[Shavit]

Hey guys, until now I was listening to music through my phone (Nexus 5 from LG) on two different monitors: the gr06 from VSonic and the ATH M50x.
I want to improve.
What amp do I want to buy in order to enjoy my music more?
I will be swapping my phone soon too.
My budge is about 100 dollars and I listen mainly to rock, space and Stoner Rock, prog Rock, some metal, some Indie alternative and in the area.

 

[Roen]

Hey guys, until now I was listening to music through my phone (Nexus 5 from LG) on two different monitors: the gr06 from VSonic and the ATH M50x.
I want to improve.
What amp do I want to buy in order to enjoy my music more?
I will be swapping my phone soon too.
My budge is about 100 dollars and I listen mainly to rock, space and Stoner Rock, prog Rock, some metal, some Indie alternative and in the area.

You can get a starter DAC / Amp. Look for one's based on the ES9023 if you're on a budget.

you can go up to the 9010, 9018 or 9028 in ascending cost order.

 

[Shavit]

You can get a starter DAC / Amp. Look for one's based on the ES9023 if you're on a budget.

you can go up to the 9010, 9018 or 9028 in ascending cost order.

Are there genre specific dac/amps or is it not a problem?
What would you recommend?

 

[Roen]

Can't really recommend rock amps, if such a thing exists.

 

[Shavit]

Can't really recommend rock amps, if such a thing exists.

And a general 100$ budget dac/Amp?

 

[Roen]

https://hifimediy.com/sabre-dac-uae23

For $100, you can look at an Encore mDSD.

 

[Roen]

Fiio also makes a couple.

Figure out what files you'll be playing now and in the future, and buy the DAC that'll meet the number of DAC replacements you want to buy in the future.

 

[Shavit]

H

Fiio also makes a couple.

Figure out what files you'll be playing now and in the future, and buy the DAC that'll meet the number of DAC replacements you want to buy in the future.

I'll take a look in here, read some reviews and look on Amazon and what not and will get back to you, alright?

 

[Shavit]

Fiio also makes a couple.

Figure out what files you'll be playing now and in the future, and buy the DAC that'll meet the number of DAC replacements you want to buy in the future.

I found 2 options but they're pretty low budget and with shipping.
The Fiio a1 silver is 35 usd with shipping to Israel.
And the Lucid Labs CMOY headphone amp for 49 usd with shipping to Israel.
Any other amps you could think of?

 

[Roen]

You just want an amp and not a DAC? I don't have much experience with just amps, so you might want to ask someone else.

 

[Law87]

Hey guys, until now I was listening to music through my phone (Nexus 5 from LG) on two different monitors: the gr06 from VSonic and the ATH M50x.
I want to improve.
What amp do I want to buy in order to enjoy my music more?
I will be swapping my phone soon too.
My budge is about 100 dollars and I listen mainly to rock, space and Stoner Rock, prog Rock, some metal, some Indie alternative and in the area.

JDS lab C5D, or C5 (without DAC) its a little bit north of your price range but its affordable and small. if not try those CMOY amp. I think in this price range the JDS C5D is your best bet, or you can go with a used dragonfly.

 

[Shavit]

You just want an amp and not a DAC? I don't have much experience with just amps, so you might want to ask someone else.

Would I need a DAC though?

JDS lab C5D, or C5 (without DAC) its a little bit north of your price range but its affordable and small. if not try those CMOY amp. I think in this price range the JDS C5D is your best bet, or you can go with a used dragonfly.

Alright, I think I'll look into those!

 

[Law87]

Would I need a DAC though?

Alright, I think I'll look into those!

The Qualcomm DAC in your LG (or any phone with qualcomm chips) are pretty crappy :/ but its your judgement. the CMOY you can roll those opamp and change the sound tonality, more versatile but, no DAC. You can do the same with the C5D but need to know how to solder.

 

[Roen]

(When I say DAC in the following, I mean DAC / Amp)

I use a Nexus 5 as my file source for my DAC.

You NEED a DAC.

It's funny, I remember when I got my first ES9023 Encore mDAC. I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, compared to my iPhone 6S Plus stock Cirrus DAC / Amp. Even though the improvements were minor, they were quite noticeable and appreciated, as if it opened my eyes to entry-level hifi.

I then moved onto a ES9010K2M Encore mDSD, once I decided that I didn't want a battery-powered DAC. That was somewhat of a mistake; Battery powered is cleaner sound, generally speaking, and doesn't drain your phone as fast. However, at the time, I didn't want to forget to charge my DAC and have a non-functioning DAC without juice. I decided to go with a source-powered DAC, which was nice. As long as the source device had power (Computer or Phone), the DAC had power. However, it had its shortcomings, much of which was related to battery drain. It drained my Pixel XL pretty readily. However, the sound was an incremental improvement over the mDAC, the extra file support was nice, and not requiring wires when using it with a computer was a nice plus.

I recently moved to a ES9028Q2M LH Labs GO2Pro. This was quite a big jump in cost from the other DACs, but when I did an A/B using my computer speakers as the output device, the changes very very noticeable. However, the benefit per $ ratio plummeted. You're spending a lot of money to improve marginally. But in this case, the different in price is over 5 times.

Moral of the story is that the first, cheapest DAC will give you the most bang for your buck. As you progress through this hobby, you will want to get better, clearer, more involving sound, and you will have to pay more $ per better sound, and that curve sharpens up quite considerably once you get past the $100 range.

 

[Shavit]

(When I say DAC in the following, I mean DAC / Amp)

I use a Nexus 5 as my file source for my DAC.

You NEED a DAC.

It's funny, I remember when I got my first ES9023 Encore mDAC. I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, compared to my iPhone 6S Plus stock Cirrus DAC / Amp. Even though the improvements were minor, they were quite noticeable and appreciated, as if it opened my eyes to entry-level hifi.

I then moved onto a ES9010K2M Encore mDSD, once I decided that I didn't want a battery-powered DAC. That was somewhat of a mistake; Battery powered is cleaner sound, generally speaking, and doesn't drain your phone as fast. However, at the time, I didn't want to forget to charge my DAC and have a non-functioning DAC without juice. I decided to go with a source-powered DAC, which was nice. As long as the source device had power (Computer or Phone), the DAC had power. However, it had its shortcomings, much of which was related to battery drain. It drained my Pixel XL pretty readily. However, the sound was an incremental improvement over the mDAC, the extra file support was nice, and not requiring wires when using it with a computer was a nice plus.

I recently moved to a ES9028Q2M LH Labs GO2Pro. This was quite a big jump in cost from the other DACs, but when I did an A/B using my computer speakers as the output device, the changes very very noticeable. However, the benefit per $ ratio plummeted. You're spending a lot of money to improve marginally. But in this case, the different in price is over 5 times.

Moral of the story is that the first, cheapest DAC will give you the most bang for your buck. As you progress through this hobby, you will want to get better, clearer, more involving sound, and you will have to pay more $ per better sound, and that curve sharpens up quite considerably once you get past the $100 range.

So what you're saying is I should get a dac/amp combo for up to 100$?