- Campfire Audio Relay is a USB-C DAC/AMP for headphones
- Pro-Project headbox E is a very small desktop headphones amplifier
- Campfire Audio Relay: $ 229 / £ 229 | Pro-Project headbox E: £ 89 (approx. $ 120)
Two of our favorite hi-fi companies have released two very different headphone amplifiers. One is designed to live on your desk and the other in your pocket or purse, but both promise a significant sound upgrade to fans of the best wired headphones and best wired earbuds.
The amplifiers are Campfire Audio Relay, a portable headphone DAC/AMP with a USB-C connection; and Pro-Lect Head Box E, a compact desktop headphone amplifier. Both are available from July 2025 and both cost less than you would expect.
Campfire Relay and Pro-Lects Headbox E: Key Functions and Pricing
Let’s start with the couple’s most affordable, Project headbox E. It’s only £ 89 / € 119 (about $ 120 / AU $ 180), and unlike similar prices, it doesn’t use an integrated chipset for its amplification: Pro-project says it has used carefully selected discreet components to deliver a sound that goes over AMP’s modest-prismer.
The headbox E delivers 665 milliwatts in 32 ohms, and it is deliberately simple: it has a pair of 6.3 mm and a 3.5mm headphones on the front – which can be used at the same time for shared listening – and RCAs on the back. RCA Out bypass so it can send unchanged sound to your Hi-Fi system. According to Pro-Jister, it surpasses “the headphone stages typically found in stereo amplifiers”.
The Campfire -Light Relay is even smaller, and it is built around the AKM 4493 SEQ DAC -CHIP, which according to Campfire delivers “just the right amount of color and a touch of a classic analog audio signature.” It has 3.5 mm and balanced 4.4 mm outputs and USB-C for wide connection with phones, tablets and computers.
The relay has chosen high / low reinforcement, six filter modes and variable bites up to 32-bit / 768kHz, and it supports both PCM and DSD playback.
Campfire Audio Relay is £ 229 / $ 299 (around AU $ 470) and if you’re in London this weekend you can check it out at Canjam London.
