[marcus2704]

I am new to the world of headphone DAC/AMPs and I am having a bit of a panic as I have ordered a Mytek Liberty DAC and Hifiman Arya headphones which I intended to control via my Bluesound Node 2 streamer.

The accommodation I am at does not have internet or Wifi network, however I have a Samsung S10 with unlimited 4G data which I hoped would allow me to tether the Node 2, but this does not appear to be possible despite numerous attempts.

Could I connect my phone direct to the Mytek and ditch the Node 2, using a USB C to USB B cable? Would the phone source inhibit the performance of the Mytek, or would that be mostly irrelevant as it is itself a DAC/AMP, my own understanding being that the phone would only be there as a mechanism to select music to play so wouldnt matter a great deal. I also have a laptop I could use, an Astell & Kern SR15 and even an IPad.

Also, if there are any suggestions as to other DAC/AMPs I should be looking at I would appreciate it. I was almost swayed by the Audiolab M-DAC+ but felt I didnt need most of the features it offered.

Any suggestions to help me out of this hole would be appreciated, I am tempted to cancel the order as clearly this needs more planning and research..!

 

[marcus2704]

I need to make a decision on this in the next two hours so any feedback would be appreciated

 

[csor]

In the past, I have gotten this to work: https://www.extreamsd.com/index.php/products/usb-audio-player-pro to stream usb audio from an android phone. However... given the level of the dac/headphones, it seems likely you'll be limiting sq if using the phone as a source. Same with tethering a laptop to the phone. You might look into sources like auralic aries mini, raspberry pi (w/ add-on boards), sotm, or nuc/audiolinux, see if any of those are tetherable and have the features you need.

 

[marcus2704]

Thank you, I think I will cancel this order as clearly I need to do more research...! My expectation was that the phone would be used only as an interface and to provide internet connectivity via hotspot and that the digital signal would pass over USB to the desktop DAC, and as such the phone would not be a limiting factor.

I have spoken to the retailer and they are offering a 30 day money back guarantee, so I will try all this out and see how it goes. I have accepted that I will need to use my laptop via USB

 

[csor]

Sounds like a great system, have fun exploring it! wrt the impact of digital sources, looking back I remember first hearing and somewhat doubting the concept a few years ago; at the time I was using a Sonos to stream to a Gungnir MB. Long story short, I realized (surprisingly) that if the analog chain is revealing, then differences in digital sources can be as easy (or easier) to hear than differences in analog components.

 

[marcus2704]

I am also going to receive a RME ADI-2 DAC which I am very excited about, and a pair of Sennheiser HD800S headphones. I already own Campfire Atlas earphones and am keen to find out how good these sound through the DAC. Once I have had a play I will post back initial thoughts