[bearbearbear]

I've been reading all the nano black label threads, and it sounds fantastic. Was a definite next purchase at some point over the next few months.

Now, I've just seen the Sony PHA-1A, new for ‎£67. It's normally something like £180, which is just under the nano black label in the UK (£200, but I should be able to get it for around £170 I think).

Has anyone got experience with the two? At the same price point, nano BL was the winner, but at £100 difference I'm not so sure. However, I have never used either, and I'm not really in a location where it's likely that I will be able to.

Thank you

 

[yong_shun]

Personally, I will choose ifi iDSD Nano Black Label over SONY PHA-1A:
1. Native DSD and PCM decoding - This is an advantage if you have a huge collection of DSD recording.
2. Longer battery life - I think for a portable DAC the minimum battery life should be at least 10 hrs.
3. Jitter free - ifi is always famous of their re-balance USB signal in their DAC which reduce the jitter to minimum. Jitter will be killer for those low impedance headphones.
Sound wise will be subjective so I do not wish to comment much on it. Both amplifiers able to drive headphone with impedance up to 600 ohms. So power is not a concern in this comparison. Cheers!

 

[squee116]

Do need it to be mobile? If not, save money.

 

[/guy]

hi folks: new to hi-res audio and balanced headphones, so be patient with a question i'm sure has been asked and answered dozens of times, but i think the ifi nano black is about the only dac i've heard of with an /iematch/ jack.

i've acquired some fiio balanced iem's with a 2.5mm trrs plug that fits my pioneer 300r and the ak70mk2 and a fiio headphone amp. i also got my massdrop sennheiser 6xx 'phones in and have mounted a balanced cable on it with a 2.5mm trrs plug. i have an adapter for 2.5mm balanced to 3.5mm stereo as well.

but i'm confused as to what adapter, if any, i need to plug my iem's and headphones into the /iematch/ 3.5mm jack. ifi says the jack can be used with both balanced and unbalanced plugs, so do i already have all i need in the 3.5mm stereo adaptor, or is there better performance to be had if i could plug a balanced 3.5mm trrs into the /iematch/ jack?

oh, and i just found this on amazon and from the description it seems to be exactly what is needed, but the low price deters me:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01ASF1KAK/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

also, ifi sells an /iematch/ adapter which has balanced trrs 3.5mm female and male ends which confuses the issue as some reviewers seem to think that you need one of those.

thanks! /guy