I’m pretty new to headphones, amps, and dacs. I have been look at these two portable dac/amps and have been curious to see how they are different and what would better for my situation. I have been testing out the hip dac and nano bl, but I wanted to see how much of an upgrade these would be from them. Bluetooth is a nice added bonus. I am not sure how often I would use it, but I feel like it might be more convenient than using the camera adapters for iPhone.
My current headphones are Focal Elegia and DCA Aeon 2. My iems are Thieaudio L3 and Blon bl03. I was considering getting the xCAN since it is cheaper and a lot of reviews I have read say that it is pretty similar to the xDSD. Also, my iem cable terminates in 2.5mm and I have been having a hard time finding 3.5 TRRS adapters. I have been looking for a portable amp to just use with my phone or laptop while traveling or working. I will mainly be using spotify as well for convenience.
Is the xDSD worth the extra $100? Does the dac on the xDSD and the usb input make a big difference in sound quality compared to the xCAN’s 3.5mm input? How’s the bluetooth sound on both of these? Let me know if you have any experience with either of these!