Just sold the PHA3.. It was good but not great, capable but not incredible and for the price, there's a lot more options out there. Kept the MDR-Z7 headphones and pretty excited with my next project amp/dac.

Very well Gentlemen, point taken..   Which brings the question, why would Sony, the developer of the DSD format, would not allow native playback of DSD on their flagship player?  Shouldn't they be spear heading the industry in promoting their DSD format?   Why does other dap maker, on the...

Sony engineer confirmed it, it convert to PCM         Im concerned about thisinfo.. Ive been considering the ZX2 but not playing DSD natively brings me back to the drawing board..

The reason Sir in the conversion, is to be able to listen to those rare vinyls in the highest quality possible. And yes, the main purpose of daps is portability. You dont happen to take your turntable, preamp, amp and speakers with you on business trips, do you? Cheers.

Is there any other solution now that can do this? Thanks.

Wow! Very nice find Whitigir, greatly appreciate it. I am grabbing one as soon as I know where to buy. Now I can have all of my vinyls turned to dsd. Pretty awesome!

Yes, the ipodis fully modded. :)

My dual player setup...   Sony PHA3 - Amp/DAC Sony MDR-Z7 headphones Samsung S3 - dedicated DSD player thru Onkyo HF player app. All phone functions turned off. Ipod Video Gen 5.5 - Wolfson DAC. Modified with 500GB SSD, Rockboxed OS, dedicated FLAC player.       And yes, I live on the...

Hello again friends.   Quick question to all of you...   What would be a good portable transport for the PHA3 that will play DSD files and has digital output to connect to either the USB or Toslink of the PHA3?   Ive been checking the A17 but it doesnt play DSD. The NW-ZX2 plays DSD but...

    Thanks for the tip willy. However, the Ipod I have is the Ipod Video 5.5 Gen with the Wolfson DAC. I have modded the Ipod with a 500GB SSD and Rockboxed it as well to load my FLACs.   I already have the cable you mentioned but the Ipod 5.5 does not give out digital signal even thru...

Nope.

Sony Xperia Z3. But I cant consider strapping it to the PHA3 since I always get calls.

  That's a very good suggestion Daejeon, Thank you Sir.  :)

Understood.   So what are my choices for source(transport) to be able to use the PHA3 as DAC?   Thanks.

Friends,  can you please post the players you guys are using with the  PHA3 to get balanced output?   Also possible recommendations on which players will also work to get balanced out.   Cheers!