Just purchased a used Focal Clear MG to get in the headphones game. Currently using my tube equipment to listen to them (very impressed with the sound quality). Now looking for a portable DAC/AMP to plug into my iPhone so can listen to on the road. Thanks for any suggestions.
What is the make and model of your tube equipment?
The Focal Clear MG is only 55-Ohms, normally OTL tube amplifiers are not the best choice for lower Ohm headphone (impedance issue), but if the tube amp is a hybrid (solid state and tube), than 55-Ohm should work better.
Anyway, do you want the portable DAC/amp to work off the iPhone battery or to come with it's own built in battery?
I have an Aric Audio SE Transcend amp which uses KT88 tubes. With help from Aric, it has been modified to drive headphones by adding resistors to the circuit to make it look like it is seeing an 8 ohm load. Sounds good to my ears.
I am looking for a DAC/amp that has an internal battery since it will give more headroom than a dongle unit.
I'm using the original Clears with the Hugo2Go combo and sometimes with the Mojo2Poly.
Both are good options, the Mojo 2 is a very detailed, clean, dynamic DAC/Amp, has well layered and sized stage and has the signatue Chord dynamics, with really fast start of notes. All around really a great option and superb value IMO, and the EQ and cross feed functions are excellent as well.
The Hugo2Go adds even more clarity, a more focused imaging, bigger stage, even faster note attack and a more textured decay.
It creates a very realistic feeling of being there in the room where the music was recorded.
But frankly considering the 3x higher price the difference is rather small.
Bottomline: Mojo 2 is phenomenal if you are OK with the design and connection options.
The person I bought the MG’s from recommended the Mojo. Sounds like their are a lot of good options out there. A lot depends on how much you want to pay. Not sure if I would notice a difference with my hearing.
Im no expert but i have Meizu, jsaux and a Fiio KA3. KA3 is impressive and is always in my pocket. Maybe someone else can point to its strengths and downfalls but for me its a winner.
I'm using a hiby fc4 amp with my lg phone. It's it usb c which i don't know works on iphone. It puts out a clean 4v balanced 4.4mm to my car dsp. I have nothing to compare it to but it was cheap and effective. It gets warm and draws power from the phone.
The person I bought the MG’s from recommended the Mojo. Sounds like their are a lot of good options out there. A lot depends on how much you want to pay. Not sure if I would notice a difference with my hearing.
I feel that the DAC/Amp makes more difference with live recordings of acoustic music like classical and jazz, where the music is not processed or processed very little in post production. The second factor that seems to make a difference is the reference your brain has, like if you have a lot of listening experience to live music, especially acoustic music. If you play (or played) an instrument yourself, the brain is again very capable of detecting if music reproduction is "correct".
I listen to a lot of acoustic music, went to many concerts in the past and used to play the piano, and to me the music just sounds real and right with the Chord DACs, albeit at different quality levels with Mojo, Mojo 2 and Hugo 2. With other DACs I simply tend to loose interest in the music much faster. To me that just tells me that they are the right choice.
If you plan to use with an iPhone just make sure the portable DAC has iOS support and has the necessary lightning connector included else you may need to buy it separately. There are a lot of lightning to type c/usb a female cables but some of them may not work with a certain device. If there is support it should be a breeze to connect though.
I am using the Fiio BTR5 2021
Decided to go with the Chord Mojo which I found at a good price. Drives the MG’s with authority. Currently trying the free trial with Qobuz and it handles all the formats. Still trying to determine if I can hear a difference between the different resolutions.
Decided to go with the Chord Mojo which I found at a good price. Drives the MG’s with authority. Currently trying the free trial with Qobuz and it handles all the formats. Still trying to determine if I can hear a difference between the different resolutions.
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