[otprof]

I'm leaving in January to spend 6 weeks in Italy and want to have something very portable to go with my iPod 5G and Shure E3s. (I might upgrade those as well to E4 or ER4). I already have the MicroStack with desktop module for my non-portable setup, so I am interested in portability (=small size, low weight, long battery life).

I have done lots of reading on here, but there isn't a lot of discussion of the pros and cons of real on-the-road use of these.

I am interested in the Go-Vibe5, but have read that the power supply really helps it out. I'm going to be on batteries exclusively, so how would that be? How portable is it?

I think a natural choice might be the Xin SuperMicro or Little Dot Micro, but I am not sure if I could get one before we leave on Jan 7th. What do you think?

I thought about breaking the bank and getting a Hornet. How is the weight and battery life on that one? The new Tomahawk is taunting me as well. I'd probably rather not go that expensive.

Thanks for any help.

 

[dr.morton]

Try the Pengamp. Batteries are holding forever and this little amp is very portable. It is a lot of value for its money and works perfectly with my UE-10 pros.
But to be totaly honest I would just stick with the iPod and E3s. This still is maximum portability and you do not have to care for another item.
The amp together with a dock connector would improve the sound but is itreally worth all the hassle?

 

[chris_ah1]

I think it is worse the hassle if you are plagued with electrical noise in the setup. I know I have been greatly irritated by the noise inherrent in my M3, especially when using the remote once I upgraded to UM2s.

Whilst the volume doesn't blast my ears when running off battery power, the sound quality isn't awesome...and it is something you can notice casually.

If this is the case, I heartily recommend an amp - perhaps a tomahawk, the zero audiocraft, headphonia, pengamp and go vibe all seem good alternatives. The go vibe has the best grounding, the zero audiocraft has high quality innards and the tomahawk just looks fantastic. The shellbrookaudiolab mini also looks rather nice.

Of course, you have ot work out how much you are willing to spend - for a portable setup like this I would have a hard problem justifying $$$$$ if all i wanted to do was get rid of hiss. If you want more, then perhaps the tomahawk is the way to go.

As for the supermini, it is expensive and apparently doesn't have great build quality.

 

[mrarroyo]

The Supermicro IV would be an excellent choice, however I do not think you would get it in time. Then I would suggest:

- Go-Vibe 5
- The Hornet "M"

If you like your music at low volumes then I would suggest the Go-Vibe low gain. The Hornet "M" is a great amp but IMO the low gain setting is still to loud for me. The upcoming Tomahawk looks very promising because the low gain is 1 and that would seem about right for people like me who listen to very low volumes.

 

[otprof]

These are all helpful comments. I was wondering if the amp would make that much of a difference with IEM's. I recently read a post where someone said that they didn't see an improvement with their E4s through a Hornet. If that is the case, it surely isn't worth it (other than the cool factor).

My desktop setup is MBP Optical out > Micro Stack > K701s, so I have become accustomed to nice detail and clarity. I am considering now taking my Shures to listen on the plane and bus, but having an amp and nicer (but still compact) cans for relaxation listening in the evenings. Perhaps a Go-Vibe or RSA model with Grados would be good. I'll start a new thread in headphones.

Thanks.

 

[chris_ah1]

It really depends on how noisy your source is.

I'm not getting an amp for SQ increase, but for trying to reduce electrical+hiss noise. I guess that is part of SQ, but hopefully you get my point.

Most IEMs should be sensitive enough to do well out of almost all portable players as long as they are generally of high enough quality. In portable settings it is hard to be a discerning listener anyway.

Another note is that people often think amps sound better because they are using the line out of their audio device rather than the headphone amp...it might not be the amp, but just the fact that it allows you to use a much better source properly which you could not do otherwise.

I know that going from the line out of my M3 to an amp will totally remove ALL nasty noise from the player which is my goal.

shame there is no gapless or rockbox for the player

 

[dr.morton]

When I had my new 5.5 G iPod I did not notice any hiss or noise with my UE-10 pro. So that should not be an issue.

 

[Asr]

The LDM+ is a nice amp and can't be beat for the price. Order it with unity gain for IEMs. You should get it quickly too - I'm almost certain the guys at Little Dot have a pile of units just waiting to go out the door.

 

[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by otprof /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am interested in the Go-Vibe5, but have read that the power supply really helps it out. I'm going to be on batteries exclusively, so how would that be? How portable is it?

Don't worry about running it on batteries. Larger headphones may benefit more from the external power supply, but in my experience the ER-4S benefits from it only a little (and the ER-4S is one of the IEMs that most benefits from an amp in the first place). Yes, the difference is discernible, but no, there is nothing at all wrong with the GV5/ER-4S combination without it.

It is smaller than an SR-71, a portable Pimeta or an AirHead/BitHead. It's not heavy (waay lighter than the SR-71, about par with a portable Pimeta). It is larger than a Hornet, a SuperMacro, or a PINT. It is much larger than a SuperMini or the teensy SuperMicro or Tomahawk.

 

[otprof]

Thank you for the information. It is very helpful in making my decision. I want to avoid getting an amp just to have one, but I know I want to have a good listening experience without a lot of bulk. I'm leaning toward the Go-Vibe and ER4s. Also in the running are the LDM+ and Tomahawk.

edit: I realize the price range for those three is quite wide. My next step is to read comparison reviews to find the sweet spot with the iPod ER4 combo.