Ok I’m shopping for a desk appropriate DAC and speaker amp combo that doesn’t break the bank (<~700USD total). There are SO many spec options available I’m a bit stuck in analysis paralysis. Plus what I want to do might be a tough sell in any case so maybe I’ve backed myself into a corner.
Two digital inputs (two pcs, both support usb or toslink optical. One could maybe do ‘headless’ hdmi earc?), plus bluetooth (or usb?) from a mobile device.
Passive speakers (Micca RB42, so needs a bit of oomph to push). Nearfield desktop setup. Plus I’d like the option to switch to headphones. Less special but should be good enough.
On the DAC, It looks like maybe a balanced dac+headphone amp like the newer SMSL or FiiO or Topping? There are a few chip choices to look at? Then extra stuff like R2R, pffb and other electrics?
On the amp, class D (the TI one everyone likes?), I have a little less info here.
This is a topic that at first glance feels like a good AI agent would be ok at - pull in specs and objective measurement and subjective reviews and optimize. But this is not possible. There is far too much slop out there already and it just looks like (Gemini at least where I have some tokens) just gives up super fast.
Where do I go from here? Happy to get recommendations on components to optimize around, directions to start digging.