[vsha]

Hi everyone! 

 I'm one of those people who thought the Sennheiser HD280 was the pinnacle of headphone sound quality before reading the stuff on this site so bear with me if I say anything asinine.
 
The setup I'm looking to purchase is a Xonar Essence STX soundcard, the AKG K702 65th Annie, and a portable amp. This setup will be used primarily for gaming and some music (mostly hiphop, deep house, techno in that order). I have decided to go with the K702 Annie over the Fidelio X1 (my first choice) because of its greater versatility and more detailed bass. Although I think the STX+Annie combo will work just fine, I still need help deciding on a portable amp for listening to music on my phone.
 
So far I've been considering the Fiio E12 and E17 as portable amps. The primary use of my portable amp will be for listening to music on my phone (Nexus 5). I'm confused as to whether I need a portable DAC/amp or just an amp to use the headphones with my phone and I've heard that the K702 Annie can be quite power hungry, so I'm not completely sure if the E17's amp will be adequate. In light of this, I would appreciate it if someone could recommend me a portable DAC and/or amp under 150$.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Why not just get some JVC HA-S500 folding, on-ear, closed headphones ($60) to plug directly into the Nexus 5.

 

[vsha]

Those look pretty good, but I'd like to be able to use the K702-65th with relatively intact sound quality as an all-purpose can in more places than at my home desktop since I'm at work/commuting for half the day, hence why I'm asking for an amp or amp/DAC recommendation. I neglected to mention I would also be using this amp/DAC at work with my company laptop.

 

[PurpleAngel]

The new Fiio E18 (DAC/Amp) might(?) be able to use it's DAC hooked up to the Nexus 5.
The FiiO E12 headphone amplifier should easily drive the AKGs.