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N00b question: why are there portable amps but no portable dacs?

post #1 of 6
11/6/10 at 6:04am
Thread Starter 

Hi there,

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I apologize for asking the stupid question but I am curiuous why there are portable amps to be used with DAPs but there are no portable DACs . are DACs not as crucial for audio quality? is it because DAPs dont have a digital output to be used with portable DACs?

thanks

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post #2 of 6
11/6/10 at 7:26am

The reason there are only very view portable DACs out there is that the DAPs have an internal DAP section, which, as poor as it may sound cant be bypassed in the most DAPs Drivers and adding a DAC wouldnt make any Difference...

 

The next Problem is, as u have mentioned the Connections. A DAC usually is connected by digital outpus such as SPDIF(Sony Phillips Digital Interface), AES/EBU (Audio Engineer Society/European Broadcast Union) and nowadays even by USB!

 

Now you could think that many DAPs have USB ports, which is correct but these are used (as far as i am concerned please correct me if i am wrong) only for charging the unit and Data Transfer!

 

The reason there are barely any portable DACs is I think because a DAP an external amp, a DAC and all the Interconnections+the Headphone itself aren't considered potable alltogether, i guess

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post #3 of 6
11/6/10 at 7:27am

is it because DAPs dont have a digital output to be used with portable "DACs?"

Yes I think so. But there are at least one portable dac, the boomslang from ibasso. It can be used portable with the iriver player for example. This I know only because I've seen Jamatos pics - he uses the iriver and boomslang/toucan as his portable rig smily_headphones1.gif

Hope I'm not wrong about this!

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post #4 of 6
11/6/10 at 8:42am

Yes, no mainstream portable DAP has a digital out, so there's no market for a portable DAC.

 

But even if portable DACs were commonly available (first gen Headroom Micro DAC could be battery powered), encumbering a portable DAP with a portable DAC defeats the purpose of portability, no? Many people are even opting to forgo portable amps for the sake of portability when on the go.

 

While I use my iRiver H140 with my external DACs, it's only OK as a transport. My iRiver SlimX portable CDP is a better transport. I wonder how good of a transport an iPod is.

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post #5 of 6
11/6/10 at 9:06am

I agree with earlier posts if you are considering a DAP as a source.  

 

But, if you use a laptop / netbook as a source then a portable USB DAC makes sense.  Several years ago I purchased a Penguin USB DAC cable that had the DAC fused into the middle of the cable.  You can read a short review of the HeadStage (previously Penguin) DAC cable here -> Click Me

 

I have used mine for several years with both a laptop / netbook at the office with a Penguin Caffeine amp.  It was a nice "portable" setup to use at the office but not in the portable sense of jogging, etc. I now use a Corda Move that has a built in DAC and is powered by the USB cable.  That eliminates having to carry a separate power supply (wall wart) so I only use the Penguin setup here at home now.

 

The problem is that it is not available from HeadStage anymore but you might find someone willing to part with one by posting a WTB in the for-sale thread (btw. I am keeping mine so this isn't meant to bait you).  There probably just wasn't enough demand to support the product.  DAP users wouldn't be interested and it probably wasn't "quality" enough for the high-end users, but it worked just fine for me.

 

EDIT:  My bad.  I was looking for the Penguin DAC Cable.  The Headstage DAC Cable is still available here -> Click Me


Edited by GnuB - 11/6/10 at 9:21am
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post #6 of 6
11/6/10 at 4:40pm
Thread Starter 


Thanks a lot for the posts everybody I learned a lot from this.

so basically there are 2 reasons:

1- DAP + DAC + AMP is not practical for a portable setup

2- no mainstream DAP has a digital out so there are not many portable DACs
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by GnuB View Post

I agree with earlier posts if you are considering a DAP as a source.  

 

But, if you use a laptop / netbook as a source then a portable USB DAC makes sense.  Several years ago I purchased a Penguin USB DAC cable that had the DAC fused into the middle of the cable.  You can read a short review of the HeadStage (previously Penguin) DAC cable here -> Click Me

 

I have used mine for several years with both a laptop / netbook at the office with a Penguin Caffeine amp.  It was a nice "portable" setup to use at the office but not in the portable sense of jogging, etc. I now use a Corda Move that has a built in DAC and is powered by the USB cable.  That eliminates having to carry a separate power supply (wall wart) so I only use the Penguin setup here at home now.

 

The problem is that it is not available from HeadStage anymore but you might find someone willing to part with one by posting a WTB in the for-sale thread (btw. I am keeping mine so this isn't meant to bait you).  There probably just wasn't enough demand to support the product.  DAP users wouldn't be interested and it probably wasn't "quality" enough for the high-end users, but it worked just fine for me.

 

EDIT:  My bad.  I was looking for the Penguin DAC Cable.  The Headstage DAC Cable is still available here -> Click Me


That is a good idea.

to me portable means I can put it in my laptop case and take it to school with me. and listen to good quality music while i am stdying.


 

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