[jamesta]

I'm assembling my ultimate somewhat portable which I'll use at work & home for the majority of my listening.  Source will be my Macbook Air 11.6" & the phones will be my incoming ES5.  I'm stuck between the DACport & the Rx 2/Solo combination as my amplifier & DAC.  Is there a reason the Alo package costs near $1000 while the DACport costs $400?
 
This will be my 'ultimate' system as I will use it while at home in the house or hanging outside on my porch, at work in my office & on work trips in hotel rooms.  I do want to keep things as simple as possible, but as long as the computer is the only thing I need to plug in I'll be happy.  I will use this setup more than any other setup so I'm trying to have this be my baby.  I listen to jazz, singer-songwriter, string quartet, classical, indie rock & most other genres.

 

[the wizard of oz]

The CLAS won't work with your MacBook Air, only with iPods, iPhones & iPads, iDevices with a dock connector.

 

[jamesta]

Good to know, thanks.  Are there any other DACs out there that compete with the DACport?

 

[aLm0sT]

The Fostex HP-P1 might also be worth looking at.
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/HP-P1.shtml

 

[the wizard of oz]

That looks like an interesting alternative to the CLAS + Headphone amp solution
 
Quote:

The Fostex HP-P1 might also be worth looking at.
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/HP-P1.shtml

But still doesn't address the OP's issue, since it won't work as a DAC for his MacBook.
 
 

 

[jamesta]

Are there any other USB powered DAC/amp combos I should look at?  It will be my 'portable setup' as in 'all fits in my very small computer case'.

 

[estreeter]

I hope you have read every available review/comparison of the Rx MkII - I dont want to start a flame war, but even 6Moons seemed to find the Pico more to their tastes than the ALO. Still, if you want uber-analytical, this would seem to be your amp based on what I have read.

 

[svertel]

I own the Solo/Rx Mk II package and it's a bit of a split decision for me.  I love the Solo - the sound quality is amazing; however it bugs me that it will only decode iDevice source and can't be used as a general USB DAC.  I like the Rx Mk II but it doesn't knock my socks off.  It is a bit overpriced IMO.
 
I bought an HRT Streamer II to use as a bus powered DAC from my MacBook Air and I've been really impressed by the sound quality.  Excellent little DAC but doesn't solve the portable amp dilemma.  At home I use it to feed my new Schiit LYR.  I would love to find an all-in-one portable unit that sounds as good as the Solo or Streamer coupled with a powerful, compact amp.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

I own the Solo/Rx Mk II package and it's a bit of a split decision for me.  I love the Solo - the sound quality is amazing; however it bugs me that it will only decode iDevice source and can't be used as a general USB DAC.  I like the Rx Mk II but it doesn't knock my socks off.  It is a bit overpriced IMO.
 
I bought an HRT Streamer II to use as a bus powered DAC from my MacBook Air and I've been really impressed by the sound quality.  Excellent little DAC but doesn't solve the portable amp dilemma.  At home I use it to feed my new Schiit LYR.  I would love to find an all-in-one portable unit that sounds as good as the Solo or Streamer coupled with a powerful, compact amp.

I dont know if it sounds as good as the Solo, but the D12 got rave reviews when it was first released. I dont think its on par with the D6 for raw power, but I guess it comes down to which cans you need to be able to drive with it.
 

 

[Jalo]

If you don't mind the two piece combo (like the Solo/MKRxII), you should look into the the Ibasso DB2/PB2 combo, best value to performance ratio combo presently and will work with your mac book or any computer.  You can always add the Solo down the road to this combo also.

 

[edvardd]

bump

 

[customNuts]

Practical devices XM6 is pretty impressive little dac/amp. I bought the upgraded WM8741 dac chip and rolled the opamps and it's an awesome unit. Highly versitile with all the options too ie bass boost, treble, gain, crossfeed, etc. Also great synergy as an amp with my iphone 4.Its also one of the most powerful single ended portable dac/amps. Its got nuts!  Hope that helps.
If you sacrifice size price and options, you could go the ibasso DB2/PB2 as mentioned. The benefit, fully balanced, and (very powerfull) setup.

 

[Nick01]

I have both the DACport and the RSA Predator, I must say that I prefer the Predator.

 

[estreeter]

Nick01, just out of wild curiosity, do you know (roughly) how many hours you have on your Predator ?

 

[Yuceka]

I am using SOLO with Leckerton UHA-4 and it is simply astonishing. UHA-4 has a DAC itself that you can use with your laptop as well. That way you can use it both with your ipod + CLAS and as a stand alone DAC with your computer. I think Leckerton audio is very underrated here. 
 
In the past I used Ibasso D4 Mamba and D6 Fer de Lance and none of them came close to the sound I am getting from CLAS + UHA-4