[Jdnoss]

I will soon be moving into the world of high-end IEMs. I am trying to decide whether to get a dragonfly red or a HA-2SE for my portable set-up. I have previously owned a dragonfly red and I liked it. It was very compact and sounded great with the headphones I had at the time, but at the time I was on android and it was shortly after launch so I had nothing but problems with it. Now I have switched to Iphone, and while the dongle is better than my old galaxy S6 it will not do my soon to be new IEM's justice.

So I have narrowed down my choices to going back to the dragonfly red due to its super compact size and portability, or the Oppo HA-2SE for the built in battery and more powerful amp section. At this point I mostly use spotify on the go and at work. As this will be used only with my phone or laptop when I travel I don't plan on doing much in the way of critical listening. When I go to work I don't carry a bag with me as I don't have a laptop so i usually just carry my headphones in their case. The Dragonfly would fit in the case with my headphones but the HA-2 would not.

So, do you save $100 dollars and go ultra portable or do you spend the extra for the power at the expense of more things to carry around.

 

[mitsu763]

I found with IEM's and the DFR it was hard to get just the right volume level. I currently own the HA-2SE and find it to be a step up in sound quality and obviously volume control. I find it offers better clarity and a more dynamic sound than the DFR.

 

[Houba]

The Oppo is waaaaaaaay better....but bulkier