[marcus2704]

I have never owned or even tried one of these before, there is an element that appeals in that I could simply use my phone S22 phone which is by far the best interface for streaming via Tidal against my DAPs. I always presumed DAC dongles to be a step down in sound quality over DAPs, but there is someone telling me that a L&P W2-131 hanging off my mobile phone will sound much better than a Sony WM1AM2 dedicated audio player. Is there any truth in what he is saying and I have been missing a trick for all these years, or is it just nonsense? The price difference is around £1K, so if its the former then getting one (probably the RU6 from reading, although the Questyle M15 reads well) sounds like a no brainer.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

...but there is someone telling me that a L&P W2-131 hanging off my mobile phone will sound much better than a Sony WM1AM2 dedicated audio player. Is there any truth in what he is saying and I have been missing a trick for all these years, or is it just nonsense?

Assuming the more robust, dedicated throughout equipment was designed for objective performance, then anything less impressively built can beat it in subjective performance. If sometimes unintentionally.

For example if he was comparing a flat response, low output impedance DAP to high output impedance circuit that happens to skew the sound of the same earphone well for his tastes (and assuming power to loudness vs noise+distortion isn't a problem) then he'll say that the DAP doesn't sound as good.