[zheric]

A couple of weeks ago I took my first foray into head gear when I was looking for a pair of headphones to play a game (DJ Max Portable 3) on my PSP.  After digging around Head-Fi I ended up buying the SRH840s.  I am really enjoying them but I also wanted something portable so after browsing around Head-Fi some more I settled on the SE535s and ordered them today.
 
The last piece of equipment I am looking to buy (for now) is a portable AMP/DAC.  While I've read that the SRH840s and SE535s are easy to drive and don't necessarily need an amp, I want a DAC to use with my PC and laptop so I figure I might as well get a combined unit.  Right now my eye is on the iBasso D12 and before ordering one I wanted to see if there's any reason it wouldn't work well with both the headphones and IEMs.  I'll primarily be using it to listen to a wide variety of music from my PC (320k CBR mp3s for now.  I looked through a bunch of threads about lossless and VBR and it made my head spin) and will sometimes take it on the go.  My only portable source right now is a Droid, though I plan on picking up an iPad in the near future or an iPhone when they bring it to Verizon.
 
So to sum it up I'm planning on ordering an iBasso D12 to pair with my SRH840s and SE535s and want to make sure it's a solid choice before I pull the trigger.
 
Also, I'm pretty obsessive when it comes to keeping my "toys" in perfect condition.  Does anyone use a (hard) case, other than what's included, to transport their gear around?  If so, what do you use?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Welcome to Head-fi...
 
That's quite the first setup you're going for! The SE535s are my favourite universal IEMs and the SRH840s are really good balanced closed headphones and very hard to beat in that price range.
 
If you don't need the optical/coax inputs, I would also suggest to check out the iBasso D4. I do prefer it (D4) to the D10 (sorry never heard the D12...yet anyway). It's got a little more power with the 9V battery and sonically, it does seem a little more neutral. Both my D10 and D4 paired very well with my SE535s, so I imagine the D12s should also.
 
Oh...any my apologies to your wallet.

 

[zheric]

Haha, my wallet only gets abused like this a "few" times a year.
 
When I got my headphones I broke them in by putting my iTunes library on shuffle for roughly 4 days straight while alternating the volume between a comfortable listening volume and one a slight step above.  Is this something I'll need to do when I get the IEMs and amp?