[alexking]

I have the Noble Trident Universal with comply tips and use an iPhone 6 to play Spotify at 320kbps or iTunes at 256kbps AAC, as someone who is new to higher end audio, is there a portable DAC/amp for $30-$100 out there that would make a noticeable difference in the sound quality, or are the IEMs or bitrate the more limiting factor in my setup? Overall I am happy with the sound quality of my setup, but then again, 3 years ago I was happy with my $19 skull candys until I upgraded to RHA 750s on a whim.

 

[krismusic]

I have the Noble Trident Universal with comply tips and use an iPhone 6 to play Spotify at 320kbps or iTunes at 256kbps AAC, as someone who is new to higher end audio, is there a portable DAC/amp for $30-$100 out there that would make a noticeable difference in the sound quality, or are the IEMs or bitrate the more limiting factor in my setup? Overall I am happy with the sound quality of my setup, but then again, 3 years ago I was happy with my $19 skull candys until I upgraded to RHA 750s on a whim.

Those bitrates will be fine. There are many tests where people cannot consistently identify a lossless recording from 320kbps.
The DAC and amp in the iPhone are excellent. In fact some people reckon the 6 in particular is the best iPhone for SQ.
I very much doubt if anything in the price range you mention is going to result in improvement. Indeed the result of spending substantially more is open to debate.
I have found the theory that headphones make the most difference to the sound to be true.
IMHO you may well find ways to change the sound with electronics but not necessarily true improvement.
IME nothing makes headphones able to recreate a performance. It's all a compromise.
My advice is to enjoy what you have.

 

[ColonelBucket8]

I have the Noble Trident Universal with comply tips and use an iPhone 6 to play Spotify at 320kbps or iTunes at 256kbps AAC, as someone who is new to higher end audio, is there a portable DAC/amp for $30-$100 out there that would make a noticeable difference in the sound quality, or are the IEMs or bitrate the more limiting factor in my setup? Overall I am happy with the sound quality of my setup, but then again, 3 years ago I was happy with my $19 skull candys until I upgraded to RHA 750s on a whim.

Iphone 6 is a good source. Dont fuss buying dac/amp in that price range. I myself cannot differentiate between ip6 and mojo pairing with k10

 

[Dexter Morgan]

Iphone 6 is a good source. Dont fuss buying dac/amp in that price range. I myself cannot differentiate between ip6 and mojo pairing with k10

How long has you owned the Mojo? Try listening to it for a month straight, then switch back to the naked iPhone and you should notice a significant difference. Sometimes brain burn-in takes a while. Make sure you're using high bitrate files, ideally lossless.

 

[Dexter Morgan]

Yeah, when I spend this kind of money, especially on source components I'll always make sure I have the option to return things.

Can anyone vouch for other products? Leckerton UHA-6s mkii? Oppo HA-2se? I don't mind having another "stack" as long as it's portable....

I've owned the Leckerton... great little unit. Although the Mojo is superior and would be my recommendation if you can afford it.

 

[The Life]

I own both the iPhone 6 and the Mojo.

1) With the K10 and the Katana I can definitely hear a difference between the IP6 and the Mojo
2) With both I prefer the IP6. The superiority of the Mojo for me only appears with headphones, not IEMs.

 

[d3885u]

between ip6 and ip5s is there any big differences in SQ between those two?

 

[youurayy]

I own both the iPhone 6 and the Mojo.

1) With the K10 and the Katana I can definitely hear a difference between the IP6 and the Mojo
2) With both I prefer the IP6. The superiority of the Mojo for me only appears with headphones, not IEMs.

To Mojo's defense, I have very hard time matching the sound quality of my iPad Air 2 (or 5s) + $50 chinese headphone tube amp combo + IEMs that came with a phone. These days for TOTL sound it seems that one can go with a $4k Stax009 + $5k amplifier, or $1k IEM + a smartphone. If not these says then for sure it won't take too long.

 

[NaiveSound]

I would love an article or a in depth post about how brain burn in works

 

[Peterpanic]

Hi all,
 
Long time Head-fi lurker here, do anyone know when the k10u will be available through the website again ? I have been trying to get one of these gems for a while now.

 

[youurayy]

I shall check em out. Thanks for the share.

this one could be good for bass comparisons -- downloadable wav: https://soundcloud.com/platform/branko-batida

 

[Rin1990]

this one could be good for bass comparisons -- downloadable wav: https://soundcloud.com/platform/branko-batida

Much thanks for the share bro.

 

[krismusic]

How long has you owned the Mojo? Try listening to it for a month straight, then switch back to the naked iPhone and you should notice a significant difference. Sometimes brain burn-in takes a while. Make sure you're using high bitrate files, ideally lossless.

Errm. We were discussing the possibility of an amp DAC in the $30-100 range. If the Mojo was in that price range I might have given it a whirl! HeadFi up selling at its best Dexter!

 

[FullCircle]

Hi all,

Long time Head-fi lurker here, do anyone know when the k10u will be available through the website again ? I have been trying to get one of these gems for a while now.

The fastest solution would be to refer to the list of noble dealers that is on the noble website and see if any of them have a k10ua in Stock.

 

[orskar]

  I have the Noble Trident Universal with comply tips and use an iPhone 6 to play Spotify at 320kbps or iTunes at 256kbps AAC, as someone who is new to higher end audio, is there a portable DAC/amp for $30-$100 out there that would make a noticeable difference in the sound quality, or are the IEMs or bitrate the more limiting factor in my setup? Overall I am happy with the sound quality of my setup, but then again, 3 years ago I was happy with my $19 skull candys until I upgraded to RHA 750s on a whim.

 
I've always felt happy with 320kbps through my phone, 256kbps aac I've found a little lacking but that's probably imagined. I haven't  really done a proper comparison there since the space difference is negligible these days so I just keep everything in 320 for consistency. Biggest improvements I found was getting a decent amp/dac and then moving all my music from mostly 192kbps cbr to completely 320kbps cbr/vbr.
 
In that price range, fiio is probably your best bet, the A1 amp would probably do a lot for you, Q1 looks good too if you want to spend more or just want a dac+amp. I've found that on most modern smartphones the internal DAC is acceptable enough so you can often do okay with just a decent amp. Although, I did get an E18 (amp+dac) recently and I found that it improved the sound considerably,  whereas my E12 (amp) never really added much. That might be because the E12 isn't really ideal for iems though as they notably improved the sound from full size headphones I have and I notice there is a newer model that is supposed to be better for iems.