplifier. 2nd, you must not be into HiFi… You can also have headphones play loud with great quality or you can be cheap and and have them play terribly.

Cool bro...do u. Pay 5 hundo for differences only pure audio snobs could tell. Im gonna blast my cheap wireless headphones at the gym and forget about this.

3

6

LovePotion9

Jan 19, 2023 5:15 PM

147 Comments

Joined Oct 2017

LovePotion9Jan 19, 2023 5:15 PM

147 Comments

$800 DAC with $2 external ac adapter. At that price it should have internal linear low noise ps. No wonder it limited.

kluvlaw

Jan 21, 2023 6:53 AM

147 Comments

Joined Aug 2014

kluvlawJan 21, 2023 6:53 AM

147 Comments

Quote from smeesmay

:

Cool bro...do u. Pay 5 hundo for differences only pure audio snobs could tell. Im gonna blast my cheap wireless headphones at the gym and forget about this.

Another pointless comment bro, thanks for your great addition to this thread. This is a good sale on a well reviewed DAC. https://headfonics.com/monoprice-...ac-review/

smeesmay

Jan 21, 2023 12:33 PM

1.1K Comments

Joined Jul 2012

smeesmayJan 21, 2023 12:33 PM

1.1K Comments

Quote from kluvlaw

:

Another pointless comment bro, thanks for your great addition to this thread. This is a good sale on a well reviewed DAC. https://headfonics.com/monoprice-...ac-review/

Pointless is trying to pay 500 or more to polish a turd. Audio files only can get so clear. So what...you are spending 500 bucks...having too large of a setup to be portable...and at very best using humongous audio files for a tit bit better noise reduction and crispness? Sounds to me like spending 10grand to make your car go one mile an hour faster. If u aren't a Nascar driver or a professional audio engineer...you living a lie

3

khaliss

Jan 22, 2023 1:50 AM

234 Comments

Joined Dec 2010

khalissJan 22, 2023 1:50 AM

234 Comments

tempting, but I feel like this price will drop further... looking into getting my first DAC

blak000

Jan 22, 2023 5:27 PM

93 Comments

Joined Dec 2016

blak000Jan 22, 2023 5:27 PM

93 Comments

Quote from khaliss

:

tempting, but I feel like this price will drop further... looking into getting my first DAC

If you're buying your first ever DAC, I'd advise looking into something more affordable. When considering how best to boost audio performance, it's usually: headphone >>>>> amp > DAC. The Schiit stack (Magni + Modi) is considered a pretty solid amp/DAC combo for $200. I personally have a Liquid Spark (on sale for $80 currently) and a Topping D10 DAC, which can be purchased for $100 on sale. The JDS Atom amp/DAC combo is another solid offering at around $200 total price point. All three will be powerful enough to drive most headphones you'd consider buying, unless you're starting to get into the really high end headphone segment. I have a few headphones from the Sennheiser HD6xx line, which generally need amplification, and they run just fine off the Liquid Spark on low gain.

Reason why I'm advising a budget amp/dac build initially is bc it's easy to blow a ton of money into this hobby and realize you were happy with the sound at a much lower price point. Also, more expensive doesn't always necessarily mean better in the audiophile world. Ask me how I know.

5

KRT09

Jan 24, 2023 4:43 PM

1.1K Comments

Joined Oct 2016

KRT09Jan 24, 2023 4:43 PM

1.1K Comments

This is a joke at $500. Get a decent R2R DAC if you're going to spend this kind of $. Most people won't be able to tell a difference anyway. Some will tell you they can, but in a blind test the vast majority of people will fail (I'm sure I would be one of them).

Spend your $ on headphones or speakers, then

Quote from blak000

:

it's usually: headphone >>>>> amp > DAC.

Well said. Allocate your money accordingly because the audio hobby can be expensive, spend wisely (or not?).

1

j505

Apr 18, 2023 11:19 PM

8 Comments

Joined Oct 2021

j505Apr 18, 2023 11:19 PM

8 Comments

Quote from smeesmay

:

Cool bro...do u. Pay 5 hundo for differences only pure audio snobs could tell. Im gonna blast my cheap wireless headphones at the gym and forget about this.

Maybe if you had HD800's or Focal Utopia's, you'd understand?

Monolith by Monoprice Liquid Platinum Balanced Limited Edition DAC by Alex Cavalli (AKM4499) $499.99 + Free Shipping

$500

$800

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