Yeah, the a5’s are a pretty efficient headphone. Recently I have been doing some stupid portable setups and you really only need beefy stuff for that kind of tomfoolery lol
Edit: a5 is not a headphone lol
Just to be clear I was referring to the Fiio A5 portable amp. I just didn’t need it with my LG V30.
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Crap I meant meze 99s lol
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yeah i have the LG V20. imagine my suprise when i plugged a headphone into it and heard the sound quality. I couldnt believe it. So i bought a big 500 gig chip and threw it in there and compressed all my wavs on my laptop to flac and put them on it. still dont understand the need for a DAC
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The LG phones typically have a very good dac as they put care into it (and still have a headphone jack lol)
I just updated my card in my phone from 128GB to 200GB. I LOVE saying “Why, yes I do have 6,400 songs on my phone”. Every song I have ever liked in my life is in my pocket. That is just another day for young people, but it still occasionally blows my mind.
Yes, I really am that old.
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yeah, the stuff we have today wasnt even dreamed of in scifi back in the day lol
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Are there any daps that use dual micro SD slots other than the M11? Trying to find all my options, I have a massive digital library of music, some where around 50k songs and the 1tb cards are just too pricey at the moment. currently have a 400gb card in my phone would be ideal to get another one of those and be set for a while.
@M0N There are times i want to use my Xduuo but don’t feel like carrying my large tablets with me. What is a plain music player that will handle lossless files, Quoboz (via wifi internet or hotspot) and give me a proper USB out that i can hook up one of these portable amp dacs to. I don’t want it to be an amplifier or have a dac feature, not needed since i am adding my own.
Or is there software i can download to one of my older smaller tablets that will give me quality HiRes ability? And i don’t want to spend an “arm and a leg”, lets keep this under $300 if possible. Does this item exist?
I have 5 ipods that work for regular mp3 style files and a plain amp, i may just stick to this plan but i was wondering and value your knowledge and opinions.
Most likely no if you are referring to an apple product. It would depend on the tablet model if that could be done.
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why use a DAP when you
- Buy a phone with expandable storage
- But an OTG cable and portable DAC/Bluetooth DAC
- Put all your songs on it
Yeah that’s been discussed. It’s mainly for if you want to separate your phone and your music. Some people just want a simple player and don’t want to mess with a phone. But daps are a dying species lol
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Yes, is there a thread I’m missing somewhere? What are these simple “portable players”? My knowledge is dated and limited in this segment of the audio world. Sorry to keep asking the same question.
Duh, I answered my own question… just did a google search on portable music players…a ton of them. I had no idea Sony still made a walkman😂
Yeah lol. Stuff like the m11, hiby r5, or ibasso dx160 are pretty awesome for a midrange dap. If you wanted something different, you could grab a fiio m6 and a portable dac/amp like a chord mojo or ifi xdsd or fiio q5s or xduoo xd05 plus or whatnot and strap it to the back of the fiio m6
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There are a lot of people out there who prefer the Sony Walkman to most of what’s available. It seems like only recently that DAPs like the M11 were able to beat it’s measurements, and I want to say it has insane battery life.
I agree with M0N that the Chord is an awesome mobile DAC/Amp that you unfortunately just missed their sale on. It really surprised me how good the sound was and how much power it puts out for its size. It can easily drive most of my over ear headphones. You need to connect it physically to something though. Don’t be tempted by the Poly for added bluetooth and SD card storage like I was. It’s very overpriced for the limited benefits it adds
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these are the points why I decided for the xDSD
I had the Chord Mojo bought used and compared to the xDSD and the Fiio Q1 II
the sound out of the Mojo was a tad more interesting vs xDSD - the connections and functions spoke for the ifi
the DAP to rule them all is on the horizon
The Cayin N6ii is about the same, if you compare it to a high end mobile phone + external DAC/AMP
if you compare M11/R5/DX 160 to a phone + external DAC/AMP - keep it a fair comparion
a 6inch modern Samsung Galaxy S10 is under 600 and a ifi xDSD is 450 here in germany
the speed of the Android 10 device is incedible and you can load the battery wireless while it is connected via OTG cable to the ifi xDSD
you can use the USB Audio Player Pro app for Qobut, Tidal(MQA unfold), network… have dark mode on Qobuz…
what DAP can beat this under 1k?
big screen … modern UI … fast response … all modern Bluetooth codecs … Dual Bluetooth…
it´s simply a preference thing
I use two Samsung Android phones(S8+ and S10) and a Tablet
so one phone is always free for calls, discord, forums, instagram, etc
as long I am at the office, my ifi xDSD is connected to the tablet via OTG and if I am out for lunch I can go wireless via APTX implementation
there is no difference in conveniance vs a DAP - from my point of view
I tried the HiBy R5(got it for christmas from my wife) and was dissapointed for sound vs the xDSD
the small display was not my thing
the M11 Pro I tried recently was very cool for sound - though it is around 1k - I would prefer to spend a bit more and get the Cayin N6ii
the iBasso DX160 was planned after the R5 was send back, though not available at Amazon for weeks and the other online shop, where I bought my xDSD is not as esy to return stuff(2weeks instead of 4 with Amazon)
at the moment I can´t see me getting into 1k DAPs, cause there are higher priorities in Audio equipment
if I would maybe get a decent InEar monitor (over the Tin Hifi T4 which gets raely used), I can imagine wanting a nice DAP
listening 90% to the Closed Back Elegia stationary at the office and on the sofa, not commuting with busses, trains and so on … rarely flying …
a good budget pairing could be the ifi HIP + LG v20 vs DX 160
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Why don’t we all drive the same SUV?
Some want other types of extra’s, some more power, some the flexibility, some the feeling of having something more unique, some want to focus on music and seperate it from calls, FB, Twitter etc. Or perhaps to have a jack option as more mobile phones are without.
The reasons are plenty and if you don’t have the need for a DAP, then understand that people are different and we desire different things for whatever reasons.
I use a DAP to seperate it from my phone and to have flexibility. And I don’t like wireless earbuds, as they run out of battery faster than my sons can eat blueberry pie.
So, there you go 
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Shoot, I use a cheap Cayin N3, hasn’t failed me yet. It also accepted my 256 gb sd card. Gives me 12 hours charge. The interface is a tad clunky, but it gets me where I need to go.
Honestly, the thing you pay the most for is accessories, battery life and user interface.
I am using a Xiaomi redmi (150 euros), more that enought for its role of music transport with a Xduoo Xd-05 plus (250). This is enought to listen to any can ( and who doesn’t have an used phone at home). Small/ medium daps IMO are better for Iems, but again, you can also pair it with a portable DAC/Amp if you need to, so in the end is all about the practicallity…
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