Hi,

I am considering getting a portable dac/amp, and after reading a ton of threads I kind of boiled it down to the Pico, iBasso D10, and RSA Predator. All three seem amazing, so I was wondering which one would really compliment my SR325is and maybe SE530. I really like the sound of the Apogee Duet with my Grado (too bad I don't own a Mac plus I want something portable ), are any of the three similar to that sound signature?

The only problem I have with the iBasso is probably it's size and RF interference, especially since I live in San Francisco, I'm sure to encounter a lot of that. Though the price is very attractive.

Also does anyone know any shops in San Francisco that has these to try out?

Thanks in advance for all your input!

well I owned the pico, demoed the predator and now currently own the D10. D10FTW, the pico does indeed sound great and looks very nice as well. but IMO the D10 via optical or coax trumps the pico without trouble. via USB its closer and they are very similar.

re: the RF interference, when I was using the stock op-amps I did get a bit of trouble with it, but since I changed (I have heaps of options, but am currently running OPA2350 in amp and AD8616 as buffers) I now have no issue with interference, not even every now and then. you could always keep it in one of those satchels they ship circuit boards in. I may not live in sanfran, but brisbane australia isnt a backwater and we have plenty of telecommunications around. I dont think there is anywhere that has them for demo anywhere except jaben (singapore) and maybe (doubtful) audiocubes which is in the US.

also the extra size of the D10 really isnt an issue IMO, most anything you are going to use it with is the same size or larger, it teams very nicely with my iriver and ipod
BTW I use SE530 with it regularly, sounds great with them, W3 and my denons

Unfortunately I won't be able to take advantage of the coax and optical since my laptop doesn't have either.

So for the D10 as long as I don't use the stock op amps I should be fine?
Where can I buy more op amps, and what are their average cost if I decide to try rolling op amps? Sorry about all the questions, I'm pretty new to all this.

I will admit that the D10 with stock opamps is the greatest synergy I've ever heard with my UE5c's. From past expereince, the UE5c's and SE530 sound VERY similar....so my guess is that would also be a great combo.

and OPA2350/AD8616 is considerably better again. wolfen68, you really should think about rolling man ;p

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You're wearing me down qusp....I might have to get a OPA2350....

....however, I really design my system to sound best with RS-1's. IEM performance is just frosting...but unfortunately with the AD743/AD8616 combo I'm using now, the D10 sounds decent on the RS-1's but the IEM sound quality took a step backwards.

I recently purchased RSA Predator and love it. I demoed it at CanJam compared it to the Headroom ultra micro stacks. Unusual comparison I know. I liked the SS from the Predator more coming from USB than the stacks. Stacks sounded great from optical inputs though.

So for your setup having a USB only, I can say that I recommend the Predator wholeheartedly.