[gerelmx1986]

I've reached the 1000th post here WOOT

 
 

 

[MonkeyKingBar]

Morning people Lurker & 3 decade Walkman user here.
 
I've owned and loved the Sony NWZ-A845 for four or so years now. The thing is, 16GB is just too limiting, to the extent where I've had to consider moving down (again) from 320Kbps MP3's to 192... Then I thought to myself "NO! You're not doing that. You're going to pony up the cash and buy something with MicroSD card support!"
 
Okay!
 
So, the setup I'm thinking about is the Sony A15 /w 64GB card > Line Out > FiiO E12 > Sony MDR-10RC/HD598s. I already own the headphones, so there's no issue there, but does the PAP/Amp combo make sense from a budget POV, or should I be spending less on one and more on the other? I've been reading reviews for both devices, and my mouth is just watering at the idea of going from 320Kbps to ALAC/FLAC with an amp

Hopefully it'll bring me a lot closer to the audio quality of my home setup.
 
Cheers.

 

[gerelmx1986]

  Morning people Lurker & 3 decade Walkman user here.
320Kbps to ALAC/FLAC with an amp

Hopefully it'll bring me a lot closer to the audio quality of my home setup.
 
Cheers.

I already did that move in 2012 it's been 3 years of blissful audio experience. I moved from MP3 faunhoffer @192kbps to FLAC & Hi-res flac

 

[ClieOS]

  Wonder why ClieOs doesn't get a Fiio x5 II or x3 II, or AK Jr. if he wants P-O-W-E-R, I know sonys fail at power but they sound good despite that

 
As a matter of fact, I do own all of FiiO's DAP and auditioned every A&K DAP, plus quit a few more. A&K is just too overpriced for their SQ, so I am not going to buy them. Same can be said for ZX1 and ZX2.
 
Quote:

  because the UI sucks and they don't have bluetooth. it's not only about sound

. but they certainly could work as another set for another portable usage.

 
Actually I am fine with FiiO's UI. As I said, I listened to one album at a time and FiiO's UI is just fine for that. Bluetooth is mainly for time that I need maximum portability and can't carry a stack. In those case, I probably won't carry a FiiO anyway. What could I said? Divide and conquer is how I like to do things.

 

[nekromantik]

Is the sound sig on these warm rather then neutral?

 

[The Walrus]

   
going external DAC/AMP  can solve the question altogether. you now only need to know the DAC/amp specs.

 
Agreed.
Do you know of such a Dac/Amp that can drive T1? 

 

[castleofargh]

 

   
going external DAC/AMP  can solve the question altogether. you now only need to know the DAC/amp specs.

 
Agreed.
Do you know of such a Dac/Amp that can drive T1? 

 my actual experience is limited to looking for gears to use with IEMs, so I'm probably not the best person to give advices about non portable headphones.

but from specs on innerfidelity (I took the worst case out of 2 models) http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BeyerdynamicT1SN3964.pdf  it needs 0.436v to go to 90db :'( meaning you need an amp that can go 4.36Vrms into 600ohm  to reach 110db@1khz, we're clearly way past the usual portable realm.  the O2 can do it, it's rated at 88mW @600ohm, so √ (0.88*600)=7.26V max into 600ohm that should in theory get you around 114.4db max à 1khz if your headphone is like the one measured. but all that means getting 2V from a DAC(odac delivers 2V. and was used for most specs), so it's not good directly from a A10.
 
 the hifim8 or E12 are known to be powerful, but I don't know what they can output at 600ohm or more, as needed with the T1. it's really not my world but I would obviously suggest not to use that with portable gears. it's not really reasonable.

 

[The Walrus]

 
 my actual experience is limited to looking for gears to use with IEMs, so I'm probably not the best person to give advices about non portable headphones.

but from specs on innerfidelity (I took the worst case out of 2 models) http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/BeyerdynamicT1SN3964.pdf  it needs 0.436v to go to 90db :'( meaning you need an amp that can go 4.36Vrms into 600ohm  to reach 110db@1khz, we're clearly way past the usual portable realm.  the O2 can do it, it's rated at 88mW @600ohm, so √ (0.88*600)=7.26V max into 600ohm that should in theory get you around 114.4db max à 1khz if your headphone is like the one measured. but all that means getting 2V from a DAC(odac delivers 2V. and was used for most specs), so it's not good directly from a A10.
 
 the hifim8 or E12 are known to be powerful, but I don't know what they can output at 600ohm or more, as needed with the T1. it's really not my world but I would obviously suggest not to use that with portable gears. it's not really reasonable.

It's a bit of a catch 22 really. E12 is powerful enough but it's just an amp, and E17 is not powerful enough I believe. It appears I will need a three-way approach: A17-DAC-E12 

 

[ClieOS]

  Agreed.
Do you know of such a Dac/Amp that can drive T1? 

 
A DAC/amp that can work with A10 series as well as driving just about every headphone will be the iFi micro iDSD.

 

[gerelmx1986]

@The Walrus if you want a bit of power get a LOD, but if you want to use the DAC poerion of the DAC/Amp then you musget a sony digital out cable either the WMC-NWH10 or others that don't drain battery

 

[The Walrus]

   
A DAC/amp that can work with A10 series as well as driving just about every headphone will be the iFi micro iDSD.

I've completely forgotten about iFi. I actually considered buying the nano version instead of E12 last year. 
When my T1 comes I'll play with E12 for awhile but I guess I will have to buy this sooner or later. It looks like a monster. Thanks  

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

   
A DAC/amp that can work with A10 series as well as driving just about every headphone will be the iFi micro iDSD.

I've completely forgotten about iFi. I actually considered buying the nano version instead of E12 last year. 
When my T1 comes I'll play with E12 for awhile but I guess I will have to buy this sooner or later. It looks like a monster. Thanks  

But better than pono's triangular shape

 

[ClieOS]

 
 
Easily as good sounding as any TOTL DAP I have heard.

 

[The Walrus]

 
But better than pono's triangular shape

Anything is better than that monstrosity  

 
(By the way, I didn't mean its shape, but its specs are monstrous 

)

 

[H20Fidelity]

 

Easily as good sounding as any TOTL DAP I have heard.

I think I need me one of these.