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
Both are great, you won't be dissapointed, but if I were you I'd look for the Magni 3. OR, if you're curious about the whole tube thing, maybe check the Little Dot I+: it's hybrid, so it won't be as "tubey" as a OTL, but you can drive almost anything with this and it sounds soooo good with better tubes and opamp. Tube rolling is cool too.
A30 might have a different sound color, Magni 3 and D30 tend to be warmer/darker than most of the smaller/portable DAC/Amp combos (SMSL and XDuoo tend to run brighter to my ears) and the D30 tends to tame the slightly bright Jotunheim fairly well, at least single-ended into the Jotunheim. I've heard people prefer the A30 over the Magni 3 in terms of sound signature but that's up to your ears. Ultimately, your 600 ohm phones will hit clearer loudness with the Magni 3 compared to the A30 but that's just one part of the situation.
Sound quality-wise, it's hard to say which you would like better, since psychology plays a significant role in sighted listening impressions. They both measure very well, though power output on the magni is considerably higher. It is a bit of a moot point, since the A30 gets loud enough to melt your headphones/eardrums anyway. I like having a 0dB gain setting (the other two gains are comparable to the Magni's), and having both 1/4" and 1/8" jacks. The power level switch is an oddity, but I guess it's a demonstration that no one needs the amount of power these amps can provide. I like the way it looks better with the D30 stacked over the A30. Volume knob is nicer on the A30. Nonetheless, I use my Magni 3 much more because my daily driver is the Focal Clear. I use the A30 with my other headphones, though.
That said, I want to make it clear it's a pain to do careful comparisons between the A30 and anything else I own, because everything else has negligible output impedance (makes volume matching more difficult). I have heard a volume difference as small as 0.2dB and mistaken it for improved bass/clarity etc, and matching that well is basically impossible with my current setup. Also, I've lost my switch box, so I can't really do careful comparisons anyway, atm ...