DAP/DAC + HPs

[Nobuemon]

Greetings!
 
 
Would love to get some recommendations for DAPs/DACs + HPs.
 
Tried to find something by myself, reading tons of new material about DAPs and HPs, but get quite nowhere.
 
Using MDR-1A now with my iPad/iPhone, always wanted to get a better sound, but couldn't afford it with proper solution. With budget of 1300 USD is there any chanse to get something with good sound quality? 
Listening pretty much everything, but mostly jazz/funk/visual key/pop.
Newbie-friendly UI would be just great!
Now sure what else should I add here, but hope to get some help!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  \Would love to get some recommendations for DAPs/DACs + HPs.
 
Tried to find something by myself, reading tons of new material about DAPs and HPs, but get quite nowhere.
 
Using MDR-1A now with my iPad/iPhone, always wanted to get a better sound, but couldn't afford it with proper solution. With budget of 1300 USD is there any chanse to get something with good sound quality? 
Listening pretty much everything, but mostly jazz/funk/visual key/pop.
Newbie-friendly UI would be just great!
Now sure what else should I add here, but hope to get some help!

 
Nothing like that exists if you're coming from Apple devices, worse still if you actually like using iTunes. Just hook up your iPhone/iPad to this:
https://www.oppodigital.com/headphone-amplifier-ha-2SE/
 
And then use that to drive this:
https://www.amazon.com/Grado-Reference-Series-RS1e-Headphone/dp/B00L1O9E2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492537726&sr=8-1&keywords=Grado+RS1e

 

[Nobuemon]

   
Nothing like that exists if you're coming from Apple devices, worse still if you actually like using iTunes. Just hook up your iPhone/iPad to this:
https://www.oppodigital.com/headphone-amplifier-ha-2SE/
 
And then use that to drive this:
https://www.amazon.com/Grado-Reference-Series-RS1e-Headphone/dp/B00L1O9E2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492537726&sr=8-1&keywords=Grado+RS1e

So it's absolutely worthless idea to get a DAP for music if I already have an iPhone and better to buy OPPO as DAC/amp for it +HPs?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Originally Posted by Nobuemon /img/forum/go_quote.gif

So it's absolutely worthless idea to get a DAP for music if I already have an iPhone and better to buy OPPO as DAC/amp for it +HPs?

 

I'm saying it's a "tear your hair out and rage-type a post on Head-Fi kind of experience when you try anything that doesn't run on iTunes." It's happened too many times already, and if you haven't seen the posts, chances are it's because that kind of post gets deleted for a number of reasons, along with every counter-raging reply to it. The mere idea of track tags, organizing music, and even drag-and-drop seems like an inefficient and alien concept to people using Apple for some reason (conversely, I nearly tore my hair out when I tried using iTunes).

 

The reality is that from the get-go, when the X3 was just an idea pitched at Fiio after the popularity of the Teclast T51 (and all of its tear your hair out UI and reliability issues), what people were asking Fiio to do apart from basically making a miniature circuit board of what you'd find in a CD player (and with the transport replaced by a microSD card slot) was specifically to make damn sure that it worked as differently from iTunes as humanly possible. They'd tolerate a few hiccups here and there for the hardware, but they don't want to deal with proprietary syncing software.

 

Basically the DAC-HPamp will allow you to get hardware on par if not better than some DAPs while not having to let go of iTunes and iOS UI.

 

[Nobuemon]

 

 

I'm saying it's a "tear your hair out and rage-type a post on Head-Fi kind of experience when you try anything that doesn't run on iTunes." It's happened too many times already, and if you haven't seen the posts, chances are it's because that kind of post gets deleted for a number of reasons, along with every counter-raging reply to it. The mere idea of track tags, organizing music, and even drag-and-drop seems like an inefficient and alien concept to people using Apple for some reason (conversely, I nearly tore my hair out when I tried using iTunes).

 

The reality is that from the get-go, when the X3 was just an idea pitched at Fiio after the popularity of the Teclast T51 (and all of its tear your hair out UI and reliability issues), what people were asking Fiio to do apart from basically making a miniature circuit board of what you'd find in a CD player (and with the transport replaced by a microSD card slot) was specifically to make damn sure that it worked as differently from iTunes as humanly possible. They'd tolerate a few hiccups here and there for the hardware, but they don't want to deal with proprietary syncing software.

 

Basically the DAC-HPamp will allow you to get hardware on par if not better than some DAPs while not having to let go of iTunes and iOS UI.

Well, still not this kind of fan of apple products, just coindedence that I got both of them and really thing that iTunes is ugly. 
Thanks for your help, going to dig in DAC direction more

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Well, still not this kind of fan of apple products, just coindedence that I got both of them and really thing that iTunes is ugly. 

 

You don't have to be an Apple fan, but you have to be someone who dislikes how it works, otherwise, if you're not a fan now, you will be after spending a week with a DAP.

 

That said, Android (ie not just Android-based) firmware plus touchscreen UI effectively makes some of them operate a lot more like Android phones, so if you can grasp the concept of manual track tagging or tag corrections, drag and drop, microSD cards and scanning, you can look into some of them like the Fiio X7 and X5III, plus a few Astell & Kern players. Just note the UI's tend to have errors still.
 

 
Thanks for your help, going to dig in DAC direction more

 

Make sure the DAC-HPamp you get has a specifically labelled "iDevice" (sic) input that way all you need is a short sync cable, otherwise you'll need to use the bulky camera USB adapter.

 

[Nobuemon]

 

 

You don't have to be an Apple fan, but you have to be someone who dislikes how it works, otherwise, if you're not a fan now, you will be after spending a week with a DAP.

 

That said, Android (ie not just Android-based) firmware plus touchscreen UI effectively makes some of them operate a lot more like Android phones, so if you can grasp the concept of manual track tagging or tag corrections, drag and drop, microSD cards and scanning, you can look into some of them like the Fiio X7 and X5III, plus a few Astell & Kern players. Just note the UI's tend to have errors still.
 

 

Make sure the DAC-HPamp you get has a specifically labelled "iDevice" (sic) input that way all you need is a short sync cable, otherwise you'll need to use the bulky camera USB adapter.

Used android since 4.0 and moved on iOS just recently, so have some expieriense after all
 
Oh, wouldn't even think about speciefic labeling, thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nobuemon /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Used android since 4.0 and moved on iOS just recently, so have some expieriense after all

 

Just note they'd still have some hiccups here and there.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nobuemon /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

Oh, wouldn't even think about speciefic labeling, thanks!

 

Easy way to tell would be if it has USB-A rather than USB-B or mini-B (or has USB-A in addition to the other). 

 

[Nobuemon]

 

 

Just note they'd still have some hiccups here and there.

 

 

Easy way to tell would be if it has USB-A rather than USB-B or mini-B (or has USB-A in addition to the other). 

Good to know it's still same lol.
 
And another useful hint!