[bzippy]

I've had a FiiO X3 1st Gen since about when they came out and I still use it daily, all day long. It's my primary source and I feed into amps all over my life: full living room system, small systems in kitchen & bedroom, car stereo AND all headphone uses. It's been a reliable workhorse for a good number of years now, but I'm starting to think I should have a plan ready for its replacement when it dies.

I've had nothing but great experiences with their products so I'm definitely lean toward getting another FiiO. But I'm open to other stuff. I really bonded with the X3's DAC circuit but never loved the character of it's headphone amp, which I found to be kinda narrow & confined in soundstage and a bit too mids focused & laid back (recessed lows & highs). Anyway, here's what I need:

Must haves:
- A solid DAC, with line out
- Digital out
- Portable, and similar size to X3 so I can still easily stack with my C5 portable amp
- 200+ GB storage (SD card or internal)

Preferences: (though I'm flexible)
- Prefer hard buttons to touchscreen
- An upgrade to the headphone amp circuit from X3 (wider and livelier)
- I really liked the simple & clean hardware EQ of the X3's amp circuit; it would be nice to have that again


I'm sure there's more but I can't think of anything else right now. I'll only add that I don't need the latest exciting thing (obviously). In fact, I usually prefer to get the gear that was hot 3+ years ago because you can almost always get a killer deal.

Approx $200 budget, new or used.

 

[bzippy]

Really? No one wants to brag about their DAP?

Should I ask this in the Source area instead? I thought all requests for recommendations were supposed to go here now.

 

[buke9]

Yes I know you were looking at portable dac/amps just giving my prospective on the HD-6xx’s on portable gear.
This is my portable line up.
Daps:
The top of the heap is the Questyle QP1R no frills player with superb sound quality does a great job with the 6xx’s but the volume is almost maxed to get decent levels of loudness.
The Echobox Explorer not as good sound quality but not bad at all and the same with loudness more towards max than the QP1R.
Hiby R3 sound quality is on par with the Explorer but just a tad less volume but there is a caveat as the R3 has a 2.5mm balanced output where it surpasses the Explorer in both volume and quality but still not as good as the QP1R.
Dac/Amps:
The top of the heap here is the Chord Mojo the most power of the bunch and comes closest to sound quality of the QP1R but there is just a richness that it just can’t get IMHO but can go much louder.
The DFR goes louder than the daps as well but doesn’t have the sound quality as the QP1R closer to the Explorer and R3.
The Brookstone Big Blue Is at the bottom but still shouldn’t sound as good as it does for a Bluetooth amp and only cost me $15 too bad it isn’t made anymore will go a bit louder than the DFR but doesn’t sound as good.
Just my opinion of the portable sources I have.

 

[buke9]

Wrong thread sorry for that I will delete.

 

[Me x3]

I've had a FiiO X3 1st Gen since about when they came out and I still use it daily, all day long. It's my primary source and I feed into amps all over my life: full living room system, small systems in kitchen & bedroom, car stereo AND all headphone uses. It's been a reliable workhorse for a good number of years now, but I'm starting to think I should have a plan ready for its replacement when it dies.

I've had nothing but great experiences with their products so I'm definitely lean toward getting another FiiO. But I'm open to other stuff. I really bonded with the X3's DAC circuit but never loved the character of it's headphone amp, which I found to be kinda narrow & confined in soundstage and a bit too mids focused & laid back (recessed lows & highs). Anyway, here's what I need:

Must haves:
- A solid DAC, with line out
- Digital out
- Portable, and similar size to X3 so I can still easily stack with my C5 portable amp
- 200+ GB storage (SD card or internal)

Preferences: (though I'm flexible)
- Prefer hard buttons to touchscreen
- An upgrade to the headphone amp circuit from X3 (wider and livelier)
- I really liked the simple & clean hardware EQ of the X3's amp circuit; it would be nice to have that again


I'm sure there's more but I can't think of anything else right now. I'll only add that I don't need the latest exciting thing (obviously). In fact, I usually prefer to get the gear that was hot 3+ years ago because you can almost always get a killer deal.

Approx $200 budget, new or used.

If I were you, I would strecht to/save for the FiiO M9.

It has dual high-tier AKM AK4490 DACs, very nice amplification stage with both single-ended and balanced outputs.
Best in class bluetooth connectivity (both transmission and reception). FiiO Link so you can control it remotely from smartphones and many other interesting features.

 

[bzippy]

If I were you, I would strecht to/save for the FiiO M9.

It has dual high-tier AKM AK4490 DACs, very nice amplification stage with both single-ended and balanced outputs.
Best in class bluetooth connectivity (both transmission and reception). FiiO Link so you can control it remotely from smartphones and many other interesting features.

That definitely looks nice. It's now on my list. Thanks.

And what if I don't need all the modern, wireless & streaming functionality and other such features? The only modern features I'm really into are better battery life and a stable OS. Is it possible to find something that puts the vast majority of my $300 into great sound? IOW which are the simple, wired players with great sound? I know there's the iBasso DX120 and that's kinda where I'm leaning. Is there anything else?

 

[bzippy]

Bump for more recs on simple, great sounding DAPs for $300.

 

[Mhog55]

That definitely looks nice. It's now on my list. Thanks.

And what if I don't need all the modern, wireless & streaming functionality and other such features? The only modern features I'm really into are better battery life and a stable OS. Is it possible to find something that puts the vast majority of my $300 into great sound? IOW which are the simple, wired players with great sound? I know there's the iBasso DX120 and that's kinda where I'm leaning. Is there anything else?

The Bit Opus#1s is exactly what you just described. Your money spent is for sound quality. I'll likely never part with mine. I chose it over the DX120. Maybe take a look.

 

[bzippy]

The Bit Opus#1s is exactly what you just described. Your money spent is for sound quality. I'll likely never part with mine. I chose it over the DX120. Maybe take a look.

Thanks, I'll look into it.