[eobet]

I ask here because I don't want a battery in this thing, but it's going to be hooked up to a PC in an open office environment so it needs to be discretely sized and preferrably be powered by USB as well (but not necessary). Full size jack is a requirement, though, and that has made things problematic for me when I've tried to search.
 
If it has a warm sound and perhaps even bass boost, it's a plus in my book, but not necessary.
 
Any recommendations?

 

[ATau]

Don't know if it would be small enough for your needs but have you had a look at the Fostex HP-A4?

 

[eobet]

Thank you for the tip! That was interesting, and certainly fits the bill.
 
Anyone have any alternatives, perhaps even smaller?
 
Found out about the Resonance Herus, which is ridiculously small but with a fullsize jack. Might be paying for miniaturization rather than sound quality on that one, though.

 

[Mariopedros]

Micca Origen

 

[John Willett]

Personally, top of my list would be a Red Dragonfly and a proper 3.5mm to ¼" adaptor cable.
 
Small, excellent quality, USB powered, and the cable will prevent any strain on the Amp.
 
I know ithe Dragonfly doesn't have a ¼" socket, but this option may actually be better as it reduces the risk of strain to the USB socket.
 
It's what I would use with headphones that only have a ¼" jack (ie: my HD 800 and HD 650).
 

 
 

 

[eobet]

Micca Origen

 
Damn, wish I'd checked the thread this weekend.
 
I found a deal on xduoo xd-05 that I already nabbed now (even though it has a battery that won't do me any good), but your recommendation is smaller and cheaper.
 
Oh, well! The X5 has a bass boost, so we'll see how that sounds...
 
The Dragonfly is disqualified as I specifically did not want to use adapters, but thanks anyway!

 

[Music Alchemist]

Is there any particular reason you don't want to use an adapter?
 
I used a Schiit Fulla with all sorts of headphones, including ones that need an adapter. It's tiny but powerful.

 

[eobet]

I don't want to use an adapter to minimize points of failure, basically.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I don't want to use an adapter to minimize points of failure, basically.

 
It's highly unlikely that an adapter would ever make things fail. There aren't many things that could ever go wrong in that respect.

 

[eobet]

Well, search this board for "adapter sucks" and see how many hits you will get.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Well, search this board for "adapter sucks" and see how many hits you will get.

 
My adapter works perfectly and didn't cost much.

 

[ergopower]

If you've already made a purchase and are happy with it, just ignore.
 
If you decide not to keep it, you could consider a Centrance DACport. Now discontinued, but still available at some online retailers. Massdrop used to feature these on occasion. I have one and like it a lot. Powerful enough to drive my 250 ohm BeyerDynamic DT880s as loud as I want (but I'm not nuts, want to keep my hearing for a while yet).

 

[MrMan]

Micca Origen + is the cheap man's do everything for $110. The size of a hot dog roll. You can plug 3.5mm speakers in the back and either 6.3mm or 3.5mm in the front. I am confident they can power a 600 ohm pair of headphones. I am currently using a pair of 250ohm beyer 990's and it has a bunch of power to spare. 
 
I have no bias towards wanting bass but I think naturally this amp/dac boost the bass a little. 
 
If you do go this route keep in mind there is a potential issue to overcome. It's not plug and play. When you plug it into windows it will not work. You have to go to their website and download the drivers. If the drivers fails its because windows is not allowing non-signed drivers. You have to disable signed driver enforcement and reboot and then you can install. If your headphones are above 150 ohm you won't hear anything until you put the amp/dac above 20% volume.