[mrconfuse]

I am looking to upgrade my portable setup. I want something that I can use at home, at work, and in bed. I am using Westone UM PRO 30

in the order of importance

• sound quality
  
• Physical controls
• portability
• $100 - $400
• UI

So I am debating whether i should go for a standalone player or use my phone with a DAC. I prefer a standalone as it keeps my phone free. Won't drain the battery, won't use up phone storage, have physical controls , no cables and no stacking. But I also feel that having a DAC that's equivalent/or a little higher in price of a standalone player would give me better audio quality.

I recently just ordered the Onkyo DP-S1 which was on sale for $166. Not bad, but would I get better quality from the FIIO Q5 with my phone? The chord Mojo is also on my radar but it is priced out of the range for me.

Any recommendation would be highly appreciated.

 

[handwander]

I believe that dollar for dollar, if you're willing to use your phone than phone + dac/amp will outperform a DAP of the same price in regards to SQ. However you'll be making sacrifices with regards to portability, phone storage, etc. It depends on your use case I suppose and how "portable" you want your portable setup to be. Then again the DP-S1 you bought probably isn't much larger than your phone + the Q5.

From your order of importance though, I might go with a DAP anyway. The SQ may be lower but you also have portability and physical controls as important, and in that sense a DAP wins out.

 

[mrconfuse]

The Onkyo DP-s1 is actually much smaller than my IPhone 6S Plus. and just a tad thicker. But it is light and does not bog the pockets.

But I guess at the end of the day it all comes back to sound quality and how much of a difference. If it's like a 50% percent or greater increase in SQ then I would have really weight the convenience of portability

 

[yong_shun]

It is hard to justify which is better because ultimately the one suit you the most is definitely the best choice. I would go for DAP because listening from my phone will kill the battery too fast.