[castleofargh]

I'm flabbergasted by the ingenuity of manufacturers and how cleverly they succeed in giving specs that usually can't be used side by side with the competitors.
 
I don't want to make something perfect as a dap or amp behavior might differ greatly from 16ohm load to 300ohm load. but I suppose we could still use what we know (experience of measurements) to make a few educated guesses on portable gears.
 
 
like:
clip+ < sony A86x < HM601 < DX50 ≈ X3 <DX100
 
and:
pico slim < pico < sr71 < hifi m8
 
or even dare to enter forbidden territory of mega unscientific charts with "subjective accuracy" ^_^ like:
Clip+ < most popular daps < medium range audiophile daps < pico slim < DX50 ≈ X3 < DX100 < most portable amps < hifi m8 and whatever powerhouse portable amps around 1watt.
 
just to give general direction of what's what to the rich newbie lost in the forum.
or try to make a few boxes labeled with a range of power or the type of headphone/IEMs it's really dedicated to, and throw everything in those boxes?
 
I'm open to suggestions, but I would really like to make something slightly believable with say 20 or 30 models grouped, so people would stop buying gears based on geniuses posting "my lcd2 rox with my clip+" or "my dx50 doesn't have enough power for my hd25". YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!! I SEE YOU!!!!!! karate!!!!!!!
 
 
 
 
thanks in advance for your efforts in hiding my laziness and lack of knowledge. (what do I do with a Vrms when I have max power in W on the other gear? let's be optimistic and say they're both for the same load) .
 
if you have 2 amps and you know from experience that amp A goes to 11 you can post it, but what interests me is real usable resource, not just a ludicrous gain value from an amp that will choke on the first bass. or something as weird as a 22ohm HO, no LO, on a dap without enough power to drive big phones. that would be crazy and nobody would buy that right? oh wait...
 
 
 
 
maybe we could do another ranking only based on how many volts the gears can deliver? to help the "it's not loud enough" guy lost in the forum. but I'm not sure it is as usefull as knowing if you can drive your phone better than on your actual source.
 
 
 
FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nikongod]

Power output is the least important of all audio specifications. 
Act like you never started this thread. 
 
But I do agree that the absolute lack of a standard is somewhat confusing. Since even a firm standard would tell you nothing (see line 1) does it matter? 

 

[castleofargh]

well I said power because if I say volt it won't be usefull for IEMs and if I say intensity same for 600ohm cans.  I would still venture that a dx100 will drive anything better than a clip+. that is the idea I'm looking for. a way to show that without having to know the full specs of both daps.
as for the pico slim vs hifi m8 they are not for the same phones clearly but I don't know how a newbie coming on headfi can know where to start appart from following the stupid FOTM?
even doing one box "for IEMs", one for "hard to drive phones", and one "mostly both" would be nice if it's not bulls...
 
when I came here a few years back I bought an amp to lower the min volume of my dap because I kind of understood that it would not change the sound the way the volume stuff on my extension cable did(it was a variable resistor)... and I wen't randomly for one famous amp with zero idea where I was going and the total knowledge of "if it's loud enough, it's well driven". 
 
there must be a simple way to state the obvious and show people that there are different sources for different purpose, and make a little classification.