[malcolm.mcintyre]

Given a high-end portable amp (and DAC if required). Which portable source offers the best sound?
I currently use a 60Gig I-pod (running Apple lossless) for convenience, into a Total Airhead via a Pocketdoc, and ER4-Ps.
I have an old (good) Sony CD Walkman, but that also has only line-out.
I'm guessing a source with digital out into a portable DAC would beat the CD Walkman and I-pod?

 

[shawntp]

In most cases a dedicated DAC and AMP are going to def produce better music than a portable players internals . There are also many CD/other source players that have better built-in DACs that what you can buy in the budget realm. The problem with many portable players is that they don't have digital out. I believe there is an old Portable CDP that had it but I have not heard of digital outs yet on portable iPods and similar (you can with certain MiniDisc players though I believe).

Around the house I use my airport express and take a seat somewhere and then run the digital out of that and just stream to Dac/amp/phones and enjoy wherever I am but I can't pick it up and carry it with me.

 

[shawntp]

P.S. seems like people are starting to Mod the guts of the iPod to improve what you are inquiring about.

I have heard people boasting about there RedWine Audio modded iPods:
http://www.redwineaudio.com/iMod.html

 

[root]

If you can find one, try iRiver's iHP 1xx series. It does have an optical out and IMO sounds by far the best compared to any DAP I've heard before (once it runs Rockbox and lossless files). You can also wait for catscratch'es review of the new Kenwood player, although there is no digital out there.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by root If you can find one, try iRiver's iHP 1xx series. It does have an optical out and IMO sounds by far the best compared to any DAP I've heard before (once it runs Rockbox and lossless files). You can also wait for catscratch'es review of the new Kenwood player, although there is no digital out there.

Review coming, or rather first impressions coming in a few days. I would say that the player is the best that I've heard thus far, but I've never heard the 120/140 out of the headphone jack (I've heard the 120-->MicroDAC combo, but this was with a Hornet/K501, and playing music that I'm not familiar with, so my impressions, while very positive, are unreliable). However, the Kenwood player also has a white noise issue which is a bit of a problem with the ES2 and other very sensitive canalphones. So, I'm not completely decided on this player yet, and I want to wait to make up my mind before I post anything about it one way or another. I will probably make a very positive endorsement for it, though, since other than the white noise issue, it is nearly perfect. It has a decidedly warm tonal balance which I find very alluring, and it is very synergistic with the ES2 and other bright(er) canalphones. It also has a significantly higher resolution than the X5, especially in the bass, which is very extended and resolved. I thought the X5's bass was pretty good, certainly it's strongest point, but it has nothing on the HD20GA7.

I'll post impressions once I make up my mind, probably in a day or so.

Also, the HD20GA7 is mostly for unamped use. It doesn't have a line-out.

If portability is not an issue, or not as much of an issue, then the 120/140 optical out to a MicroDAC is the way to go. Or, you can use a vintage PCDP, though you might have trouble obtaining a good one, and the MicroDAC will be more reliable in the first place.