[AaronAnderson]

I know that "worth" is subjective to each person. I'm willing to spend 170 bucks on a good headphone amp. From what I can tell this is an excellent unit for the money... I am very new to this and am not intimately familiar with other brands/units available. I'm looking to spend ~150 dollars on something. The D2+ has incredible physical looks; I simply love it. 
 
I will be using my amp in conjunction with an iPhone/iPod and USB/PC. 
 
I will be using headphones in the 100-200 dollar range. 
 
Is this amp worth 130 dollars more than something like the CMOY? 
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-Cmoy-headphone-amp-Opamp-2227-Amplifier-Myntz-/250894527027?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6a7aaa33#ht_1946wt_1396

 

[keanex]

The D2+ is highly regarded. I've never used it but I own the D-Zero. I can say I'm very happy with the company for sound quality/build quality for the price range. Remember one thing though, the DACs will mean nothing when used with your iPod.

 

[AaronAnderson]

Quote:

The D2+ is highly regarded. I've never used it but I own the D-Zero. I can say I'm very happy with the company for sound quality/build quality for the price range. Remember one thing though, the DACs will mean nothing when used with your iPod.

If the majority of my listening is done through my iPhone, would a CMOY amp be just as good? 

 

[liamstrain]

Quote:

Remember one thing though, the DACs will mean nothing when used with your iPod.

How do you mean? Even with an LOD, is it still applying the internal DAC? Or is the D2 not applying their DAC when using the 3/8 input? 

 

[keanex]

Quote:

If the majority of my listening is done through my iPhone, would a CMOY amp be just as good? 

Depends on the headphones. If you plan to use it purely as a portable amp then a CMOY would be good. The D2 can also be used as an external sound card though, and a good one at that.


Quote:

How do you mean? Even with an LOD, is it still applying the internal DAC? Or is the D2 not applying their DAC when using the 3/8 input? 

With an LOD you're only bypassing the iPod's amp unfortunately. There are very few products that do allow the bypassing of the iPods DAC and none of them can be considered portable or cheap. 
 

 

[liamstrain]

Thanks. I wonder then why people bother with portable DAC's for iPod use then... CLAS, or the new HP-P1, etc. Are they re-processing the already processed signal to some benefit? 

 

[AaronAnderson]

Quote:

Thanks. I wonder then why people bother with portable DAC's for iPod use then... CLAS, or the new HP-P1, etc. Are they re-processing the already processed signal to some benefit? 

Probably because of the amplifier that's also in them. That's why I was asking if I should get a CMOY instead. I'll probably get the CMOY first. It's cheap and cool. 
 
The HP-P1 should bypass the ipod DAC, but it's also 650 dollars. What's the point when it gets to be that cost? 

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

Thanks. I wonder then why people bother with portable DAC's for iPod use then... CLAS, or the new HP-P1, etc. Are they re-processing the already processed signal to some benefit? 

The HP-P1 has a digital input for iPod.  So that particular device does bypass the DAC.  That's one of the reasons it's pricey though.
 
EDIT: So does the Algorhythm Solo.  Sorry, didn't catch the "CLAS" abbreviation.
 
NuForce is supposed to have an affordable iPod DAC coming out soon.  At that price range we'll have to see if it's any better than the internal DAC.

 

[liamstrain]

Thanks very much. That makes sense now. 
 
And - for better or for worse, has significantly added to my wishlist.

 

[obazavil]

You mean the nuForce iDo?
Quote:

 
NuForce is supposed to have an affordable iPod DAC coming out soon.  At that price range we'll have to see if it's any better than the internal DAC.

 

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

You mean the nuForce iDo?


 

 
Yeah, that's it.  Unfortunately it appears that it's not portable though; it requires a power adapter.
 
http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/ido/index.php

 
 

 

[keanex]

The idea of an iPod DAC is just absolutely silly to me, especially if it isn't portable. If I'm sitting at home I'm not going to sit by a wall to plug my DAC in, I'll listen through my computer.

 

[AaronAnderson]

Quote:

The idea of an iPod DAC is just absolutely silly to me, especially if it isn't portable. If I'm sitting at home I'm not going to sit by a wall to plug my DAC in, I'll listen through my computer.

I agree 100 percent. 

 

[blacknile]

I used to own an iBasso D2+. I used it exclusively as a desktop dac/amp, ie, to bypass completely the integrated sound chip on my desktop PC (HDA Intel). I've never used it as a pure amplifier with a portable mp3 player, so I cannot comment on that.
 
I found it a complete, utter waste of money. In fact I sold it after a while on ebay.
 
I tried a number of headphones with it: Alessandro MS-1, Audio Technica ATH-M50, Beyerdynamic DT770 80ohm.
 
None of these sounded any better/different through the iBasso (compared with the PC's headphone jack).
 
The D2 might be useful with portable devices, but I recommend you to stay away and invest your money in headphones instead, if you mean to use it as a dac/amp out of a desktop pc.
 
 

 

[keanex]

Quote:

I used to own an iBasso D2+. I used it exclusively as a desktop dac/amp, ie, to bypass completely the integrated sound chip on my desktop PC (HDA Intel). I've never used it as a pure amplifier with a portable mp3 player, so I cannot comment on that.
 
I found it a complete, utter waste of money. In fact I sold it after a while on ebay.
 
I tried a number of headphones with it: Alessandro MS-1, Audio Technica ATH-M50, Beyerdynamic DT770 80ohm.
 
None of these sounded any better/different through the iBasso (compared with the PC's headphone jack).
 
The D2 might be useful with portable devices, but I recommend you to stay away and invest your money in headphones instead, if you mean to use it as a dac/amp.
 
 

This simply makes no sense. As someone who is probably the most skeptical poster here the difference in DACs is easily heard from any onboard audio. Onboard audio has gotten to be decently lately, but it still has too much hum and interference to be ideal.