Ok. And what about the dragon fly red? How does it stack up against the iFi nano and the xduoo?
The dragonfly red is a nice dongle dac, itās got a warmer more energetic sound to it thatās pretty fun, although with the 4xx it might be a bit light on power to really get them moving well imo. Compared to the nano it would be a bit more forward overall, perhaps a bit more clean than the nano, where the nano is really the warmer more relaxed and thick type of sound in comparison, although the nano can drive harder to drive headphones a bit better than the dragonfly
So Iām curious, how does the xduoo 05 plus with the burson amp, stack up against the iFi xDSD and the fiio q5s?
Hmmmmm so while I think the xduoo still has the most drive out of the 3 for the 4xx, I think the xdsd might be more refined here imo with more detail and better spatial recreation, itās more neutral with a hint of warmer sound for the most part. The q5s is going to be very clean and neural (sometimes sterile) and is going to be the most forward here. Also with the q5s you would want to grab a balanced cable for the 4xx to take advantage. So from a sound quality perspective I might actually lean a bit towards the xdsd here, even though the xduoo would have the most punch to it, I think the refinement of the xdsd might win me over. The q5s would have the most features on tap (like best bluetooth, built in eq, etc) but imo I would prefer the xdsd or xduoo unless you wanted that ultra cleanly sound at the expense of naturalness
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Ok so I want mqa. Are the any good affordable dacs with mqa. Because Iām thinking of pairing that with just an amp that packs a punch.
So portable dac (with mqa) + powerful portable amp.
Because if I had the budget I would just get the XDSD. It has everything
So imo I would just suggest going for an all in one then as I think a good mqa portable dac and amp might get too expensive, I think if you grabbed a balanced cable for it and didnāt mind a warmer thicker sound the hip dac can actually drive the 4xx better than the nano imo. The main potential downside is that it might be a bit less clean overall than other options, but for the price range you are in it would most likely check the most boxes for you
You could try and look used but idk how many are in canada
If you were to try and go for separates, your options would pretty much be a dragonfly red or potentially a lotoo paw s1 (but this doesnāt have mqa right now, but it might be added in the future so thatās a bit of a risk) and a amp like a fiio a5, but thatās not the most elegant solution lol
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Really? So forgetting about the statsā¦ Just based on SQ which is better the iFi nano or hip dac? For the 4xx.
So the nano is cleaner and more refined sounding, but the hip is going to have more body with more power, the nano is going to be faster and more controlled, but the hip is going to be more impactful and potentially a bit more dynamic with the 4xx. Itās kinda tough since neither are really giving the power the 4xx wants, so I guess it comes down to if you mind trading some impact and slam for more refinement on the nano. Honestly both are pretty solid options, I think go with the hip if you want a more fun sound, go with the nano if you want something a bit more relaxed and refined
Oh thatās a tough one lol
Ok so another option I was considering was buying a portable dac with MQA and then adding a portable amp later.
Because it would also be a bonus using the mqa dac on my receiver for the soundsystem.
I added that onto the previous post, my bad
So the nano actually has a line out to use it as a dac only, where the hip does not btw, so that might change more things lol as you could use the nano bl as a line out to another amp. And honestly I think you mentioned you could get a nano for 150 or something and thatās prob going to be the best value out of all the options here in the end
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Yeah I would prefer the nano in that case. However thanks for adding the stuff on the separate dac and amp.
To me it doesnāt really seem that non-elegant since Iām not actually using them to go outside. So are there other dacs you would recommend with mqa? Or other portable standalone amps. Because buying used can come up big here.
Ah ok gotcha
So there arenāt many mainly portable mqa dacs, you mostly have portable dac/amp combos tbh. There are a few desktop dac amps with mqa that are nice but personally I donāt know of many more budget portable dacs with mqa (since most of the time adding mqa adds too much cost in the budget range to be viable). And the portable amp market at this price range is hard as well since again most portables end up being dac/amp combos, there arenāt that many standalone portable amps that are budget anymore outside of some harder to find older options.
OH I totally forgot about a great option actually if you can get it, an Earmen TR-Amp, itās pretty great, has decent power for the 4xx, and supports mqa, should be around 250 usd. The only potential thing I would note is that itās a brighter amp if that bothers you. Also has full rca out for your receiver
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Ok, so I decided to go with the iFi nano since it will fulfill my needs for now and can be used with my soundsystem receiver as an mqa dac. Additionally, the nano down the road can be paired with something for desktop like a liquid spark to pack a punch.
At this point Iām definitely set on this startegy. Itās just a question of if there are other mqa options around the same price as the iFi nano? (Portable dac).
Nice, should be pretty sweet 
Off the top of my head outside of what was already mentioned, not really many in the budget portable range. There is like one other dongle dac with mqa in this range but I havenāt tried it so I canāt comment, think it was called the ztella. There is also the mytek clef but I wasnāt too impressed by it tbh. Also a audirect hilidac beam 2 but I havenāt heard it so I canāt say either.
I might start a new topic: best mqa options under $200?
Thereās isnāt many options tbh. Just portable or desktop as well?
iFi and Earman do mqa on a budget but not much else
Yeah that really is the problem. The main standouts to me are ifi, earmen, and audioquest for portable MQA dacs and dac/amps, really kinda not many choices in the market if you want something mqa focused (without going to desktop dacs and/or a much higher price bracket)
Thatās right I always forget about the dragonfly stuff
This was pretty nice but idk if itās worth the cost. Overall boost in resolution and I donāt recall it colouring the sound much. It gets really hot though. The audioquest stuff may be the better option.
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OP I assume youāre using tidal? A non mqa dac will still have you listening to masters at 24/96.
Just food for thought because Iāve been down this road but letting mqa go and finding gear that suited my preferences and had good synergy in the chain proved to be more enjoyable and educational for me.
I understand your stance as well though.
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Yes Iām using Tidal. Well looks like itās either the dragonfly or the iFi nano because the earmen is over $400cad with taxes and shipping.
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