Hello, I am looking for a portable DAC/AMP that will power IEMs, like
T2, T4, P1, Tape Pro, FH3, Starfields, Believe, ThieAudio L3/L4/L5, Yume, Starsea
And more efficient headphones, like
X2HR, SHP9500, AKG 361, HD58X, SR80e
How will the single-ended output from the S9 (from a phone) perform in these scenarios?
Any idea how the balanced output would fair against a Hifiman 400i (2020)?
I could also get the Xduoo Link-2, but it has an output of 150mW (at 32ohms), which would make it impossible to control the volume from my phone while using efficient IEMs since there wouldn’t be much room to adjust the volume (right?)
The Xduoo Link-2´s volume control is digital, not analog. Therefore it controls the volume of your phone, in which is my case is only 15 steps
It is very important for me to very precisely adjust the volume, which means it would be great for analog volume control, which draws me back a little from the S9 and Link-2. So maybe a Hidizs S8 would actually be more worth it?
Or maybe go crazy and get an XD05 Basic?
Specs:
S8: Couldn´t find it, but SE only. DAC CHIP>CS43131
S9: SE>90mW, BAL>125mW. DAC CHIP> AK4493EQ
Link 2: Only SE>150mW. DAC CHIP>ES9118EC
XD05 Basic: Only SE>500mW. DAC CHIP> AK4490
*All the power measurements are at 32ohms
*S9´s DAC is very appealing too, since is the same chip DAC from the Topping E30 or XD05 Plus!!!
*XD05 Basic might not work very well with IEMs from what I have heard
*S8 was very much praised by amirm from ASR (God bless that wonderful man)