[A_Dying_Wren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I may, the DAC in the D4 is quite revealing and extended in both directions. It does this while being musical and engaging. I was very surprised to hear this level of detail, extension, clarity, and involving sound. For those on the go (laptop or notebook) the D4 would make an excellent choice and IMO rivals many of the low to mid home DAC's. I use it at times in place of my Monarchy Audio NM24 paired with a Monarchy Audio AC Regenerator and while it may fall short I would not fault the D4 since it is competing with a rig that has an MSRP of $2,500 USD. So in closing I would suggest you try the D4 as a DAC only and I believe you will be favorably impressed. Cheers and good luck.

Thanks a lot mrarroyo. That's quite something to be able to be used interchangeably with such an expensive setup.

DAC only isn't an option for me right now though as it'll be outputting straight to my HD650s. Ain't got an amp.

 

[mrarroyo]

My pleasure and good luck in your search.

 

[paulybatz]

Well, I am so impressed and continue to be by these two amps...I gave the T3 to my dad to borrow and he was blown away, I gave him a Rockhopper mini3 last year and he loved it, when I handed him the T3, he couldnt figure out what it was, he was like "this little thing is an amp", YEP!
His exact words were "I cannot believe how much detail there is"
"I can hear EVERYTHING"
my sentiments exactly...he was using full size cans to boot with it!
Ultrasone PL750s

The price/performance ratio is just simply maxxed out with these two little wonders!

 

[dongringo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulybatz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I am so impressed and continue to be by these two amps... The price/performance ratio is just simply maxxed out with these two little wonders!

I totally agree. In fact, I bought both the D4 and T3 based in large part due to your posts and don't regret either purchase for a second. Thanks for sharing all your thoughts on them.

 

[kunalraiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dongringo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I totally agree. In fact, I bought both the D4 and T3 based in large part due to your posts and don't regret either purchase for a second. Thanks for sharing all your thoughts on them.

Will you explain the reason behind getting them both.

 

[dongringo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunalraiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif Will you explain the reason behind getting them both.

I got the D4 several weeks ago because I needed a dac for my computer.

I got the T3 because I needed a more portable, lighter amp for mp3 player that would fit into my pants pocket and cycling jersey pocket.

 

[nickyboyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dongringo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got the T3 because I needed a more portable, lighter amp for mp3 player that would fit into my pants pocket and cycling jersey pocket.

The T3 must be a near perfect amp for that purpose bud. I love the size, sound and the price of the thing. It is a remarkable piece of equipment.

 

[dongringo]

Yeah, after a couple months of searching for the ultimate ultra-portable I decided on the T3 and it's perfect for my purposes. In fact, it's smaller, lighter, and better sounding than I could have possibly imagined. And to top it all off, the battery lasts seemingly forever. Love it!

 

[paulybatz]

Listening to Michael Franti & Spearhead station on pandora radio...the DAC is tremendous, very very nice...I did a little A/Bing I still find that Battery Power for the amp section is crisper and bass thumps a bit more (still using alkaline, getting some rechargeables this week!!!)

 

[Trapper32]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulybatz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Listening to Michael Franti & Spearhead station on pandora radio...the DAC is tremendous, very very nice...I did a little A/Bing I still find that Battery Power for the amp section is crisper and bass thumps a bit more (still using alkaline, getting some rechargeables this week!!!)

I agree this DAC is quite the surprise. I've only got about 30 hours on my D4 but it does sound VERY good. Both as a portable and as a DAC in my main system feeding a CTH. I was pleasantly surprised by the sound coming out of this. Very detailed but musical. Great bang for your buck for sure.

 

[immtbiker]

If you like Franti and Spearhead, you should check out "Yell Fire"
Got to see them live at the Nokia Theater last year and they were tremendous:

 

[mesasone]

I have to be honest, I thought that Yell Fire! was a bit of a let down. I heard the title track off of it on Iowa Public Radio one night and loved it, so I went out and bought the album. The album is not bad so much as it really lacks variety. Most of the tracks sound VERY similar to me. It seems you would be better off buying 3-4 tracks individually and leaving the rest. Just my opinion.

EDIT: Oops, posting this in the wrong thread! The content below was intended for HeadphoneAddict's mini-review thread. Ah well... will leave for posterity I suppose.

OK back to the topic at hand: After two or three weeks of hemming and hawing around, I've just ordered an iBasso T3. I thought and thought and thought about whether to get the T3 or T3D, but I just couldn't see paying an extra 15 dollars to get an amp that sounds even slightly worse just to get the digital volume control. I also wasn't sure how fine the steps where with the digital control, since nobody seemed to respond to that question. Ah well.

I wonder about the practicality of the digital volume control on this amp, given A) it uses a dial and not a rotary knob like many other amps appear to, B) that the controls look recessed so they would seem to be unlikely to change when in your pocket, and C) they use a high quality pot and are selective about which ones actually end up in their amps, and as such the problems with channel balance are very limited/non-existent.

Anyway, thanks for the responses guys and now the wait begins! (Oh, and I'm still open to listening impressions of the T3 and TF10 combo!

)

 

[abreviews]

I was looking at a few portable amps because I didn't have the money to spend on a full size amp and a portable one, and I decided on the T3 based off of the reviews. A portable amp can be used at home and in the car if I needed too, which is why I chose not to get a full sized amp.

It finally came today and wow... I opened the box and my first thought was "This is it?" It's extremely small and lightweight but that also worries me. I bought them to hook up to my Denon D2000's, but now I'm not sure if it'll do the job. I can't test it with the D2000's because I'm in the process of returning them for a new pair. Was the T3 a good choice or should I return it?

 

[paulybatz]

Mesa...you will not be disappointed and I am all for the analog dial

Immi...check archive.org for all the free franti you can stand! Ive seen them twice, very good live show!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abreviews /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was looking at a few portable amps because I didn't have the money to spend on a full size amp and a portable one, and I decided on the T3 based off of the reviews. A portable amp can be used at home and in the car if I needed too, which is why I chose not to get a full sized amp. It finally came today and wow... I opened the box and my first thought was "This is it?" It's extremely small and lightweight but that also worries me. I bought them to hook up to my Denon D2000's, but now I'm not sure if it'll do the job. I can't test it with the D2000's because I'm in the process of returning them for a new pair. Was the T3 a good choice or should I return it?

It will be fine with the D2000.