[Jonnibravo]

Hi all can anybody recommend a portable headphone amp that will improve the sound of my S10+ budget is £100 maybe 150 at a push.

 

[Narayan23]

Hi Jonnibravo, if you haven´t already, I´d recommend you use the adaptsound feature on your phone, I had a Galaxy S4 back in the day and doing the adaptsound adjustment made a huge difference and was the best sound I´ve had from a mobile device (I´m using an LG G6 with Quad Dac these days) I can´t recommend an amp since I prefer not to use one with my phone, but If I were to look in that direction I´d probably get a dongle type device such as the Ibasso DC02 (check if it´s compatible with your phone).

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Or try an APK that unlocks the internal DAC of your phone first. See USB AUDIO PLAYER PRO in the PLAY STORE.

 

[NoshiSenpai]

I own a S10+ as well. I’ll go through just the amps I’ve used.

FiiO A1:
https://tinyurl.com/rkok3sk

FiiO A5:
https://tinyurl.com/vzd69p8

and ironically I’m currently using this mostly:
https://tinyurl.com/ut66jg4

I paid about $15 US for mine a few years back. It does the job, it’s not going to blow your mind but it will make audio output much louder if that is your problem. I had problems with those two FiiO products, it seems like drop-shippers over here leave these things dead, so I tried two A1 units, both couldn’t last more than hour. A5 was similar, it’d last maybe 3 hours. I tried draining and recharging, but I’m almost certain the li-po batteries had expanded or degraded to the point where they weren't usable. With the one I'm using above, don't worry about the brand with this one, it's just a cheap headphone amp with some rando company name slapped on it, if you go to Amazon and just type in XU-09 it should pull up a slew of the same thing I have. The only reason I use it is just to drive some IEMs when I'm at work, the Dolby Atmos helps improve audio quality enough to where I don't feel the need to use anything else, it lasts me multiple days without recharging which is one of it's biggest perks. Now the FiiO units do have EQ but I think you can do a majority of that on your device.

I do have a few probably better alternatives if you're more concerned about improving actual audio quality. There’s the FiiO K3, it is not battery powered but I have had good luck using the S10+ with it, basically you’d just run it usb-c to usb-c. I would recommend getting a short usb-c male to male if you’re going to use it, it comes with a USB-C male to standard male usb. Its audio quality is miles better than the standard S10+ DAC and it powered all my stuff easy.

If you’re okay just using USB-C there’s HIDIZ Sonata and Razer USB-C 3.5mm. If you’re okay going Bluetooth, there’s the FiiO BTR5 or EarStudio ES100. I’ve used all these products, I’m sticking with the FiiO BTR5 for my around the house use, you can get the BTR5 for roughly around $100 - $150 US, I think the prices have gone up since Zeos reviewed it.


Word of advice if you do order the EarStudio ES100, order two. I had the same issue with battery on that here.


FiiO K3:
https://tinyurl.com/yx5azrhw

HIDIZ Sonata:
https://tinyurl.com/rqcd5vs

Razer USB-C 3.5mm:
https://tinyurl.com/wqzdkbm

EarStudio ES100:
https://tinyurl.com/wrffm8n

FiiO BTR5:
https://tinyurl.com/vdj4spm

Honorable mentions:

Topping NX2S:
https://tinyurl.com/v3fosva

AudioQuest DragonFly:
https://tinyurl.com/wde3g3t

Definitely look up reviews of the items I listed and see if it fits what you're looking for! Hope that helps!

 

[recca]

Topping NX4 DSD and UAPP. On the very high end of your price range but worth it I believe.

 

[Jonnibravo]

Thanks guys I think I'm going to go for the either the btr5 or the nx4 though the nx4 looks the better of the two thank you for all your advice.

 

[recca]

Make sure it’s the NX4 DSD

 

[NoshiSenpai]

Make sure it’s the NX4 DSD

Maybe whenever Topping starts using USB-C. lol jk

My argument for the BTR5 is that it can be used as a USB-C dac/amp with the added benefit of bluetooth. It's probably a bit brighter sounding than the NX4. What's impressed me with the BTR5 is what it can drive as well as the app functionality.



If you do go the NX4 route make sure you buy a Micro-USB to USB-C cable if you want to use it in DSD. I'm pretty sure the NX4 doesn't have one included, but I honestly can't remember. I know I have this cable and it works well:
https://tinyurl.com/tz8h7s3

I'd like to add the only benefit you will gain by using the NX4 DSD is if you have lossless audio files on your phone. The NX4 is a good porta DAC/AMP, but I mentioned the NX2S because it's cheaper with longer playback time but it doesn't have DSD. If you want to go down that route I'd say it's between the NX4 and FiiO Q1 Mark II. You will also need the micro-usb adapter I linked above.

https://tinyurl.com/yx246dpr

Good luck!

 

[recca]

Good point, the NX4 DSD doesn't have bluetooth so if that's important then it's not a good choice.

 

[psikey]

I'm enjoying BTR5 over LDAC BT as much as out of my Dragonfly Cobalt.

Just use my S10+/BTR5/SE846 balanced now when out and about and use my DFC or Sony A105 wired at home.

 

[jesterpaul]

Maybe whenever Topping starts using USB-C. lol jk

My argument for the BTR5 is that it can be used as a USB-C dac/amp with the added benefit of bluetooth. It's probably a bit brighter sounding than the NX4. What's impressed me with the BTR5 is what it can drive as well as the app functionality.



If you do go the NX4 route make sure you buy a Micro-USB to USB-C cable if you want to use it in DSD. I'm pretty sure the NX4 doesn't have one included, but I honestly can't remember. I know I have this cable and it works well:
https://tinyurl.com/tz8h7s3

I'd like to add the only benefit you will gain by using the NX4 DSD is if you have lossless audio files on your phone. The NX4 is a good porta DAC/AMP, but I mentioned the NX2S because it's cheaper with longer playback time but it doesn't have DSD. If you want to go down that route I'd say it's between the NX4 and FiiO Q1 Mark II. You will also need the micro-usb adapter I linked above.

https://tinyurl.com/yx246dpr

Good luck!

I just got the Topping NX4DSD from Drop (formerly Massdrop) yesterday.

Early impressions: It is simply awesome on my brother's Samsung Galaxy S9. The sound is clear with depth and fullness. Not at all bright, but I hate over brightness: I find it tiring. However, on my Huawei P20 Lite it there are clicking/popping sounds in the background when playing that ruin the purpose of having a DAC completely. I haven't managed to identify the cause or a fix as yet.

FYI it did come with a USB-C to Micro-USB adaptor cable.

 

[alleroy]

I do have a few probably better alternatives if you're more concerned about improving actual audio quality. There’s the FiiO K3, it is not battery powered but I have had good luck using the S10+ with it, basically you’d just run it usb-c to usb-c.

Could you, or anybody else, explain better about this? I had understood that K3 needs more power than that provided by smartphon usb-c connectors.
I was considering Q1 Mark ii as an alternative, but I haven't heard so good reviews about it.