Question: Do newer iPods actually have a line-out signal ? - Page 2

I agree, the Hifiman players do have their own problems.  But lugging around three devices cabled and rubber-banded together that are going to have trouble fitting in my jacket pocket is decidedly not my idea of portability.  I'd also rather spend $800 or whatever on headphones than any source, amp, DAC, or any music files higher than 16/44.1.  I doubt you'll agree with me, of course, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

But I don't have that much money to spare anyway, so I'll be sticking with my Clip+ - which has none of those problems and cost $50.  But it won't drive the most power hungry headphones.

Like I said initially though, the uDAC will work flawlessly with the iPad (but not the iPod Touch/iPhone).  At $65 or so now, it's not exactly in the same price bracket...  But the performance is excellent regardless.  I A/B'd its amp section with a Beyerdynamic A1 (using the uDAC's DAC) and couldn't consistently identify any differences (using my HD 600s).

Sorry, none of this is helping answer the original question...

Ahh. For a hotel room I can imagine such a rig being very useful.

I have to admit, I'm really regretting selling my netbook before coming here to Sweden...  It works with the uDAC and is infinitely more portable than my 15" Thinkpad.

It's the UI for me. Like, I have an S:Flo2, I like how it sounds, but there's no escaping the fact it can be a pain in the arse to use sometimes, the software has bugs, the touch screen is clunky, the HO isn't clean.

All the 'HiFi' portable players have one thing in common, and that's that however good they sound, they're not exactly going to win any awards for usability and it's basically a compromise you have to be willing to take; i.e. live with the player for the sake of the sound quality.

It might not be compact or cheap, but at least I'd be working with a front end that's transparent as far as usage goes, and offers loads of flexibility with things like smart playlists or just general browsing at speed. I need to a thing on SizeEasy with this CypherLabs thing, a Touch and an Arrow because I'm sure it wouldn't be THAT big, although like you say it's the interconnects that will get in the way, although again if you use right-angled ones and invest in some kind of pouch to hold it in, I think it'd be perfectly coat-pocketable haha. Portable for me would be anything that fits in my small man bag with room to spare, since I gave up long ago on trying to cram too much into a pair of jeans. 

Anyway, back on topic!