DAC Fosi ZD3 or Fosi ZH3

[BananaUnicorn]

I currently have Hifiman Sundara and Apos Gremlin Tube Amp and on a tight budget, however i decided to put a little more and cant decide what DAC to buy for my AMP
Should i buy the Fosi ZD3 which is the DAC only version, currently 208$ including xlr to xlr cables
Or Buy the Fosi ZH3 which is the DAC/AMP, totally 230$, also with cables

I currently have an ASUS Xonar U7, AND ITS BAD
I dont have enough volume, and i just dont like how it sounds and the fact that the app is outdated and the dac/amp also

 

[PaulStevv]

I currently have Hifiman Sundara and Apos Gremlin Tube Amp and on a tight budget, however i decided to put a little more and cant decide what DAC to buy for my AMP
Should i buy the Fosi ZD3 which is the DAC only version, currently 208$ including xlr to xlr cables
Or Buy the Fosi ZH3 which is the DAC/AMP, totally 230$, also with cables

I currently have an ASUS Xonar U7, AND ITS BAD
I dont have enough volume, and i just dont like how it sounds and the fact that the app is outdated and the dac/amp also

$22 more for a superb headphone amp with tone controls. I have 12 different headphones including HE6SEv2 and the ZH3 powers them all beautifully. If you like headphones you won’t be disappointed.

 

[BGMeek]

Your question implies that you're happy with your tube amp and don't NEED a better headphone amp. The ZD3 works well for me as a DAC/preamp and I value its HDMI ARC operation... but I also have an iFi Zen DAC & headphone amp stack that needs no improvement. If I were you I would rather have the ZH3 because I would want studio neutral for headphones in addition to Gremlin Tube.

OTOH, with respect to your more rational budget side, just go for something like the SK02 if you *need* to buy some more audio stuff . I like the SK02! Great UI innovation with the multifunction volume knob, etc. Good sound specs too.