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
For your reference, my upgrade path of in ear monitor is Shure E2C >Shure SE110 >UM2 >Westone 3 >Westone 4 >Sennheiser IE80>sennheiser IE800
Take only BA driver headphones for comparison , Westone 3 has the most bass quantity among the Westone I have owned. Overall it is emphasizing on bass, while the mid is slightly recessed. I don't remember the high as it is already 5years ago. My upgrade to Westone 4 is too look for more forward vocal.
In conclusion, for bass head, Westone 3 is definitely choice from Westone if the tuning is similar to Westone 30, and with 249.99 it is an attractive price.
Edit: Forgot to mention, the Westone 3 has a nice guitar reproduction, and I am not really know the different between basshead/metal head, so I hope my experience can help who are still struggling.
here in Iowa, a set of molds is $175 - they'll make anything sound worlds better. Like turning the sub on or off.
And @Flyingvee thanks, I fear you are right. I had made the decision to go custom a week or so ago but I heard some horror stories of people needing several re-fits. I wouldn't have the patience for that. Saying that, I found an audiologist that does it for about the same as what you are saying.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/729130/w3-versus-w30-exciting-news/225
These are the same as the Japanese 30 and are not re-tuned on top of that. They were specially produced earphones using the W3's body but updating it to the new MMCX audio connector.
Talking with the audio engineer at Westone, he explained it to me as having a low end a little warmer than the W30 but not as warm as the UM30 while keeping the mids and highs in tact with the current W30.
Of course - everyone else is entitled to their opinion. If factory throw away earpieces work for you, for sure - no need to spend $200 bucks for the custom earpiece. But if a person WANTS/needs better bass or isolation, the molds are the only way to go.
Plus - when you sell the iems, you can KEEP the molds for your next set of IEMs.
I do believe people can only compare headphone to headphone which is directly before/after unless they can do A/B test at the same time point, as people will change to accustomed their current headphone. My case is that when I got my Westone 4, I give my Westone 3 to my uncle and he lost it one year after (about 3~4years ago). This please take my experience with a grain of salt.
Moreover, may I know if the IE800 you tried has been run in already? Because the IE800 do take an extremely long run in time. In addition, an amp is recommended. Although it is quite sensitive and low ohm, with amp it is just quite unbelievable that it can even best out my B&W P7 wired version. Sound crazy, but IE800 bested in every aspects, from sound quality to soundstage to punchy(!) and details.
And one more reminder, whoever considering IE800, please do really try to put it first on as my father always having problem with keeping the IE800 sealed properly, while I can put them on sealed my ear easily.
Don't get me wrong, I love my W40's, but I have no choice but to reluctantly switch to a pair of Sennheisers JUST so I can fully enjoy my metal tracks, and then switch back for other genres, or movies.
But this only applies for music where bass is the core of sound. Westones are far superior when balance is the key. This is where most Sennheiser IEMs fall behind and BA's shine.