[ste787]

  I'd say just get a reasonable dac/amp to pair it with your smartphone.  Absolute Sound said the headphone out is a little weak.  What is your experience driving your HD800 with it?  Sounds like it's an excellent DAC/preamp though!  
 
Anyway the lower end AK's like AK100ii or AK120ii might do you well.  Or even the Jr.  Are the portable headphone/IEM you are using hard to drive?  

Exogal headphone out is useless for HD800, therefore i use RCA to 3.5mm to connect to my HD800. It works well in that case. 
 
I tested all the DAP from AK100 , to Jr, cowon P1,P M, all sound rubbish to me.  No, all my portable headphone and IEM not hard to drive, ultrasone edition 8 and shure SE846.
Only AK240 and AK380 sound remotely decent to me. 
 
Exogal with HD800 sound different from AK380 and Layla. With AK380 and Layla, the music gone softer and voice gone louder. It is like comparing KRELL with AUDIO RESEARCH. 
Exogal sound like krell. The later sound like ARC. 
I need both. Switch around depend on the songs. 
If i would use AK380 to connect to EXOGAL, i think it will be fantastic. 

 

[ste787]

  +1 on the AK100ii/AK120ii recommendations. They are still outstanding players; in my AK380 audition with LCD-X, the difference between AK120ii and AK380 was minor. (Noticeable, and for me worth it, but it is small.)

did you listen to 24/96 songs or better? Or you listen to 16/44 of old recordings? 

 

[ste787]

   
I never swipe my Amex Platinum. I have people do that for me.    

depend where. In asia, the sale people swipe the card for you, in europe, you put the card in the machine and key in code. I think in USA, they swipe for you too. 

 

[kerrys30]

normally ones butler does it

 

[cantara256]

 
did you listen to 24/96 songs or better? Or you listen to 16/44 of old recordings? 

Mostly 16/44, but most of it either recorded in the last 5-10 years, or remastered not too long ago; regardless all of it in ALAC lossless. I do have high resolution music. The album I used to compare the AK120ii to AK380 was Karsh Kale's Realize in 16/44 lossless, with the LCD-X. I had a ton of lossless music to compare but it was obvious enough with just that album that I walked out with the AK380 after only a few songs.
 
Having said that, the difference is small... it was just definitely noticeable and given I listen to portable audio every day, and extensively while I travel, worth it for me.

 

[blackwolf1006]

so far so good
 

 

[bmichels]

so far so good

Very nice set-up but.... does the external A&K amp really makes a difference with efficients in-ears ? I thought It is usefull only with BIG cams !

With the in-ears, can you hear an improvement V/s direct from the AK380 ?

 

[Ruben123]

Very nice set-up but.... does the external A&K amp really makes a difference with efficients in-ears ? I thought It is usefull only with BIG cams !

With the in-ears, can you hear an improvement V/s direct from the AK380 ?

It amplifies the signal. Of course that would not make any difference when your IEMs go loud enough. Unless the output imp of the amp is less than that of the player itself of course.

 

[RMSKFX]

Does seem that the balanced output might have a little more bass...but that might just be my ears

 

[lextheimpaler]

  so far so good
 

That there is worth more than my car!!!

 

[blackwolf1006]

Very nice set-up but.... does the external A&K amp really makes a difference with efficients in-ears ? I thought It is usefull only with BIG cams !

With the in-ears, can you hear an improvement V/s direct from the AK380 ?

 
 I havent tried it without the amp. ill  have to test it and find out

 

[S Crowther]

I recently listened to the 380 with and without amp using AKG812 ( Stefan Audio Arts endorphin cable), Night Hawk, Sennheiser ie800 (Moon Audio silver Dragon cables), Noble Savant (Crystal cables), the iems both balanced and not.
I also listened to the same combo with my 240.

There was an obvious difference with the 380. The sound was bigger, richer, more dramatic but not as clear or transparent as the 240. I am not sure I preferred it.The difference although obvious was not huge.
Adding the amp improved the sound without altering its character, more headroom, more punchy.
Interestingly adding the amp did not seem to add much sheer volume. The volume setting on the 380 did not have to be reduced much. I did not try altering the gain.
Using the 380 amp the balanced output was noticeably better for the iems, cleaner, more precise.
As to the cans, I am a fan of the AKG. clear, transparent and pure.
I did not send much time with the Night Hawk. Nothing wrong with it but nothing special either, rather anonymous.
The Savants reminded me of the AKG3003 but better. Not as much whistling in the treble but they were still very treble oriented especially compared with the Sennheisers which give a huge dark deep sound.

At the end I did not feel an immediate compulsion to go out and buy the 380.

 

[FidelityCastro]

I recently listened to the 380 with and without amp using AKG812 ( Stefan Audio Arts endorphin cable), Night Hawk, Sennheiser ie800 (Moon Audio silver Dragon cables), Noble Savant (Crystal cables), the iems both balanced and not.
I also listened to the same combo with my 240.

There was an obvious difference with the 380. The sound was bigger, richer, more dramatic but not as clear or transparent as the 240. I am not sure I preferred it.The difference although obvious was not huge.
Adding the amp improved the sound without altering its character, more headroom, more punchy.
Interestingly adding the amp did not seem to add much sheer volume. The volume setting on the 380 did not have to be reduced much. I did not try altering the gain.
Using the 380 amp the balanced output was noticeably better for the iems, cleaner, more precise.
As to the cans, I am a fan of the AKG. clear, transparent and pure.
I did not send much time with the Night Hawk. Nothing wrong with it but nothing special either, rather anonymous.
The Savants reminded me of the AKG3003 but better. Not as much whistling in the treble but they were still very treble oriented especially compared with the Sennheisers which give a huge dark deep sound.

At the end I did not feel an immediate compulsion to go out and buy the 380.

Interestingly, your observations about what happens when you add the amp are almost exactly the same as one finds when adding the Glove A1 to the AK120.

 

[sandy1010]

Just discovered you cant use the external amp in usb DAC function.

The USB connection on the amp allows pass through though.

But impossible to select DAC & AMP at tne same time. Not a huge issue for me but hopefully this can be corrected via firmware update.

 

[ste787]

  Mostly 16/44, but most of it either recorded in the last 5-10 years, or remastered not too long ago; regardless all of it in ALAC lossless. I do have high resolution music. The album I used to compare the AK120ii to AK380 was Karsh Kale's Realize in 16/44 lossless, with the LCD-X. I had a ton of lossless music to compare but it was obvious enough with just that album that I walked out with the AK380 after only a few songs.
 
Having said that, the difference is small... it was just definitely noticeable and given I listen to portable audio every day, and extensively while I travel, worth it for me.

i guess such expensive DAP shine best with high resolution music. LCD-X without the AMP? I do not think it will bring out the best.