I would like to know of a cheap portable dac for my Grado Sr80e. Preferably under $50.
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Tbh your better off waiting till your closer to $100 and then pick up the btr5 used imo. What will you be plugging it into, usb-c?
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I agree basically this^^
What source(s) are you looking to run this from?
I will be running this off of an iphone with a lightning cable.
One item to consider if you want ultra-portability is the ddHiFi TC35i. Currently $42 on AliExpress. Usually it’s available on Amazon, but I don’t see it today. It’s not the most “hifi” solution, but it does give you a nice product to use long term even if (when?) you upgrade to higher end dac/amp solutions.
DD ddHiFi TC35i Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Adapter-ddHiFi
Echoing the above: the BTR5 is a great choice if you can save up $60 more (or find one used?). It has a lot of “upside” for future headphones, USB-C connectivity, bluetooth connectivity, app-based configurability.
At $50, it’s hard to find very many good options. Some good lower cost DAC/AMP products: Schiit Fulla $99. Dragonfly Black $99. EarMen Eagle $119.
The DD Hifi things are only adapters that do not have a Dac built in.
Hiniz’s S3 or 9 is not bad as a Dac dongel.
For the iPhone, you also need an adapter from DD Hifi, for example.
Meanwhile I think Hibizs also sells the cable from Iphone to Usb C I think I saw.
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@Deleeh You just blew my mind! (no sarcasm intended)
I own the USB-C version which does include a DAC. I just assumed the lightning version included one as well. But looking closer on the ddHiFi page I don’t see the same DAC description as on the USB-C page.
So yeah, for $42 you can get an adapter for your iPhone, which will do the job I’m sure. The iPhone internal DAC is probably pretty good. But since I don’t have one, your guess is as good as mine…