Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews

Bottom Line

By this point, you probably don’t need a “professional reviewer” to reach these conclusions, but you’ve got one and they’re paying me (barely), so here goes. IOGear’s solution gets my pick as the mostest-for-leastest: best range, most functionality, nice ergonomics. At $349 ($275-ish online from Amazon and others) it’s not cheap, but the enhanced functionality and distance performance validate the premium for any system that needs its abilities.

On the other hand, within a single room or space Vizio’s solution functions just as well, has twice as many inputs, and costs a good deal less: currently, it’s available for $200 at Vizio’s own site, and for as little as $149 elsewhere online. The GefenTV link, while equally effective in-room, doesn’t bring enough to the party that I could discern – other than a proposal-approvable “pro” name – to balance its higher price and noticeable noise output.

In all honesty, I did really not expect any of these systems to work as well as all three proved to do. Wireless HDMI may not be the next, uh, wireless, but it’s definitely here, and for real.