Quote:
Originally Posted by
muscular 
I own a sennheiser IE8, similar to the IE80.
I believe the IE80 isn't a juice monster, u can let it reach it's potential pretty easy.
Throughout my journey, I have not yet found amps to be very beneficial.
And the DAC/AMP of Note 2 is pretty good, there probably isn't a need for external setup unless the hiss disturbs u a lot.
In my case, the hissing is barely noticeable.
I have listened to the X extensively today doing A/B comparisons to above.
1. I just realized that when running PowerAmp, you need to turn off the equalizer, tone, lmt settings otherwise it compresses the sound coming through your external DAP.
2. The result is significant clarity improvement. Listening to 16bit 44k flac of Dave Matthew's Grey Street, the transparency also comes through quite clearly when my 4 months old is asleep.
3. The output of the X is obviously pitch black without a trace of hiss. This is a lovely change it's almost like your music is instantaneously purified. I guess the hiss only matters for those with high sensitivity IEMs.
I now have to make the decision to keep the X or wait for the Fiio E18 or Xduoo XP1. I'm not sure for a typical portable setup for Android OTG, it can get any better than this. I'm also getting an HE400 soon. I don't plan on going higher than that for portable setup.