Best sounding portable source? - Page 2

I reckon you will have to do lots of experimenting before you arrive at what the best sounding portable is for your tastes and what sounds right for you.
And there are subtle differences between the reproduction of really nice kit that will create even more confusion.
Let me explain : if I am in a quiet mood I might find listening to classical music on my young through my lcd2's using my ibasso p3+ heron is the way I am going to get the quality I am looking for.
Then again if im in the need of more driving rock , I might just switch on my bushmaster and get some punchier bass and gutsier vocals on that combo.
Or if I'm headed out for a stroll I would use my imod 5.5 /p3+ denon ahd2000 combo , especially if I need to keep my ears warm:)
Am sorry to say that there is no such thing as the best imho.
There is simply a lot of top gear out there that's going to deliver some really classy sounds.
Some of it with a better soundstage (my young compared to my bushmaster) some with more oompth in the bass (bushmaster opposed to young) the differences are there but they don't make one unit necessarily better or worse than the other.
So whatever you buy, have fun and tell us what it sounds like.
And if you can , try out lots of different things and see what sounds best to your ears.

I have

HIFIMAN 601

HISound Studio - V

Iphone 5

 

and a Nokia N8- USB OTG into a FIIO E7 -  unbelievable sound, - like a £1k CD player

 

on their own the N8 slaughters the DAPs, but when I add my Graham Slee Voyager to my HM-601 it betters the N8/E7 combo

I do not understand why most people do not understand OP questions (?). The question was "best sounding portable sources" and I see only TECHNICAL answers and prices of expensive SYSTEMS. Why not a simple answer?

BTW, my best sounding SOURCE is for now the RWA iMod paired up (ALO imod LOD copper$195) ALO National amp. I just got them and let them break in for 150 hours as Ken Ball suggestion and wait for HE 400. So far I have listened with AKG K240 monitor 600ohm. The sound is pretty powerful with lots of bass, big rounded soundstage and details. I am happy what I got. :-)

A big x2 to singleended58 and his suggestion of RWA iMod and ALO cable.  I have two of these rigs, down from three (I sold one, and the buyer is thrilled).

 

Vinnie and Ken do great work.  And they support Head-Fi big-time.  Vinnie always comes to the NY/NJ meets, and contributes financially, beyond all expectation (one year he bought everyone lunch at a fancy hotel, cost him more than a grand, I understand).

 

Of course that is a reason to like him, not to buy his gear if the SQ were not top-notch.  But it is.  Beyond.

 

I use my RWA 5.5 Gen iMod + ALO cable with an iQube pocket amp.  With lots of different supra-aural cans that fold flat -- beyers, utlrasones, audio technicas, and I used to use them with Shure 530 IEMs.  Sold those, saving up now for JH13's.  The second one I use with a number of portable amps -- RSA, Mini^3 ... have the new powerful pico on order from Justin.

 

RWA + iQube is SQ to die for, all using lossless 48K ALACs.  Typically I rip DVD-A's at 96K, then half-sample with SOX and anti-aliasing to get the 48K ALACs.  Lots of members here helped me get this just right.  Sometimes I use a vintage PS3 to get a 176.4K LPCM down-convert of DSD off of SACDs (newer PS3's won't do this, but AudioPraise Vanity and others have ways to get 88.2 ... my Wadia CDP does this).  I also use SOX to down-covert these, but I worry that it is a more complex sampling procedure than 96 to 48 ... nonetheless the results are excellent.

 

Members who have heard, for instance, Metallica "Sandman" or other tracks have their jaws drop open.  Taking in to account my high-freq hearing loss (age 63, and I have it measured frequently at an audioloigist so I know exactly what I am facing), and understanding that "percentage" is meaningless here, I will nonetheles say that RWA + iQube hits 85 to 90% of the quality of both my Orpheus HE90/HEV90 and Kerry BHSE + O2 007 Mk1.  (Of course I only faintly remember the latter since Kerry has the BHSE back in his shop ... Kerry??).  SIngle female vocals on the top rigs still outshine the portable, and large symphonic and opera recordings of course are amazing on the big boys ... but for today's pop and old-school album rock (except for the most complex prog rock stuff), there really is no difference.  (Live recordings, especially in big venues, do better on the big rigs).

 

Buy an iMod from RWA.