[athenaesword]

i know the closest to lineout a portable can get without using a lineout jack is with equaliser off and volume turned up to max. i'm thinking of getting an amp to go with my triple fis and my iriver clix 2.

my question is is this advisable? or should i consider getting another portable player with a real lineout as well? i'm going to be shooting for a predator if i decide on gettin the amp, so i wanna be sure that the "pseudo lineout" isn't going to be much of a limiting factor.

i spent over an hour listening to the predator with my clix 2/TF10 today at the store, and frankly speaking, i wasn't that impressed. but then it was a brand new predator, which from what i read here, isn't supposed to sound all that fantastic before burn-in. therefore i'm not that concerned by what i heard today; i only hope it was because it wasn't burnt in, rather than the headphone out being the limiting factor.

 

[hockeyb213]

headphone out is a limiting factor especially on sensitive iems. Lineout makes a large difference in sq imo. I can't stand using the headphone out now because on my iems I can here a hiss which is from the ipods internal and it drives me nuts but by using the lod that noise is eliminated

 

[Rico67]

Predator is just a good choice if you want use usb dac to link it with pc or mac.
If isn't the case, look for a classical amp.
Hornet- Sr71 or something else, they have great sound and are cheaper.

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeyb213 /img/forum/go_quote.gif headphone out is a limiting factor especially on sensitive iems. Lineout makes a large difference in sq imo. I can't stand using the headphone out now because on my iems I can here a hiss which is from the ipods internal and it drives me nuts but by using the lod that noise is eliminated

my clix 2 has no hiss from the head out, at least none i can hear, with my tf10s.
i'm only considering this because the clix2 is supposed to have a great head-out, but from what you say, it seems i might still be missing quite a bit out here. i don't think i can afford both an amp and a complete change of player right now, since i just bought the tf10 not long ago.

anyone else care to give some comments, especially people who use clix2 as source and have tried amps with it. i know antonyfirst and clieos have advised me that headout with max volume is pretty close to line out, but how close is close? would it be inferior to an ipod's lineout?

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico67 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Predator is just a good choice if you want use usb dac to link it with pc or mac. If isn't the case, look for a classical amp. Hornet- Sr71 or something else, they have great sound and are cheaper.

i'll be moving into college hostel soon, and i'll need a set of new speakers to go with my laptop. i figured, hell why not get a dac too, and since i need an amp, well the predator fits what i need. it does seem abit pricey though, but it looks to be one of the better amp/dac combos that you can get.

 

[athenaesword]

anyone?

 

[inthecup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athenaesword /img/forum/go_quote.gif anyone?

Predator or Pico if your going to spend $500. I just got an iBasso D2 boa, it was only $175.

 

[robojack]

athenaesword, I'd have to say yes, to the Predator. HOWEVER, the Clix2 doesn't have nearly as clean of a headphone out as the Cowon D2, so you won't be able to mimic a clean lineout as well as the D2. The result would be a colored source, along with higher distortion. I know this, since my bro's Clix2 doesn't work nearly as well with my amps as my D2 does. Still, it'll definitely improve your Clix2's sound.

 

[marleyfan]

I have a Practical Devices xm4 amp that I am using with my Meizu M6, which also has no line out. I find that I don't really notice much of a difference with my IEM's (Super.fi 5 Pro) but my MS1's sound much better. I also have a clix2 but I havent really tried the amp with it yet. I'll charge up the clix and try it out with the amp over the next few days and give my opinion.

 

[dap_pad]

Well I have both the Clix2 and an iPod Touch. The headphone out of the Clix2 is ALOT better than the headphone out of the iTouch but once you connect the iTouch to an amp via an LOD, the iTouch is just leagues ahead of the Clix2's headphone out. I don't notice much difference when I amp the Clix2's headphone out...sometimes I think it's actually worse than not amping it...

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dap_pad /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I have both the Clix2 and an iPod Touch. The headphone out of the Clix2 is ALOT better than the headphone out of the iTouch but once you connect the iTouch to an amp via an LOD, the iTouch is just leagues ahead of the Clix2's headphone out. I don't notice much difference when I amp the Clix2's headphone out...sometimes I think it's actually worse than not amping it...

wow. that says alot. and thanks guys for replying. Sounds like I should save up awhile more and go for an amp/player combo instead of just using the headout with max volume from the clix2.

@ dap_pad, did you turn the volume on the clix 2 to the max?

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif athenaesword, I'd have to say yes, to the Predator. HOWEVER, the Clix2 doesn't have nearly as clean of a headphone out as the Cowon D2, so you won't be able to mimic a clean lineout as well as the D2. The result would be a colored source, along with higher distortion. I know this, since my bro's Clix2 doesn't work nearly as well with my amps as my D2 does. Still, it'll definitely improve your Clix2's sound.

so your brother's clix2 doesn't work as well with your predator as your d2? hmm.. that's one direct experience i can draw from thanks! how far would it be from an actual line-out though. as i mentioned before, some other members have said that the headphone out @ max volume is practically a line-out, which i never knew in the first place and was skeptical if i was just wasting money on amping the head-out. which is why i wanted more opinions.

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by inthecup /img/forum/go_quote.gif Predator or Pico if your going to spend $500. I just got an iBasso D2 boa, it was only $175.

i read headphone_addict's amp/IEM synergy thread the other day, and the predator seemed to come up tops consistently. I'm the kinda guy who'd rather save up and get what I know I'll want in the end, rather than buy and sell many things along the way, and end up losing quite abit of money in the process; that's why i upgraded from earbuds to denon c700s to tf10s. I live in Asia, so shipping don't come cheap.

From what i gather so far, it's not smart to get the predator to pair with my clix2's head-out for now as it'll be a waste of the predator's talents..

 

[robojack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athenaesword /img/forum/go_quote.gif so your brother's clix2 doesn't work as well with your predator as your d2? hmm.. that's one direct experience i can draw from thanks! how far would it be from an actual line-out though. as i mentioned before, some other members have said that the headphone out @ max volume is practically a line-out, which i never knew in the first place and was skeptical if i was just wasting money on amping the head-out. which is why i wanted more opinions.

Well, it will be noticeable, if you compare the output from your Clix2, from your USB DAC (which should sound identical to a true lineout). But I do strongly recommend the Predator, since it synergizes (is that a word even?) nicely with more cans and IEMs than the Pico does, and has battery life that is closer to your iRiver (it lasts 56 hours per charge).

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, it will be noticeable, if you compare the output from your Clix2, from your USB DAC (which should sound identical to a true lineout). But I do strongly recommend the Predator, since it synergizes (is that a word even?) nicely with more cans and IEMs than the Pico does, and has battery life that is closer to your iRiver (it lasts 56 hours per charge).

right. so i should go ahead with the predator anyway. probably change my portable when 32gb flash players become more mainstream. if you do get the chance, please try your predator with your brother's clix2 and tell me what you think. I haven't got any feedback at all from someone who's tried both and ur the only guy who seems to have access to both =]