sure it is, they use one chip to do a bunch of things (it's written in big on any sony DAP adds btw) so that they don't need a real amp section. anyway the result is indeed different from your usual dac-amp job on DAPs. that's what we've been complaining about for some times with Sardar. because we feel like they fight the wrong battle and could get a much better DAP with even a poor op-amp implementation instead of all that digital amp bullsh...
at least that way we get great battery so I'm ok with that in the end for portable. sardar is really not ok with it ^_^.
but you would do well not to fall for the DAC chip's name fever. anything in the way a chip is implemented will change the signal a lot more than using 2 chips with the ideal implementation for both. the house sound thing is a legend coming from implementation difficulties the DAP manufacturers didn't even try to overcome. when done well DAC chips are all able to be perfectly transparent. and I'm talking even about some several years old chipsets.
the amp section of a DAP on the other hand is almost always crap, because of the component used or because the DAP can't provide the juice with its small battery. in both situations it's often a quality sacrifice to gain space for a small form factor(and why something like a hugo or a X5 have no problem fitting whatever is needed, because they're huge). that's why there is often a good margin for improvement using a not too shabby portable amp. using a line out we're not making the sound better, we're decrapifying it ^_^.
still with something like my MC5 IEMs, it makes zero audible difference if I add my amp to it, so the sound is clean enough, it will just not be powerful enough(voltage or current) for some headphones and IEMS. with my jh13 I get a clear difference with the amp, but that's also probably due to impedance output differences. another problem for particular IEMs.
so again know what your headphone needs is the very first step.
