Russ andrews dac 1 vs Headroom Portable Desktop amp

[goodsguys]

Hi And thanks for reading this post.

I have been offered the above two dacs and really need some advice on which one to go for.
A quick google search indicates these are both good usb dacs but is one better than the other, would love to hear your feedback.
These are old dacs from 2006, is it worth buying these or is a modern usb dac a better choice.
The russ andrews is a copy of the stello da100 signature.

Many thanks in advance. John.

[Ali Tait]

I would venture to say that things have moved on since those dacs were new. What is your budget?

[goodsguys]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Okay, i get the same feeling from reading the forums.

At the moment i have a modded zero dac which was all the rage a few years ago got it from a chinese supplier on ebay
funnily enough they are still selling it probably would compete well at the £250 price mark.

Want to upgrade from that. I have £400 to spend.

Many thanks. John.

[Yomanze]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Okay, i get the same feeling from reading the forums.

At the moment i have a modded zero dac which was all the rage a few years ago got it from a chinese supplier on ebay
funnily enough they are still selling it probably would compete well at the £250 price mark.

Want to upgrade from that. I have £400 to spend.

Many thanks. John.

What is more important to you, natural and analogue sound or detail and definition? Also, what sort of music do you like?

[goodsguys]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Really i want to use it for hooking up to my pc via usb and watching movies.

I have a 5.1 set up with each speaker actively driven probably worth about £2k for the entire system, minimum figure.

The person selling the dacs said the headroom is a year old and the russ andrews unit is still selling on the russ andrew website.
According to him the units compete well against modern day competition. That is his word on the matter.

Many thanks. John.

[Stubies]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Really i want to use it for hooking up to my pc via usb and watching movies.

I have a 5.1 set up with each speaker actively driven probably worth about £2k for the entire system, minimum figure.

The person selling the dacs said the headroom is a year old and the russ andrews unit is still selling on the russ andrew website.
According to him the units compete well against modern day competition. That is his word on the matter.

Many thanks. John.

If you want to decode Dolby 5.1 while watching movies - then none of the dacs mentioned will be useful. They are only stereo dacs.

If yes your choices will be limited - mostly to AV recievers that can decode Dolby 5.1 ...

Is that what u have in mind?