[kyruz]

I'll buy my first IEM (in-between 320-500$ price bracket) soon and I have a question: Will I need a DAC in order to enjoy all the detailing, imaging and sound stage the IEM has? It might be a very common question, but I think it is mainly because of the divergence of opinions of people who say it improves a lot the sound quality; people who say the difference is small and worth it; people who say there is absolutely no difference; people who say a Apple dongle is enough...
I'm completely lost. I don't want to waste my money, but I also want to enjoy the IEM that, for me, is expensive.

 

[msing539]

I've been through about 10 portable dacs--they all sound different, though some are similar enough to others where I can only tell if I A/B them.

Some sound clean, some sterile, some harsh, though it depends on the IEM. Some are also a little more musical, some slightly warmer. I would focus on the IEMs first. The difference is there but if I had to quantify it, maybe 10%.

You should see if you like them first, then figure out if you want to tweak anything about the sound. Tips and cables can also greatly affect an IEM.

 

[kyruz]

I've been through about 10 portable dacs--they all sound different, though some are similar enough to others where I can only tell if I A/B them.

Some sound clean, some sterile, some harsh, though it depends on the IEM. Some are also a little more musical, some slightly warmer. I would focus on the IEMs first. The difference is there but if I had to quantify it, maybe 10%.

You should see if you like them first, then figure out if you want to tweak anything about the sound. Tips and cables can also greatly affect an IEM.

The problem is my mobile has no P2 plug and it's a Samsung, so I don't think an Apple dongle would be a good choice. I just want something neutral and natural that doesn't affect my IEM performance. If there is no difference in detailing, sound stage and imaging between a $100 portable DAC and a $20 dongle, I'd just go with something like a moondrop click. However, if there is a significant difference, I'd prefer getting a better product. It's just hard to understand how significant is the difference and how honest are most of those DACs reviews

 

[InvisibleInk]

The problem is my mobile has no P2 plug and it's a Samsung, so I don't think an Apple dongle would be a good choice. I just want something neutral and natural that doesn't affect my IEM performance. If there is no difference in detailing, sound stage and imaging between a $100 portable DAC and a $20 dongle, I'd just go with something like a moondrop click. However, if there is a significant difference, I'd prefer getting a better product. It's just hard to understand how significant is the difference and how honest are most of those DACs reviews

Apple dongles don't work well with Samsung phones? First time I've heard that.

Do you know the impedance and sensitivity specifications for your IEM? I'd like to see those.

 

[kyruz]

Apple dongles don't work well with Samsung phones? First time I've heard that.

Do you know the impedance and sensitivity specifications for your IEM? I'd like to see those.

I read some reviews of people complaining about the limit volume and It also looks a bit fragile, so I would another dongle or DAC. About the impedance and sensitivity, I don't know, since I haven't bought it yet. I'm waiting for the Blessing 3 dusk release to decide it

 

[InvisibleInk]

I read some reviews of people complaining about the limit volume and It also looks a bit fragile, so I would another dongle or DAC. About the impedance and sensitivity, I don't know, since I haven't bought it yet. I'm waiting for the Blessing 3 dusk release to decide it

Is that rumored to be coming out soon?

 

[earmonger]

I have a Samsung phone and an Apple USB-C-to-3.5mm dongle.

It works, and the short little cable is actually a plus since it's not bulky and won't get tangled.

The Apple DAC is NOT an amp, so it's not going to boost volume or drive a power-hungry IEM. I can't drive my full-sized 470 ohm headphones from it. But the Blessing 3 looks to be low-impedance so that shouldn't be a problem.

Color me a skeptic about great improvement with a DAC. I think there is a lot of snake oil and self-justification out there. Per Crinacle and others, the Apple dongle is reported to measure as accurate and uncolored--neutral. If what you're looking for is basically a connector for a phone without a headphone jack, that should do the job. The IEMs are supposed to be shaping the sound.

 

[kyruz]

I have a Samsung phone and an Apple USB-C-to-3.5mm dongle.

It works, and the short little cable is actually a plus since it's not bulky and won't get tangled.

The Apple DAC is NOT an amp, so it's not going to boost volume or drive a power-hungry IEM. I can't drive my full-sized 470 ohm headphones from it. But the Blessing 3 looks to be low-impedance so that shouldn't be a problem.

Color me a skeptic about great improvement with a DAC. I think there is a lot of snake oil and self-justification out there. Per Crinacle and others, the Apple dongle is reported to measure as accurate and uncolored--neutral. If what you're looking for is basically a connector for a phone without a headphone jack, that should do the job. The IEMs are supposed to be shaping the sound.

That's what I wanted to hear. Tysm! My only concern is how fragile it looks. I would prefer to go with a equivalent dongle but with a better cable quality if there is any. The one that got most my attention was the moondrop click, but i don't know if the sound quality is the same of the apple dongle.

 

[kyruz]

Is that rumored to be coming out soon?

No one knows when it will come out, but I hope it doesn't take too much. I'm very anxious about it

 

[msing539]

Color me a skeptic about great improvement with a DAC... Per Crinacle and others, the Apple dongle is reported to measure as accurate and uncolored--neutral.

I'm more skeptical about Crinacle and others.

 

[WorksUnit]

No one knows when it will come out, but I hope it doesn't take too much. I'm very anxious about it

Don`t be anxious about audio.
Just explore it within your budget

 

[BS5711]

I would suggest get an Apple dongle or similar and spend the money on the IEM.

You can see how you like the set up and assess if you might want to dabble in experimenting with a more "premium" DAC/Amp.

I am utterly convinced people blow the differences in electronic way way out of proportion possibly because they think they hear differences based on expectation not because there are big differences in most decent modern gear.

I have tried several IEM of varying sensitivity driving them from a Lightning Apple Dongle, Chord Mojo, iFi Gryphon and iFi Diablo and if you match the volume properly they all sound far far more the same than they do different.

In fact I was listening with one quite hard to drive planar set back and forth between the Apple Dongle and iFi Diablo when I got disturbed with some email correspondence that I took care of while I was listening. After 10 minutes or so I went back to listening and though "gosh these do sound good off the Diablo, it really was worth the money" only to look down and realise I was plugged into the Apple Dongle off my iPhone X.

If you are not familiar with the iFi Diablo it has a huge amount of power and cost literally 100 times the Apple Dongle and yet if there is a difference in sound quality the difference is small.

If you are concerned about the fragile nature of the dongle, and rightly so, I would recommend a ddhifi TC35B which I understand is essentially an Apple dongle in a stainless steel box so no fragile cable.

Try before you buy if you can and don't expect similar electronics to make the huge differences that most people talk about.

https://www.ddhifi.com/productinfo/1474339.html

 

[msing539]

I understand the point of view that the Apple dongle is enough, and it is for most people. If you want that last bit out of a pair of iems, portable dacs are worth exploring. A Cayin RU6 sounds nothing like an Apple dongle... is it worth costing 15x more? For some, yes.

 

[earmonger]

The big investment should be the transducers: IEM or headphones. Everything else is incremental. And as msing539 said, tips will have a HUGE influence.

 

[IkSak]

The big investment should be the transducers: IEM or headphones. Everything else is incremental. And as msing539 said, tips will have a HUGE influence.

Absolutely agree with this. Invest your money on the best IEM you can and get a dongle. I recently bought my first DAP (Shanling M3X) and the sound does become a bit more open out of the balanced output, yet the difference is incremental compared to what you get from switching from one IEM to other.

I'd suggest that you first find your preferred IEM sound signature and then think about moving to something more expensive than the dongles.