DAC vs DAC
Oct 9, 2016 at 10:38 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6

Amitl

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Hello,
Pardon my noobiness, but i listen to my music through a smartphone.
A Sony Z3 Compact, that is.
I was wondering just how much of a difference in sound quality i will
find using a different player, like the LG V20 for example, or
something like the Fiio X5.
I'm using in-ears earphones mostly: JVC HA-FXT90, Sony MDR-EX650, Vsonic VSD3S,
And the supra-aural Sennheiser Amperior.
Thank you
 
Oct 9, 2016 at 11:58 AM Post #2 of 6
  Hello,
Pardon my noobiness, but i listen to my music through a smartphone.
A Sony Z3 Compact, that is.
I was wondering just how much of a difference in sound quality i will
find using a different player, like the LG V20 for example, or
something like the Fiio X5.
I'm using in-ears earphones mostly: JVC HA-FXT90, Sony MDR-EX650, Vsonic VSD3S,
And the supra-aural Sennheiser Amperior.
Thank you

 
1) The in-ear headphones you just listed are all consumer grade products - they should have no problem being driven by a smartphone. The only reason you would need an external amp with a smartphone is whn you're using high impedance headphones (35ohm+). Usually higher end open air headphones.
 
2) Both the Sony Z3 and the Fiio X5 aredigital  music players. They're not DAC's strictly speaking. These are basically "lossless audio quality iPods". You put your music on and play directly from the device, no smartphone needed.
 
Oct 10, 2016 at 3:41 AM Post #3 of 6
My question was how different and noticeable would the sound be, listening to these earphones through a regular smartphone vs something like the fiio x5
 
Oct 10, 2016 at 12:11 PM Post #4 of 6
My question was how different and noticeable would the sound be, listening to these earphones through a regular smartphone vs something like the fiio x5


The Fiio X5 uses the PCM1792A DAC chipset from Texas instruments. It used to be their highest end chip, so i'm sure it sounds pretty good. To answer your question I'd say that the sound quality depends on A) Your source audio and B) your headphones. You need very clean high quality lossless audio files for this player to shine.
 
I don't think you're going to be blown away, honestly. This player has a great DAC, and some cool features. Definitely fits in the market for people who want to carry around large audio files but don't have room to store them all on their phone. Otherwise, I doubt you'll hear a huge perceivable difference between this and your phone, given the types of in-ear headphones you're listening on.  
 
Oct 10, 2016 at 12:31 PM Post #5 of 6
The cheapest Listenable portable that'll actually be better than a phone is the Mojo.It's not a miracle thing, just listenable. Fiio line has even worse technical capabilities (resolution/timbre/dynamics....)
 

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