[Hawaiibadboy]

  This is all fascinating to me. I was considering up to this point a DAP but after trying to find cheaper ways to enhance my audio i got into this thread and i got extremely interested to try it out myself. My phone is a Meizu MX4 which has some deticated audio parts and sound for both my V-moda XS and Philips Fidelio X2 is great but i know for a fact that i can do better with a little enhancement. Since the device itself is OTG capable running android 5.0.1 it looks like most OTG amps/DACs will work with it. 
 
My choices are almost stricktly by Fiio due to price/performance ratio. I need something that will be able to drive the phones as well as amp them and i see that either Fiio E17K or E18  will do the job. They cost 100 pounds (153 USD) and 129 pounds (198 USD) respectively. Which one should i opt for and are there any other solutions to my needs that i may consider? I do not want to go beyond the 130 pounds (200 USD) mark. 

 
 
FiiO e18 driving a set of SZ on the back of a Note 4....it's got PLENTY of power

 

[callizer]

  hrt microstreamer, worked great with my Lenovo Tab S8

 
how is the battery drain? The size seems okay and people seem to like the sound. I might get this if it doesn't kill my phone battery in half a day.

SHOZY Lancea

 
I have an eye for this but the fact that it's from the same company that made Cozoy Aegis worries me about battery life. How is the battery life?

 
HRT iDSP. There is a dedicated thread here Just don't buy it from them, buy it from Amazon or some other reseller.

Quite impressive. I'll take a look, thanks.

 

[Komatik]

Does anyone have experience with Galaxy S4 (GT-I9505, Android 5.0.1) and Fiio E17K? What kind of cables etc. needed, does it work at all?

 

[greenpsycho]

I just wanted to verify that the schiit modi 2 uber DOES in fact work with lollipop (specifically my nexus 6). There was some talk otherwise, but just plugged it in and it immediately started working. Can't confirm with non-uber will work (I think non-uber relies only on bus power, so it MAY not).
 
As for the cable, I used a card reader/usb combo I picked up a while back:
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KOJCKVY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
 
 
btw, I was using google play music, no special apps or anything

 

[bixby]

   
how is the battery drain? The size seems okay and people seem to like the sound. I might get this if it doesn't kill my phone battery in half a day.
 
I have an eye for this but the fact that it's from the same company that made Cozoy Aegis worries me about battery life. How is the battery life?
Quite impressive. I'll take a look, thanks.

I wish I could help you there but that is really going to be dependent on how you use your phone when not listening to music.  I run airplane mode when using my phone for listening.  I have not noticed a large drop in power over time.  For example, yesterday I did a 1.5 hour hike and started with about 97% battery.  Left the phone on standby, still in airplane mode for 24 hours with Microstreamer disconnected.  Now at 77%  Hope that helps!

 

[ikaruga24]

Thanks, i will probably get the E18 as i read that it has some other good things going for it like not using power off of the phone and can even be used as a powerbank itself. The price is a little steep but i think it will probably worth it. 

 

[bixby]

If you are thinking of going that route, look at the JDS labs c5d.  Built in power, built in USA, strong reputation for excellent build, easy to get repaired if necessary.
 
Reviews on Fiio quality not quite so great on Amazon.  Sound quality is good on the JDS, but I prefer the HRT in my setup and with the JVC ha-fxt100.
 
happy listening

 

[ikaruga24]

Thanks but i prefer something that is available on the UK amazon site as it is the easiest way to conatct, return, whatever i want with my items. The Fiio ones were also the closest in regural price compared to some others that truly skyrocket compared to the US prices. Now this will be my first Fiio product i get my hands on and will be judged upon heavily by me as time goes by. For now i get it because of price/performance ration and general size and design. 

 

[bixby]

I did not realize you were in uk, makes sense then.  Another possible contender with solid long term build is Creative.  Perhaps take a peek at the Soundblaster E5 or E3, just to cover all the bases.
 
cheers

 

[callizer]

I wish I could help you there but that is really going to be dependent on how you use your phone when not listening to music.  I run airplane mode when using my phone for listening.  I have not noticed a large drop in power over time.  For example, yesterday I did a 1.5 hour hike and started with about 97% battery.  Left the phone on standby, still in airplane mode for 24 hours with Microstreamer disconnected.  Now at 77%  Hope that helps!

Could you help me do a little experiment?

Something like this:

From 100% battery, listen to 2 songs, data and wifi ON, screen OFF.

1. Without the microstreamer (directly to your headphone) -> how much battery does it drain?

Recharge back to 100% then do the second run

2. Use the microstreamer -> how much battery does it drain?

 

[greenpsycho]

Thats not really going to give you reliable data. Battery life has to be measured over the whole charge, from full to depletion. You can use a battery monitoring app like ampere. For example, on my nexus 6, its discharging at -400mA right now.

Use this both with and without the DAC to get a better comparison

 

[peter123]

   
how is the battery drain? The size seems okay and people seem to like the sound. I might get this if it doesn't kill my phone battery in half a day.
 
I have an eye for this but the fact that it's from the same company that made Cozoy Aegis worries me about battery life. How is the battery life?
Quite impressive. I'll take a look, thanks.

The battery drain on the Lancea is a lot less than on the Aegis from what I understand. The Lancea also have quite a bit less output power but still enough for portable equipment. 
 
From my old HTC One M7 without simcard but with wifi on I get about 8 hours playtime with the Lancea if that's any help. 

 

[callizer]

  The battery drain on the Lancea is a lot less than on the Aegis from what I understand. The Lancea also have quite a bit less output power but still enough for portable equipment. 
 
From my old HTC One M7 without simcard but with wifi on I get about 8 hours playtime with the Lancea if that's any help. 

hmm that's actually quite decent.
 
-------------------
 
By the way, has anyone seen this?
http://www.molu-aqua.com/

 

[Dr J]

>just wanted to verify that the schiit modi 2 uber DOES in fact work with lollipop (specifically my nexus 6). There was some talk otherwise, but just plugged it in and it immediately started working.
 
 
Good to hear. Does it output the original bit stream or sample to 48kHz?

 

[Dr J]

Popping back into this thread to see if there is progress with Lollipop outputting bit perfect. Did not see much progress based on a quick skim and read.
 
I also found this thread on official Sony site: http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Music/Why-did-you-remove-HD-Audio-via-MINI-USB-out-in-Lollipop-update/td-p/976707
 
It is official: the Lollipop (if the sound goes through the Android framework) upsamples the output from players always to the highest sampling rate that the DAC supports. For Sony Xperia devices at least.
 
http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Music/Why-did-you-remove-HD-Audio-via-MINI-USB-out-in-Lollipop-update/m-p/988252#M4299
 
What a dumb decision on Google's part, and this time Sony is not promising their own implementation like they did in KitKat.
 
If this is the case, the work-around is to use a DAC that only supports at most the same sampling rate that your music is.... Off the top of my head I cannot think of any that would help us redbook CD guys who want to stream music from Tidal in addition to or instead using UAPP or Hiby or Onkyo...
 
If anyone has seen any evidence of bit perfect playback on Lollipop, would be great if they let us know. Maybe there are tricks to this requiring rooting which I am considering seriously doing for the first time.
 
It would be really pity if I would need to move to iDevices because of this, would prefer to avoid a closed ecosystem. I was thinking of buying a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact Tablet to use as source around at home, but I hear they are now shipping with Lollipop...