Unfortunately I am part of the same crowd!

My main "transport" for the big system is the Klimax DS

I am looking for a small headphone system to have fun with. Focal Elear and Chord Mojo arrive on Monday. I will give them a run using the iPhone 7 as a transport and then evaluate. 

Potential next steps I would consider would be new Chord Hugo2 if it is significantly better than the Mojo. 

If the iPhone 7 is lacking as a transport than perhaps a DAP - however it must be able to run apps (TIDAL) with Wi-Fi.

Ardbeg10y posted:

I bought 2 months ago a new headphone + Dragonfly Black. I considered the Dragonfly a much bigger step up than replacing my $100 headphone by a $500 one.

Dragonfly: double the quality at least.

Different headphones: maybe 20% better.

Its is always still source first. Any external DAC will always be better than the built in ones in a MacBook, iPhone etc. 

The "DAC" for the new iPhone 7 is now an external $9 dongle supplied with the phone

Bananahead posted:

I am amused.

 

At people spending a sensible amount of money on headphones and then plugging them into a phone. The DAC must cost what, $3 ? Yes they will sound better than the supplied earplugs, but, seriously, just get an off board DAC.

Exactly

After returning to the Head Fi forum after a 10 year absence I laugh at most of the participants. They do not understand what we all realize here- SOURCE FIRST. 

You would be surprised at how many are using $1000 and more headphones with an iPhone running MP3 files.  Completely backwards 

Start with FLAC files - next the best DAC you can afford- and last but not least some headphones

glevethan posted:

Unfortunately I am part of the same crowd!

My main "transport" for the big system is the Klimax DS

I am looking for a small headphone system to have fun with. Focal Elear and Chord Mojo arrive on Monday. I will give them a run using the iPhone 7 as a transport and then evaluate. 

Potential next steps I would consider would be new Chord Hugo2 if it is significantly better than the Mojo. 

If the iPhone 7 is lacking as a transport than perhaps a DAP - however it must be able to run apps (TIDAL) with Wi-Fi.

 

 

 

 

I have both elear and mojo very good products and good combo as well. Check the new mojo add on ( which is very expensive for what it does ) that let's you stream or a new fiio x5 with double sd card slot and streaming capability for tidal use.

I use zx2 mostly with tidal, just load and pack and all new albums are for you to try, but won't drive anything other then items

I use Elenar and my other headphones with an creek amp connected to 272 so I can listen to them with cd/vinyl/streaming/tidal, Elear got a very long cable

Havery you considered adding an headphone amp to your source, or you will use them in a different room?

I would like to also investigate a headphone amp to connect to the big system - it would allow me to listen to the LP12.   Recommendations to use with the Elear (no Headline please).  And no tubes

The impetus for the headphone system is exactly as you mentioned. Load up TIDAL with new album releases and have some fun exploring. 

ZX2 -?  DAP?  Sony?

I read about the upcoming Fiio. The only problem for me- I have been using iOS since day 1 ten years ago. Any other OS just seems backwards. 

I believe some complaints with Fiio are that new hardware releases have OS growing pains?

There are many options,  creek,arcam are good value driving everything you trow , Elear will be just fine with them, or violectric v200 all the way up in theur line, a warmer side solid amp, will drive everything as well, if you want to invest more moon got an excellent amp that I listen and found it very good, but at a price. 

I use sony walkman zx2 to load up with tidal and listen when I travel, I use JVC fx1100 and Sony new noise canceling cups, the problem with zx2 that EU volume cap, you can not use them with a headphone and not with elear

The fiio is a good value dap, I listen the old x5 which was fine, new one seems interesting, double sd card tidal tick the right boxes.

New mojo module is interesting but is way expensive to turn mojo into dap.

I prefer a good amp with home system, dap for travel and work and mojo with pc or tablet

I wish naim comes up with a new headline without having to add power supply 

If possible try the SimAudio Moon Neo 430HA.

Kirkpg posted:

If possible try the SimAudio Moon Neo 430HA.

This the one I listened for an hour, excellent amp and it comes without dac as well, expensive but good, still I like violectric sound better with hd800, with elear could be different story

I want the naim version!  

This is a new area for me. I'm changing jobs and will be doing a lot of travel (mainly flights). I'm having a play with the Oppo HA2SE headphone amp/dac to take bit perfect USB from my android phone. Into Sennheiser 650s with a Silver Dragon cable the results are very good. I already have Bose QC25s for long flights where noise cancelling is handy. But for higher quality listening and portability I'm interested in some in ear 'phones. I find carrying over ear 'phones a PITA when trying to travel light.

I'm interested in finding out experience of in-ear 'phones that sound good. Sure 846 have been mentioned quite a lot. Any others that are regarded as good sound? I'm interested in thoughts without being too concerned about budget at this stage.

Thanks

My Cyrus USB DAC (the big kickstarter campaign) arrived unexpectedly today. Early days - and I don't have the kit to attach it to an iPhone yet so using purely with MacBook - suggests an improvement on the Mac's internal DAC but not a night and day difference. Will see what burn in brings. 

If that performance difference is replicated on the phone, I suspect it's value/the amount of use it gets will depend very much on the impact on the phone battery. 

Last chance for a non-Mojo solution...

quickben posted:

Just bought the Dragonfly Black to use with the iPhone 6S and so far it is pretty awesome, with either my Bose noise cancelling in ear phones (with noise cancelling switched off for better SQ) or with the AKG Y50. Perfect for the commute or just walking and listening. 

Bang for bucks, a bargain!

Graham Russell posted:

This is a new area for me. I'm changing jobs and will be doing a lot of travel (mainly flights). I'm having a play with the Oppo HA2SE headphone amp/dac to take bit perfect USB from my android phone. Into Sennheiser 650s with a Silver Dragon cable the results are very good. I already have Bose QC25s for long flights where noise cancelling is handy. But for higher quality listening and portability I'm interested in some in ear 'phones. I find carrying over ear 'phones a PITA when trying to travel light.

I'm interested in finding out experience of in-ear 'phones that sound good. Sure 846 have been mentioned quite a lot. Any others that are regarded as good sound? I'm interested in thoughts without being too concerned about budget at this stage.

I use my 846 all the time for travelling light, and really enjoy them. I'm afraid I can't suggest any alternatives though. With careful choice of the right sleeves you get pretty good noise isolation, and while it isn't the same as Bose style noise cancellation, I find the sound quality so far ahead of the Bose QCs that I don't bother with them any more.

Talking of Shure, does anyone have any experience of their SHA900 portable amp/DAC?  At around £900 I'd hope for great things but don't recall hearing it mentioned here or on other forums, admittedly without having fully searched Head-fi. 

Tempted to upgrade from ie80s to Shure 846s, but would expect a £900 iem to need more than a tiny USB DAC, maybe. 

Graham Russell posted:

This is a new area for me. I'm changing jobs and will be doing a lot of travel (mainly flights). I'm having a play with the Oppo HA2SE headphone amp/dac to take bit perfect USB from my android phone. Into Sennheiser 650s with a Silver Dragon cable the results are very good. I already have Bose QC25s for long flights where noise cancelling is handy. But for higher quality listening and portability I'm interested in some in ear 'phones. I find carrying over ear 'phones a PITA when trying to travel light.

I'm interested in finding out experience of in-ear 'phones that sound good. Sure 846 have been mentioned quite a lot. Any others that are regarded as good sound? I'm interested in thoughts without being too concerned about budget at this stage.

Thanks

please check Noble Audio Kaiser, it is not cheap but very good. 

way better than 846...... 846 is a nice sony hifi , kaiser is Naim....

I must admit i did not hear the new one but K10U or custom is very but very good iem to go with a very good DAP like ZX2

All noble range is good at their price points, 

I've just spent 2 weeks away in Andalusia and Tenerife with a Dragonfly Red attached to my iPhone 6s and Shure 425 headphones and must say it was a revelation . What I require with personal audio is portability , you hardly notice the Red and it never once felt awkward . 

The biggest accolade I can give the Red is I listened to much much more audio than on previous trips , I used it everywhere from the train to walking around town . The first thing I noticed is tighter bass , greater clarity in the mids and much less harshness . Even listening to BBC6music MP3  downloads was really enjoyable , a morning walk listening  to Simple Minds 'New Gold Dream' ended with 1 track remaining so I went that  little bit further It sounded so good ! It will also go as loud as you like . 

Highly recommended if you want to supercharge your Smartphone and stay portable , I'm going to get an Audioquest adapter and see how it sounds through my home system . I know it won't beat my Hugo but I think it may surprise ... 

That's been my experience too; the Red is really remarkable for the money. It won't compare to a Hugo of course, but I bet it'll do ok even in a home system via a 3.5 jack connection. 

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

The Dragonfly does reduce battery life but I didn't find it a problem . For example , I left for the airport at around midday with 100% battery (Iphone6s) , I used my phone normally (browsing / calls etc ) and took off at 1430 . I listened to music and podcasts for about 3.5 hours during the flight , by this time the battery was about 60ish% which for me is perfectly acceptable . 

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

the older dragonfly versions did use more battery faster , the v1.5  I`ve found to be excellent.

mason63 posted:

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

the older dragonfly versions did use more battery faster , the v1.5  I`ve found to be excellent.

What do you mean by older, as the current Black and Red are the only ones to support iOS usage as far as I understand it?

ChrisSU posted:

mason63 posted:

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

the older dragonfly versions did use more battery faster , the v1.5  I`ve found to be excellent.

What do you mean by older, as the current Black and Red are the only ones to support iOS usage as far as I understand it?

the v1.0 v1.2 and latest v1.5  dragonfly all support IOS but I believe the v1.5 is more battery friendly.

mason63 posted:

ChrisSU posted:

mason63 posted:

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

the older dragonfly versions did use more battery faster , the v1.5  I`ve found to be excellent.

What do you mean by older, as the current Black and Red are the only ones to support iOS usage as far as I understand it?

the v1.0 v1.2 and latest v1.5  dragonfly all support IOS but I believe the v1.5 is more battery friendly.

 

I have the V1.2 (old black) this was quite hard on the battery. I now also have the Red and this is far far better on battery life and the sound is great. I mainly use it with an IPad and B&W P7 Headphones. I think it is Fantastic value for money.

Slim68 posted:

mason63 posted:

ChrisSU posted:

mason63 posted:

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

the older dragonfly versions did use more battery faster , the v1.5  I`ve found to be excellent.

What do you mean by older, as the current Black and Red are the only ones to support iOS usage as far as I understand it?

the v1.0 v1.2 and latest v1.5  dragonfly all support IOS but I believe the v1.5 is more battery friendly.

 

I have the V1.2 (old black) this was quite hard on the battery. I now also have the Red and this is far far better on battery life and the sound is great. I mainly use it with an IPad and B&W P7 Headphones. I think it is Fantastic value for money.

My experience is the same as Slim68 (Simon) the V1.2 was hard on the battery but the Red is less demanding and is certainly a real step up in sound quality. Unlike the earlier versions it can now be upgraded/updated online and speaking to an Audioquest rep last week I'm informed that an MQA upgrade is imminent. 

Graham Russell posted:

How does running the Dragonfly from the phone affect battery life? During my testing I've found that driving bit accurate ove USB into the Oppo DAC drains the phone's battery really quickly. It really makes it an unusable solution for travel.

Sorry for being off the topic, but I am looking with no success so far for 4 pin DIn to XLR pin outs. I saw that you found it so will it be possible to share with me so that I can prepare the cable ( it will connect 272 to ATC SCM50ASLT active speakers). Thanks a lot. Serge 

Tesilk,

a picture of the pin outs for the DIN4 pre-outs on the NAC-N272 is located on the rear panel.  It's shown bottom right.