If so, which one? I have exclusively used earbuds, I’m just not a fan of headphones, but these are my first IEM’s, and I just don’t know what I should get to drive them. In the future I plan on getting some speakers to set up on my desk, so should I get both a portable DAC/AMP and a desktop one?
I don’t want to spend too much, under $100-300 sounds like plenty, but if there is an option that’s just amazing at around $500 I’ll definitely consider it.
Any advice is welcome, I’m very new to the whole HiFi community.
A couple of questions to consider:
(1) what are you running off of? If apple, the apple dongle actually measures very well.
(2) Is this your way of dipping your toes in, and will you want to get some other iems or headphones in the near future? In that case, and depending if you want to stick with iems or get a harder to drive set of headphones, the answer will change, since why buy a dongle if you will just need a dac/amp in a few weeks/months?
I would say, if you are new to this whole audio game, see what you think of the T2s running out of your current source (they are very efficient, so should have no issues re power, etc.) If you are happy, stick with whatcha got, if you want to chase the audio dragon, there are lots of different avenues, and this again will depend on what you want/like, etc…
So I know I will continue down this audio avenue, but I don’t think I will branch out to headphones. I just see them as a hassle. They mess up my hair, and I like the low profile nature of IEM’s for on the go use.
So IEM’s are what I want, but I might get desktop speakers as well. Do you think I should get a desktop DAC/AMP for the speakers and when I use my IEM’s at home, and a good dongle for on the go use? Or a good portable DAC/AMP for both?
Additionally, I don’t think I really need an AMP, because the IEM’s are so efficient, so should I just get a DAC?
It really depends on the IEM. Some are really easy to run off of even a phone’s headphone jack (if it still exists) and some really do need an amp to run properly. My KBEars Neon IEM will run off of my iPad’s jack, but come alive when run from a more full power desktop amp (like the schiit IEMagni).
As far as portable amps go… there are really 2 categories I personally put them in. Actually portable (like the Fiio BTR5, audioquest dragonfly, some of the dongle dacs, etc) and portable in name (IFI makes a bunch of these, Fiio Q series, etc). The actually portable ones will easily fit in a pocket and run while moving about all day, and the portable in name only ones are sometimes bigger then the a phone and are portable because they have a battery/can be powered by a phone but are really a slightly more convenient way of having a desktop experience in multiple places (moving a desktop stack can be a pain).
Hey,
Again, it all depends on what you are running things from. The T2 iems are quite efficient, not top of the line in sound quality but very good for the price, and if you purchase a dac that is higher end than the apple dongle, you would be paying far more for the dac than the headphones than these headphones. Unless there is an audible noise floor in your current source, no need for a dac right now. Instead, you would be better investing in a different set of iems if that is the path you want to go down. But if you have never heard a great set of open back headphones, don’t count them out before you have tried them! Granted, they are no good for ‘on the go’, but at home they blow iems out of the water imho.
To keep it short, not really and this is coming from an owner of the T2s since 2018, they just sound that very good out of the box, especially to people who are into neutral sound signature IEMs/Headphones like me.
Though if you really want to get a DAC/AMP and you’re curious about its benefits and the capabilities of your IEMs might give you more, no question the iFi ZEN DAC is a steal for both beginner audio enthusiasts and veterans, and yes I own the iFi ZEN DAC as well. Overall though, you don’t need one just enjoy your T2s and not worry about anything too much.
