[Don Sergio G]

Recently, I bought my first pair of good headphones, the AKG K702s, they're great and my HTC 10 runs them properly thanks to the 24 bit dac it has, but when I'm at the office I don't want to get distracted by my phone and the built in headphone jack on my old macbook ran the cans poorly, also, living in México doesn't help as most popular dacs aren't even available to buy here, so looking for portable alternatives was my only option as the only other way I could run them properly on my laptop was to bring my audio interface (the scarlett 2i2) with me, finally I settled on the LG HI-FI Plus portable dac as it is REALLY cheap here because the G5 itself didn't really sell well and carriers started giving away the g5 modules for free as an incentive for people to buy the phone, given that the retail price for this dac was around $150 at launch (I got mine for $50 usd brand new) I gave it a shot and think it is perfect as a portable dac, it has a small form factor, it uses usb-c, it can run on every smartphone I have tested (even iPhones) as well as pc and mac computers, audio quality is also great, as the lg hi-fi plus uses the same components as the dac found in the lg v10, sound is a little bit warmer than the htc 10 and the amp runs the k702s really loud, I've also tested it with a pair of shure se215 IEMs and can't even max the volume without fear of hurting my ears, overall, I recommend you get the hi-fi plus if you are looking for a portable dac on a budget or to upgrade the sound quality of an iphone, android smartphone, tablet or computer you have without carrying big equipment.

 

[masterpfa]

I have just found out about this DAC, or should I say found that it can be used by itself as an external DAC.

I have ordered one and finally will be able to use my Pixel 2XL with a more portable alternative to my Mojo (which I have to get repaired due to the faulty USB in port.)

What has been your experience with DSD files have you been able to use this with DSD256?

 

[Don Sergio G]

I have just found out about this DAC, or should I say found that it can be used by itself as an external DAC.

I have ordered one and finally will be able to use my Pixel 2XL with a more portable alternative to my Mojo (which I have to get repaired due to the faulty USB in port.)

What has been your experience with DSD files have you been able to use this with DSD256?

I have not used DSD files as my main source of hi-res audio are Tidal's flacs, if you wish I could listen to specific songs and give you my feedback

 

[masterpfa]

I have not used DSD files as my main source of hi-res audio are Tidal's flacs, if you wish I could listen to specific songs and give you my feedback

Thank you Don Sergio G for the offer but I have just received a tracking notification for my delivery, hopefully by today by 13:00 so I will be able to give this a try within the next few hours/days.

I will post my findings here once I have had a good listen.

 

[masterpfa]

Thank you Don Sergio G for the offer but I have just received a tracking notification for my delivery, hopefully by today by 13:00 so I will be able to give this a try within the next few hours/days.

I will post my findings here once I have had a good listen.

I have had a chance to play with this connected to my phone only and this little device delivers on my requirements on all formats up to DSD128. I believe once connected to my PC DSD256 will be available.

A friend who first alerted me to the LG HiFi Plus and it's stand alone features, has got his to work with DSD256.

In conclusion, if purchased at a reduced price, I bought this for £21.50 including postage for a used item, you can get yourself a bargain and a more than capable DAC.

 

[Nícolas Arruda Bezerra]

I was searching for a cheap portable DAC, trying to improve my audio quality.
I live in Brazil and almost every good audio equipment here is imported and the cost is very high. Fiio Q1MKii here cost about 200 dollars. So, I found this little LG DAC on local stores for about 50 dollars, and knowing that it can be used as a standalone DAC I gave it a try.
I'm amazed! Coming from Samsung S7 Exynos I hear so much more detail from my headphones and IEMs.
Using with my phone and my PC with Windows 10 was plug and play.
I mainly use a Fidelio x2 as headphones and a Vsonic gr07BE as IEMs. The improvement in both was very clear, background instruments took a lift, also the bass has more impact and hights sparkle more.
About the power of the amp... there's no physical switch, it is done by software trick... the DAC recognize the impedance of the headphones plug-in and adjust the power in two levels. The first one for headphones until +- 50 OHms, it is good for IEMs and portable cans. The second one deliveres much more power, and can drive bigger cans properly.
I use with the Fidelio x2, wich is 32 Ohms, the sound at first was not very wide, it was good, but the improvement on the IEMs was so much better, than reading the thread I found a solution. I used little Digital TV adapters that came with my previous phones to rise the impedance so the DAC could deliverer more power. It works flawesly!! And my Fidelio X2 now stays in 50/100 volume, with very good detail, sparkle and strong deep bass.
If you are coming from the standart DAC in smartphones or computers, this will give a smile from ear to ear, the improvement is massive, as I say, a lot of detail pops out. And the good thing is that now it is very cheap, since the LG G5 didn't sell very well.

The trick is to plug the adapter on the DAC, then insert the DAC on the USB port, this will give you much more power to play. Also, it can play DSD files, for this I used the foobar on my desktop pc. All this for 50 dollars, great!

 

[masterpfa]

I was searching for a cheap portable DAC, trying to improve my audio quality.
I live in Brazil and almost every good audio equipment here is imported and the cost is very high. Fiio Q1MKii here cost about 200 dollars. So, I found this little LG DAC on local stores for about 50 dollars, and knowing that it can be used as a standalone DAC I gave it a try.
I'm amazed! Coming from Samsung S7 Exynos I hear so much more detail from my headphones and IEMs.
Using with my phone and my PC with Windows 10 was plug and play.
I mainly use a Fidelio x2 as headphones and a Vsonic gr07BE as IEMs. The improvement in both was very clear, background instruments took a lift, also the bass has more impact and hights sparkle more.
About the power of the amp... there's no physical switch, it is done by software trick... the DAC recognize the impedance of the headphones plug-in and adjust the power in two levels. The first one for headphones until +- 50 OHms, it is good for IEMs and portable cans. The second one deliveres much more power, and can drive bigger cans properly.
I use with the Fidelio x2, wich is 32 Ohms, the sound at first was not very wide, it was good, but the improvement on the IEMs was so much better, than reading the thread I found a solution. I used little Digital TV adapters that came with my previous phones to rise the impedance so the DAC could deliverer more power. It works flawesly!! And my Fidelio X2 now stays in 50/100 volume, with very good detail, sparkle and strong deep bass.
If you are coming from the standart DAC in smartphones or computers, this will give a smile from ear to ear, the improvement is massive, as I say, a lot of detail pops out. And the good thing is that now it is very cheap, since the LG G5 didn't sell very well.

The trick is to plug the adapter on the DAC, then insert the DAC on the USB port, this will give you much more power to play. Also, it can play DSD files, for this I used the foobar on my desktop pc. All this for 50 dollars, great!

Hopefully you will cinticon to enjoy this bargain of a DAC