[plasmo]

Ok, there are lots of cheep dac out there, does anyone know where to start, seeing an improvement over the standard iPhone dac? I am guessing the really cheap ones won't be any better. How much do you have to spend to notice a difference ?


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[Sam21]

Ok, there are lots of cheep dac out there, does anyone know where to start, seeing an improvement over the standard iPhone dac? I am guessing the really cheap ones won't be any better. How much do you have to spend to notice a difference ?


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I don't think buying a low level DAC  will make a huge difference... here is one with the ES9023 chip , a highly regarded chip :
 
http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=123
 
I have this and I cant tell a difference between it and the on-board sound card. My E17 though makes a slight difference.

 

[Sam21]

I am going to buy the Schiit Bifrost soon. It gets good reviews but it would cost 512$ with the UBER analog stage and the USB.

 

[plasmo]

I just looked at the bifrost, it retail for $760 here, I don't think at this point if my ears are that sensitive to notice a $700 difference,


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[plasmo]

I would love to go to a meet up and check out the difference between different set ups


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[plasmo]

Thanks for all the help everyone!


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[valentino22]

What difference does the 'UBER analog stage' make? I'm planning to buy the Bifrost too for a Beyerdynamic T1. Am I going to hear a difference in the sound quality if I buy the Bifrost with that upgrade?

 

[Sam21]

I am not an engineer so I don't know what difference it makes, if you check their website they say roughly what it does :
 
Bifrost Uber: Even More Impressive Performance
Order the Bifrost Uber option, and you get a discrete analog stage based on the more advanced Gungnir DAC, with a sophisticated topology that improves sonic and measured performance, and a DC servo to eliminate capacitors in the signal path. Not that the base Bifrost is any slouch—it’s frequently been compared to DACs that cost 3-8x as much.

 

[benthughes]

Hey man!
I'll take a go based on my admittedly limited experience. If you have an older pair of headphones it may be worth looking at upgrading your cans first. Give us an idea of what you like to listen to in order to point you in the right direction. After that maybe look at a DAC and amp to get the most out of your headphones.

For portable use I generally use an iphone 5 using the CanOpener app which, if it is your desire, you can load FLAC files into. In my experience it helps to have a good source and good headphones then buy additional equipment to fill in the gaps.

Headphone technology has come pretty far in the last couple years and you may be surprised what a relatively inexpensive set of cans can give you over what you currently have. It sounds like you'd like a closed back set, check out the Innerfidelity.com wall of fame for recommendations.

After you get something you like the sound of, upgrade the middle parts. I've got some headphones that, to me, have been unremarkable and no amount of gear can fix that. Good luck!

 

[plasmo]

Benthughes, hey there thanks for your input, some good suggestion I will take on and think about.. I am planning on taking my headphones into a shop to compare with some newer ones, I have not listened to open back before so not sure what I prefer! My music taste is growing and I am listening to a more diverse range lately, when I was a Dj my focus was on psychedelic trance, I describe it as the electronic version of classical music! It is more complex and involved than your regular EDM, I also enjoy listening to hip hop, drum and bass, reggae, jazz and more recently real classical music, I like the big orchestra pieces!


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[plasmo]

What is the benefit of the can opener app? And if I am transferring music from a cd onto my iPhone is there a best method? Or format they should be kept in!


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