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
Just go with a schiit modi multibit with a aune x7s or schiit asgard 2 and they will probably beat the mojo for the same price.
The head-fi thread is full of hype (they get all triggered when you tell them the mojo is bad) Instead, read a thread focused on shitting on the mojo instead (jk there's some legit advice there ) http://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/chord-mojo.218/ And from what I read there the schiit modi multibit beats the mojo in all aspects.
" I am, like @Kattefjaes, one of those people that don't think Mojo sounds quite as bad as some people say. At the time I bought it it was the best sounding portable DAC I'd heard. Initially I felt it compared well even next to, say, Bifrost MB. However, the longer I've owned it and the more things I've compared it to the more the shine (and effects of hype) has waned.
For desktop use it's out-performed by Modi MB ... and by a larger margin than I first thought, for less than half the price.
Inside a year I've gone from being an enthusiastic recommender of Mojo to someone that thinks it has its place, but is also aware of its shortfalls ... and those were things I'd managed to miss, or not hear, until they were pointed out by others. It also has a number of ergonomic and operational issues ... including the worst USB input implementation I've come across (I actually think it's faulty, not just weak) and unacceptable (for a phone-targeted product) susceptibility to EMI/RFI." - torq, sbaf
The reason you have to go to the shop to listen is because the different people prefer different sound. Some may like the laid back character of the HD 650 while some may prefer the clarity and space that the HD 800 offers.
The HD 800 is a very sibilant sounding headphone with a treble peak that can be unbearable to quite a few people. A headphone focusing on the Soundstage, excellent for listening to well recorded orchestral pieces due to the many instruments playing all at once, the sennheiser HD 800 really gives a great feeling of space and you hear good detail in the massive space that the HD 800 presents the music in. The HD 800 is very source picky and requires a good amp to drive them or they will sound terrible.
The HD 650 has a very laid back character that lacks the massive soundstage and clarity of the HD 800 but offers a thumping bass paired with sweet mids with body, unlike the HD 800 where mids can feel thin and airy. The HD 650 is not source picky but will scale well with amps, a proper amp is required to take full advantage of the 650.
The focal elear is also another highly regarded headphone that is apparently not source picky. I didnt really hear the focal elear properly for a long period of time thus I cannot comment but it is a very pleasant headphone I have had the pleasure of listening to.
The STAX earspeaker lineup is very very very amazing and the entry level srs-3100 system that I have had the pleasure of auditioning is very good and offers better detail than the HD 800, however they offer a unique presentation of the sound that may not be for everyone. The L700 is said to have blown everyone away and well is very expensive ...$6000 for the energizer and headphones. Do note that the sennheiser orpheus HE-1 are regarded as the worlds best sounding headphone with a price tag to justify the performance ($75000) but the stax L700 system can hold its own against the worlds best sounding headphone with some saying that they offer similar levels of enjoyment.
Headphones that you should try : HD 800s, HD 650, HD 600, Audeze LCD 2, AKG K712, focal elear, and the STAX lineup such as the stax L300 and the endgame L700