[03029174]

Hi, you can see what im running from my sig, i love my new headphones (RS1) and thats got me thinking about upgrading the supply chain alittle. At the moment all i have is a portable rig but 95% of the time i use it by my pc / laptop. Which got me thinking about an external dac / amplifier. A USB one would be convenient. My question is how much difference would there be using an external dac/amp compaired to my combination of IMod and IQube? Would it be night and day?

Thanks for the help

 

[slwiser]

For a test you could get a Headamp Pico using your computers USB output and compare it with your iMod to determine if you can determine if you would get any increase in SQ. If so then you could pursue a more aggressive computer options like outboard DACs as a Benchmark or Lavry DA10 and of course go much more expensive than those.

 

[Rico67]

No night and Day.
just depend of your Dac.
If you enjoy your sound actualy, just invest in an external dac.
Question is about portability ?
if you want stay portability i think Tha Devil Dac will be great+ adaptator to link on your amp.
If you don't care about portability, look at gd-Audio and the DAC-100 equiped with Moon HDAM.
You'll have a better sound.
Just a step above.
For me Imod is just one of the better portable source.
Hope it'll help you to make a choice.
Nota :
I own all this equipement, and love it.

 

[Sherwood]

You can build a better home rig than portable rig for the money, no doubt.

 

[Puppysmith]

Portable rigs can only do so much. Yours is excellent and many would love to have it. Hard to say how you would improve your set up.

Keeping it cheap, if you have an old desktop laying around (most of us do) put an EMU-0404 in it , add a Giga Lab Moon DAC, and a Little Dot III and you are top notch for ~$500.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Yes, night and day, depending on your amp. The RS-1 changes character with a nice tube amp. Several solid state desktop amps are good, too, but the RS-1 never really sang for me until I put it on tubes. If there's a meet near you, attend and bring your RS-1 along.

A DAC is important, but not nearly as much as the amp is. There are a number of USB DACs, but an inexpensive soundcard with optical or coax out will let you use others. Again, try to find one that plugs into the mains and avoid battery powered gear. While batteries may seem to have the advantage of providing "clean" DC, they don't offer robust power over their life/charge. They sag and output is inconsistent, unlike the mains. Further, batteries cannot deliver current the way a power plant can. You need the power to run an adequate class A amplifier.

If you pick up a quality amplifier, you'll be surprised at what the RS-1 is capable of.

 

[03029174]

Thanks for the reply guys, i think Uncle Erik hit the nail on the head, im gonna have to wait for a UK meet and take the headphones down. Before i start spending some serious money

Once again thanks for the help