[Fizzunk]

hello all, I've been lurking these forums for a while and want to thank the community for all their reviews and advice.

I've slowly been getting into audiophilia. I have a pair of BnW p5s, which I use on an iPhone6 and a desktop with an MSI motherboard's builtin soundcard.

The jump from normal earphones to the P5s was massive. It felt like I was doing music wrong all my life. Hearing sounds from my music collection that I never before knew even existed.

I was hooked instantly and wanted more. So I started looking at DACs to really push more out of my cans.

I recently went to an electronics store (yodabashi camera in Japan) and sampled all the recommended DACs that I read about on this forum. The Sony PHA, fiio, onkyo and the creatives. And well, to be honest I was rather underwhelmed. I was expecting another step similar to the transition to my p5s but it definitely fell short, especially considering the price they're going for.

Am I some sort of audiophilia equivalent of a tone-deaf person?
Should I have loaded some lossless files on my iPhone? (Honestly I thought I had a few, but didn't have any to listen to at the time)
Are the 32ohm p5s wasted on a DAC? Do I need better cans?
Is playing iTunes through a DAC, limiting the potential of the hardware?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[diamondears]

hello all, I've been lurking these forums for a while and want to thank the community for all their reviews and advice.

I've slowly been getting into audiophilia. I have a pair of BnW p5s, which I use on an iPhone6 and a desktop with an MSI motherboard's builtin soundcard.

The jump from normal earphones to the P5s was massive. It felt like I was doing music wrong all my life. Hearing sounds from my music collection that I never before knew even existed.

I was hooked instantly and wanted more. So I started looking at DACs to really push more out of my cans.

I recently went to an electronics store (yodabashi camera in Japan) and sampled all the recommended DACs that I read about on this forum. The Sony PHA, fiio, onkyo and the creatives. And well, to be honest I was rather underwhelmed. I was expecting another step similar to the transition to my p5s but it definitely fell short, especially considering the price they're going for.

Am I some sort of audiophilia equivalent of a tone-deaf person?
Should I have loaded some lossless files on my iPhone? (Honestly I thought I had a few, but didn't have any to listen to at the time)
Are the 32ohm p5s wasted on a DAC? Do I need better cans?
Is playing iTunes through a DAC, limiting the potential of the hardware?

Any advice would be appreciated.

The iFi nano iDSD is no. 1 in Japan. Try it. You won't regret it. Use Minimum Phase digital filter (rather than Standard Filter).

 

[PleasantSounds]

I recently went to an electronics store (yodabashi camera in Japan) and sampled all the recommended DACs that I read about on this forum. The Sony PHA, fiio, onkyo and the creatives. And well, to be honest I was rather underwhelmed. I was expecting another step similar to the transition to my p5s but it definitely fell short, especially considering the price they're going for.

Am I some sort of audiophilia equivalent of a tone-deaf person?
Should I have loaded some lossless files on my iPhone? (Honestly I thought I had a few, but didn't have any to listen to at the time)
Are the 32ohm p5s wasted on a DAC? Do I need better cans?
Is playing iTunes through a DAC, limiting the potential of the hardware?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 
If you really intend to keep listening to iTunes on p5s then you have done the right thing. Settle on the cheapest DAC that  satisfies your reqiurements and be glad you don't have to spend more.
 
DACs can be difficult to tell one from another, especially if you don't know what to look for and if the rest of the chain is not quite transparent. Don't look for differences in frequency response, as most likely it will be quite similar - most DACs are quite flat. Where they do differ is the ability to recreate spatial arrangement of sound sources, the ambience of concert hall or recording studio, the attack and decay of specific instruments.
 
I don't know anything about the p5s, but some cans are better at revealing differences than others. The same goes for source: iTunes on it's own is probably not ideal, however it is always good to evaluate how the DAC will handle your most commonly used source.

 

[Fizzunk]

You know what, I saw the iFi nano but didn't bother trying it cause I've never heard of it. Boo! Hopefully I'll swing by the store sometime soon.

What do you mean by Minimum Phase digital filter? Is this an option on the DAC? Or is there some sort of option in iTunes or a smartphone app?

If iTunes as a source is not entirely ideal, what are the other options? "Can opener"?

 

[diamondears]

You know what, I saw the iFi nano but didn't bother trying it cause I've never heard of it. Boo! Hopefully I'll swing by the store sometime soon.

What do you mean by Minimum Phase digital filter? Is this an option on the DAC? Or is there some sort of option in iTunes or a smartphone app?

If iTunes as a source is not entirely ideal, what are the other options? "Can opener"?

It's an option on the iDSD itself. Btw, iFi iDSD is a DAC+amp in one (integrated). There's a nano and there's a micro version. Check their website. The nano version became the no. 1 selling portable amp in Japan. And the Japanese are very meticulous on gadgets/electronics.

iTunes is great, but use WAV files (CD burn ot download from hi-res music sites). Higher resolution files, use Onkyo HF Player app. It's free if you're just playing 16/44 files (CD files).

 

[Fizzunk]

All my lossless files are ALAC. Will the Onkyo HF Player have significant changes?
 
I'm trialing the Onkyo HF Player atm and haven't noticed any particular improvements. Although the equalizer options are pretty handy. 

 

[diamondears]

All my lossless files are ALAC. Will the Onkyo HF Player have significant changes?

I'm trialing the Onkyo HF Player atm and haven't noticed any particular improvements. Although the equalizer options are pretty handy. 

I don't believe there's improvement from CD quality to higher resolution files. But DSD is another matter.