Best portable Bluetooth Dac Amp 2024?

[LowBeat91]

I have been using the Qudelix-5K for more than two years now. And I wonder if anything has changed since then in terms of sound quality and user-friendliness. I don't necessarily need an app, but the pairing between my iphone and Qudelix is still very messy. The price doesn't play a role here, do you have an alternative?

 

[rennyprowess]

I used the Shanling UP5 back when I was on Android, though I remember it ran on LDAC on Android but AAC on iOS. Sadly I was negligent and that went into the washing machine and stopped working Bumping this thread, if anyone who knows one that's good these days.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

FiiO BTR7 or BTR15 for smaller form factor.

 

[musingclouds]

I was looking at the Questyle M15, but I don't think that's Bluetooth

 

[Mon44]

My vote is also for the Fiio BTR7.

 

[weeeeesquirrel]

Go for the golden knob! Shanling UP4 2022… that’s my vote…
H5 is even better but about 5x the size… lol
I love them se in dual dac mode. Better than the FiiO 5 7 15 and Qudelix 5K after I listened to all of them over the last couple months.
Shanling also has an H2 out that I haven’t been able to find in the USA yet. It’s $169 but it’s the same size as the H5 so not very portable.

 

[sofastreamer]

Go for the golden knob! Shanling UP4 2022… that’s my vote…
H5 is even better but about 5x the size… lol
I love them se in dual dac mode. Better than the FiiO 5 7 15 and Qudelix 5K after I listened to all of them over the last couple months.
Shanling also has an H2 out that I haven’t been able to find in the USA yet. It’s $169 but it’s the same size as the H5 so not very portabowning

owning the 5k, BTR15, Topping G5 and more i can relate that the UP4 22 is the best sounding of the bunch. specially it has very good soundstage depth and highth compared to the others and its much more reliable specially than the fiio devices. plus its got the best battery life of all of them and the operation with the knob is just the most convenient. got it for about 70 EUR on amazon which is an absolute steal.

 

[VonBroten]

Aune BU2 is very good in my opinion

 

[glittle149]

I still love my BTR5

 

[sofastreamer]

meanwhile the best money no issue portable bt dac amp is probably the Questyle CMA 18 portable. only thing that pulled me away from buying it is, that you cannot bypass the battery when connected to a power source. this way the built in battery would die too fast for the price of the unit, at least in my usecase.

if it must be lighter i would go for the lightest and smallest with the longest battery life, which still after all these years is the Radsone EarStudio ES100 mk2, which has the same dual dac config as the latest fiio products, but beats them in everything else besides having ever so slightly less power output, but not to a point where it makes a difference. all that for 2/3rds of the price.

last not least there is the ifi go blue, which unfortunately has a high noise floor with sensitive iems and lots of reported battery bloats after 1 year. otherwise it seems good, tho massively overpriced specially for the very outdated dac chip inside.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

ES100 mk2 is decent but rather outdated BT dongle.
Micro-USB with UAC 1.0 limited to 48khz, highly unpopular these days 2.5mm balanced output, and while it does feature dual DAC, it's AKM AK4375A, not the same as dual Sabre ES9219C paired with dual THX AAA-28 amps on Fiio BTR7. BTR7 just sounds much better with more details, power, and space, even though battery life depending on what you drive may not be as great as ES100 and larger size is also a minus, but for SQ alone and dual BT/USB DAC usage it has the upper hand.
Not sure why Radsone does not update ES100, perhaps because lead engineer bailed out and formed Quedelix, surprised they are actually still manufacturing them.

 

[Dioes]

Audirect Team1(gold plated upgrade) imo is a very good one, but aroma audio air is also very good

 

[smegel]

I'm actually looking for a new DAC. (@Vamp898 moving the intro discussion here)

So far, I'm thinking...
In the >$600.00 range, the Mojo2.
For around ~$125 (w case) the new Onix Alpha.
For under $100.00 the Moondrop Dawn Pro.

The Chord Mojo is an FPGA design which I find interesting and most people say that if you can get over the funky user interface (UI) its a great sounding DAC.
The Alpha just came out and so far the reviews are good. although @Vamp898 says that they handicapped it w some of the chip selection.

Its hard to get... and they said that they don't have a US distributor. (Currently) [per Shanling]

I want to pair it w my DITA Project M.

Anyone try the Alpha?
Price wise, size wise... the Moondrop is tough to beat.

My sources are an iPhone 15 or Macbook Pro.

Just FYI Onix is 'partnering' w Shanling. (Not sure of the relationship) so that's who is manufacturing them.

Thx

 

[Vamp898]

I'm actually looking for a new DAC. (@Vamp898 moving the intro discussion here)

So far, I'm thinking...
In the >$600.00 range, the Mojo2.
For around ~$125 (w case) the new Onix Alpha.
For under $100.00 the Moondrop Dawn Pro.

The Chord Mojo is an FPGA design which I find interesting and most people say that if you can get over the funky user interface (UI) its a great sounding DAC.
The Alpha just came out and so far the reviews are good. although @Vamp898 says that they handicapped it w some of the chip selection.

Its hard to get... and they said that they don't have a US distributor. (Currently) [per Shanling]

I want to pair it w my DITA Project M.

Anyone try the Alpha?
Price wise, size wise... the Moondrop is tough to beat.

My sources are an iPhone 15 or Macbook Pro.

Just FYI Onix is 'partnering' w Shanling. (Not sure of the relationship) so that's who is manufacturing them.

Thx

The DAWN Pro has 4Vrms, -115db THD+N and -131db SNR. 1.3uV noise floor in balanced(!). Its ruler flat from 20Hz to 40kHz

It is not an Amp, its an DAC that directly drives yout headphones, hence the above average performance. So also an interesting design.

The only reason to not get it would be if you need more power. But in terms of sound quality, it is as good as it gets

 

[Death_Block]

I'm actually looking for a new DAC. (@Vamp898 moving the intro discussion here)

So far, I'm thinking...
In the >$600.00 range, the Mojo2.
For around ~$125 (w case) the new Onix Alpha.
For under $100.00 the Moondrop Dawn Pro.

The Chord Mojo is an FPGA design which I find interesting and most people say that if you can get over the funky user interface (UI) its a great sounding DAC.

Sure, the buttons have lots of colours, but I actually really like it. Every day is always a different colour show. Plus it's really straightforward to use, menu button to cycle options, - + buttons to select.amd when your fluent with it, it feels fun