[Stfr1908]

Hey,

Recently I bought the Sennheiser IE80 S (IEM) the sound is dynamic and smooth. The mids are wonderfull, lows are good. But when I listen to music with a lot of bass and a high tempo I recognized that my IE80's can't handle the speed of the bass.

I consider to buy a portable dac to increase my listening to my IE80S. My source is an Samsung s8. Maybe I'm looking to bring new life in my iPod touch (5th generation) which is halfdead.

The genres of music that I listen to: House, Trance, Hardstyle, Hiphop/R&B. Warm, dynamic and bassy combined with a wide soundstage are some words for my musical preferences.

Preferences for DAC:

* portable for on-the-go listening
* good battery​

* warm, dynamic sound
* no decrease of the bass
* bass boost controller (as an option)
* Budget max € 220,-
I was wondering if someone has recommendations for a good portable dac that will fit with my preferences?

 

[Gene4797]

Hello, try FiiO BTR 7 , it’s price about 200 and for this price and size really good dac/amp with Bluetooth

 

[Confuddled]

These suggestions may help...https://homestudiobasics.com/the-best-portable-headphone-amps-dacs/

iFi Hip DAC V1 (blue) is good value, at roughly half the price of the V2 (gold), and ticks virtually all of your boxes. Should save around EUR100 of your budget to go towards something else !

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-hip-dac-impressions-thread.925854/

 

[sleepdeprecation]

As much as I love supporting buying new audio gear, I'm not positive that a new DAC will actually solve your problems?

Just given your statement that your IE80 can't handle the speed of the bass sometimes, a DAC probably isn't going to fix that. Just given your description, the problem would seem to be that the drivers in the IE80 themselves aren't snapping back to neutral quickly enough for the bass notes.

I could be wrong, but if you haven't, I would try listening to the same tracks from different sources (even just a laptop's 3.5mm jack if you don't have anything else), and confirm that the problem in the bass is due to the DAC and not due to the transducers themselves. If they still can't keep up with the bass, I think it'd probably be more worth it for you to look at new IEMs and not a new DAC?

 

[Claypole]

I believe those IEMs may have a way of adjusting the bass, have you tried this?

 

[Tano]

Qudelix 5k.