[Stuff Jones]

I've had a couple of LH GOs and the Lotoo Paw S1.

The GOs have plenty of power but have that sabre "glare"/brightness/sheen. The S1 has nice tone, but is underpowered to me, lacking deep bass and dynamics.

Other suggestions?

 

[pbui44]

Check out the ifi hip DAC:

https://www.amazon.com/iFi-Hip-dac-...TR851Y3JCGD&psc=1&refRID=NP8QK4G8WTR851Y3JCGD

 

[tomb]

I can't find any info on the "LH Gos" DAC, whatever that might be. However, if you're talking about dongles, isn't the AudioQuest DragonFly (and all its variants) tops on the list?

You probably already know this, but no dongle is going perform that well, especially with the amplifier circuit. USB power is simply not clean enough for truly high-quality sound. Some PCs/laptops will do better with USB power than others, but they will never rival a good DAC with a clean, separate power supply. When it actually comes to the headphone amplifier imbedded in a USB dongle DAC, things are even worse.

 

[Stuff Jones]

The LH GO used sabre dacs I believe. Yeah I know USB is not the best, but I don't think the quality of most dongles is such where there's too much return to find alternates around the USB source. I'm quite happy generally with the S1 - it just lacks power and therefore bass and dynamics.

 

[audiobomber]

I am very happy with the XtremPro X1 DAC/amp, especially with my LG G8 and USB Audio Pro software. Even powers 250 ohm DT 1990 headphones, though I usually use Grados or iem's. If I were shopping for another USB dongle, I would probably get the Helm Bolt.

Your best option may be to buy headphones that match your existing gear.

 

[tomb]

The LH GO used sabre dacs I believe. Yeah I know USB is not the best, but I don't think the quality of most dongles is such where there's too much return to find alternates around the USB source. I'm quite happy generally with the S1 - it just lacks power and therefore bass and dynamics.

Agreed, to a certain extent ... the limitations of USB power affects the bass and dynamics capability of the amp just as much. Voltage is limited and USB will cut itself off if a certain amperage is reached.

 

[Stuff Jones]

Agreed, to a certain extent ... the limitations of USB power affects the bass and dynamics capability of the amp just as much. Voltage is limited and USB will cut itself off if a certain amperage is reached.

I didn't have the problem with the GO dongle things. They had plenty of juice.