What would be a good portable Dac/Amp to use with my HD6xx and Sony Xperia 1 V cell phone?
I am new to this hobby. I purchased a HD6XX and plan to use it with my Sony Xperia 1 V cell phone, that has a 3.5mm jack. I was wondering if I needed a portable dac/amp or just a portable amp and if so what would one recommend? Any assistance one could provide, would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards, Haz
Mar 7, 2024
If you only listen YouTube to MP3 conversions then it may not be a huge upgrade. But if you buy your music form iTunes , or use something Spotify's high quality streaming then you will notice a difference.
Mind you these are open back headphones, meaning almost anyone in the room can hear what you are listening to. If you want something portable like in ear headphones I would recommend the Shure SE 215.
If memory serves me right, when I was a kid, headphones were hot, cheap and they pinched my head like crazy. It didn't help when I wore glasses either, so I'm pretty hesitant to get into the game again.
I'm looking for a main driver, something that I could bring with me everywhere, home or uni, and lasts well into the future. There are simply too many headphones on offer lol.
I recommend doing some research on IEMs like the Shure 215 (as recommended above), Sennheiser IE80 (same company that made the HD 6XX), MEE Pinnacle P1 (my personal favorite as I was able to snag them for $110 and find their soundstage comparable to open-back headphones), and anything else that catches your eye. Once you find a daily driver, only then should you decide if a pair of endgame headphones you'll only use at home is worthwhile. I use my P1s at home, work, the gym, during class, whenever I get the chance. I only use the HD 6XX at home. I consider them both worthwhile but given the choice of only one, quality IEMs are the most versatile.
My suggestion would be to maybe borrow a pair of "audiophile" headphones from someone or hit up a music store with a headphone demo station and try some yourself. You'll probably notice a significant difference between earpods and a good pair of headphones but you might not care.
The sound from the M8's stock earbuds are kinda meh from what I remember. Grabbing better earbuds or headphones would improve the sound drastically.
How do most of you solve the problem of a home setup vs commuting vs uni/work?
Thanks.
You could, you know just skip the HD6XX and go for some IEM's like the Shure SE215 that Massdrop has for sale and also pick up the CEntrance DACport Slim for your desktop use. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/shure-se215-earphones https://www.massdrop.com/buy/centrance-dacport-slim-amp-dac-combo Don't have to go with any of them but just saying good IEM's can give you great sound too and takes nothing to drive them.
Wait, using a DAC with a pair of IEM? I've never tried that tbh, since I've never had a DAC. I thought DACs are there to drive big headphones?
There's a blue box going on, the Thinksound IEM. I don't know if I should go with those or the Shure SE215... Has anyone got any experience with Thinksound IEMs?
Thank you!
So yes you can always use a DAC with any listening device IEM/Over The ears etc etc. Just realize that some AMPs don't have the lower enough floor that you might get some buzzing with sensitive IEM's on powerful AMPs.
Good luck to you and your search for what will make you happy at listening to whatever you do:D