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 wanted more power and class A, then the aune x7s ($225 or $240). You need to buy an expensive xlr cable to get more power and this unit is not truly balanced (no balanced inputs for a balanced dac). Very good amp, but you will probably end up pairing it with a ok dac like the grace one on massdrop right now for $80.
If you wanted a true balanced dac/amp then the topping DX7 ($320). Massdrop just ended it like a day ago. Not as powerful as the aune x7s tho. NOTE: There is a used XDA-1 on ebay for auction for less than $150 and you could buy a smsl sap 9 then all you would need is too buy xlr cables (cheapest option I can find if you wanted to try balanced).
If you want balanced and lots of power then most people's end game choice is the schiit jotunheim ($400 amp, $100 dac).
I decided I will be buying a aune x1s until a jot goes on sale, because I don't think balanced is going to be worth it, I rather have a good amp and dac vs a not so good dac and amp but balanced. :)
As for the vali 2 is missing a dac. So you may want to consider these instead, Little dot MKIII, Alex Cavalli hydrid tube amp, dark voice 336Se. They are also missing dacs, but are probably better.
In fact the Little dot MKIII SE (balanced) is a bit intriguing, full balanced powerful tube amp while the dark voice is at least a full tube amp.
When you start to get into the cheaper tube amps they are only hybrids and have not heard good things about them. (Not tuby enough and stock tubes are bad). = Best option I know of would again be the aune t1 MK3 ($170 massdrop). Stock tube is better than most other cheap tube amps including the schit vali 2 and the aune even comes with a built in dac already.
If you wanted to go cheaper I know there is the little dot I+ amp ($90 I think on massdrop, I forgot). But the stock tube is really bad I heard so I read this guide in the link. So you have to pay an extra $40 for the Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV tube pair on ebay from the yenaudiostore seller. Then you still need to add a dac like the grace which is $80 = $210 total and at that price you may just want to spend a $100 more and get true tube amp and a cheap dac.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide.563884/
Massdrop seems to really be trying to sell people plenty of options. The Xduoo TA-10 spec wise seems like a good choice, I will probably be looking into it.