I'm a newbie (first post here) - so please forgive any comments which may sound odd....
Ive had my porta tube+ for about 3 weeks now... Got it from the excellent guys at Jaben Singapore... top service there....
I primarily use it for my bedside table (ALO - iphone (plane mode)) and work (USB from macbook pro) - I tried to use it a couple of time on the go, but it wasn't really that portable and if you move too much the tubes make some noise.... I bought an iBasso D-Zero for on the go... but once I got used to the tube sound... the D-Zero isn't really cutting it... albeit very portable....
so... I would have much preferred if the casing was black like the non-DAC version... not a huge fan of the blue... but hey .. its the sound that matters...
I have two power supplies... one by my bedside and one at work ... so I'm mostly running this with the power supply on...
I prefer my sounds warm and lush... I don't mind loosing a bit of detail... but I do like some soundstage... I mostly hear using DT 77 pro while in bed so I don't disturb my wife... closed cans have its benefits... , which are very warm.... at work I use my Shures 530.... I've been playing with getting the Sennheisers IE8 for work...
I've ordered and I"m waiting for my Senn 650HD... Already have moon audio silver dragon V3 cables for it ... just waiting.... I tried the porta tube at Jaben with the senn 650 and they sounded amazing to my musical taste........ with good bass, but not muddy or overblown.... a tiny little veil, which I'm hoping the Silver Dragon cables will correct... if it doesn't, it doesn't matter... its 99% to my taste...... my old Senns 595 (first issue back in 2000...) have a driver problem on the left hand can, and its in for an overhaul ... I like the 595's but they don't have enough bass for me... but its an old friend...
into the music... I mostly listen to ambient (Marconi Union, etc.), Jazz (Miles Davis, etc) and Vocals (Bossa Nova, Nick Cave, Aimee Mann, Natalie Merchant, etc..) ...
Funnily enough, I think the portatube is quite forgiving on compressed 256k AAC stuff.... I have a few of those, however most of my music is ALAC (XRCD, K2HD, SACD) and a few 24/96 downloads from Linn Record (Marconi Union & others) and HD Tracks....
couldn't tell much difference in sound from ALAC to good 256k AAC (non complex music) .... however I can easily tell ALAC from 24 bit HD music..... primirely the depth and ambiance.... the Porta Tube makes everything sound like honey.... going back and trying a govibe Vest, Martini+ or the iBasso Dzero makes most of the music sound flat, up front and 'digital' ...... on their own, each of these amps are good... but once you are used to the tube lushness.... hard to go back ...
so, big fan of the porta tube plus.... the problem now is that my DacMagic plus (used on my HT set up) albeit good, is not giving me the same feeling I get from my porta Tube (the porta tube is a little more expensive than the Damagic plus) ..... so now I'm investigating adding a Woo Audio WA2 to my HT/Stereo set up.....
it is an expensive hobby......