[Jhe888]

I have a Samsung S3 (soon to upgrade to S5). Would I get more benefit out of a DAC/Amp or would an amp alone give me the same result? The cans I have are Byerdynamic 770 (32 ohm), Grado SR60, and Westone single driver in-ears.
 
I am using lossy files, but I will upgrade to lossless files.
 
Thanks.

 

[Jhe888]

In other words, do I need a DAC, or will an amp do the trick?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

You'll need a DAC, but it's more for its proper analog output circuit over the headphone out of the phone sending the analog signal to the amp than the DAC chip itself depending on audio format compatibility. There is just a lot of distortion on the phone's headphone output, regardless of whether it's a headphone or an amp on the other end. When it's an amp, the volume is either too low with the midrange seemingly weak and the highs as well, or loud but the bass and treble are distorting (ie, very non-linear response). However it's not noticeable when directly driving IEMs as you won't need to use very high volume levels on those anyway.
 
 
Here's how I have mine set-up at home, with the OTG adapter cable for the USB cable hooked up to the sync port on the 3rd party dock:
 
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On the go I just use an ASG-1 IEM with the S3. Don't rush into the S5 though if your S3 is still working properly - as it was with the S4, they just took out USB audio capability on that one, so you should follow the updates on this thread, including for which DACs are known to work with the S3.