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
They're pretty damn good. I listened to several phones in MrSpeakers' lineup and I don't personally care for their sound signature, but these were technically excellent, especially for closed-back phones. To be frank, I actually preferred their overall presentation to that of the Ether 2, although I will say that I didn't have the time to listen to the open-back Ether 2's in a quiet setting, and the Ether 2's were technically superior in terms of details and soundstage.
If I had a spare $900 around, I would strongly consider biting on these, but alas I'll continue enjoying my $200 HD 6XX for the time being (and enjoy them I most certainly do!)
On head-fi, I wrote: "having listened to the Eligia quite a bit earlier and A/B'd for a few minutes with the Clears, I think "congested" may be the perfect word to describe them. I mean they sounded great, but less so when they're sitting right next to the Clears; a quick A/B with the Clears or Elears rapidly betrays that something is lost in closing up those earcups. The soundstage narrows quite considerably, although they otherwise are quite technically sound and maintain Focal's sound signature nicely. If you're stuck on getting closed back phones, I certainly wouldn't rule them out, but they basically sound exactly like what you'd think would happen if you took Focal's and closed em' up. Unlike @Allanmarcus, I find them (and all of Focal's line-up) quite comfortable, which is perhaps aided by the fact that I have a tiny head?"
I unfortunately don't think I can give a good descriptive comparison between the Elegia and the Ether CX, other than to say I think the Elegia is more to my tastes but I would happily own either. If you have heard either a MrSpeakers or Focal headphone, I think it doesn't take much imagination to figure out what these respective closed back phones will sound like, as they both are true to their manufacturer's house sound and I didn't hear any red flag problems with either.
In other news, of the other headphones on that list I wrote above, I would take the LCD2C closed by a significant margin, assuming it's a fixed one. The first demo unit at TSAV was pretty terrible. That said, my Aeon closed doesn't sound anything like Dan's measurements. It is very mid-centric, lacking quite a bit in both treble and bass (although bass is extended well). I took out the foam in the ports, which fixed the bass, but the treble is still too polite for my tastes. Another casualty of sample variance?
Update: so, was able to exchange my pair of Elegias for another one that we verified was working correctly. Tonally, it is very close the Clears, I hear it like Jude's measurements. Mids are excellent, nothing to complain about. Bass is tight, well-extended, and has that Focal kick to it, but doesn't have the warmth and fullness you get from good planars (Audeze, MrSpeakers, etc). Treble, while good, is not as clean as the Clears or as smooth as LCD2Cs. I prefer the extra energy over the LCDs, but some don't. I wasn't at RMAF, so I can't compare to Ether CX, unfortunately. In the end, I guess it comes down to whether one prefers dynamic or planar presentation. I'm a sucker for Focal's hyper-dynamic sound, so ...