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Dac direct to custom IEMs?

post #1 of 4
1/18/12 at 9:16am
Thread Starter 

I'm downsizing and new to headphones/earphones.  I want to create a high quality compact/portable system that approximates my current home system (SB Touch - 2009 TADAC - Moscode 401HR - Escalante Fremonts).  My idea is laptop (JRiver/Fidelizer) - JKDAC32 (http://sites.google.com/site/hifacemods/home/jkdac32) - volume control - UERM.  The DAC puts out 2V RMS; do I still need an amp to drive the UERMs?  If not, what are you using as a volume control?  I would prefer to make at least coarse volume adjustments in the analog domain post-dac (to avoid losing bits).

 

Thanks for your help!   Ken 

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post #2 of 4
1/18/12 at 4:51pm

I wouldn't expect a line out to have enough current capacity or low enough output impedance not to mess with the frequency response.  You'll need an amp.

 

If you want an all in one portable solution something like the DACport with the factory mod to 1 ohm output impedance would probably be a good combo unless you need higher than 96kHz for some reason.

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post #3 of 4
1/18/12 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks!  I do want to move to hi-res.  Right now I have ~300 CDs in FLAC.  Can you recommend a quality amp for the UERMs?  What do think of your XM6 as an option?  Or, I could wait for the ibasso DX100 like everyone else as an all-in-one solution.

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post #4 of 4
1/18/12 at 5:52pm

Even if you go hi rez there's no technical advantage to sample rates over 96kHz which you might want to consider.

 

The XM6 only does a maximum of 16/48.  It uses ASRC to upsample to 192kHz for jitter reduction so that's out.

 

I also wouldn't get my hopes up about the DX100 either.  "Audiophile" DAPs tend to have rather large UI and technical flaws.

 

If 24/96 isn't enough for you I can't think of any portable all-in-one solutions.

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