Looking for a portable DAC/Headphone Amp, 600ohms

[mac_angel]

I am going to bet you $1000 that on a good system with same material and matched levels you won't be able to hear the difference on any song between 24 and 32-bit music in blind testing.
Also, 16 bit is old but far from being irrelevant, most modern music doesn't even get to have dynamic range needed out of 16 bit (google: loudness wars)

You're of course entitled to your opinion, but unfortunately, science does not support it.
btw: Color range is not a good example since a human eye is a significantly better instrument than a human ear. Modern tech is still unable to fully capture and reproduce healthy human eye visible color range.
4k resolution is irrelevant again since the ability to see fine details heavily depends on both your eyesight (young people tend to have better than 20/20 vision) and HOW FAR are you from the screen.

https://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter/

p.s: I own some very expensive headphones (including Senn's PCX550, Senn hd6xx, AKG K712pro (made in Austria) and also Galaxy S8 smartphone

yea, I didn't even finish the article. I quit at "Listening Tests". Way too much wrong with that article, and I have absolutely no interest in arguing about it. I despise arguing online, and it's not the point of my post. I won't dispute that I wouldn't hear the difference between a 24bit and 32bit music audio file because I've never tried. I don't have the money to burn on trying all different kinds of equipment. My phone supports 32bit audio, so I want to find something to match it. I would probably be happy with a 24bit headphone amp, but that pretty well guarantees I'll be happy with a 32bit headphone amp, too. I do know that I can tell the difference between 16bit and 24bit, which the article was saying there is none. An easy point of contention I will point out is in ripping any audio or video (or both), and choosing VBR (Variable Bit Rate, and yes, I'm sure you knew what VBR meant, I'm just clarifying for anyone else that comes across this post looking for similar answers. I've done that in the past and gotten lost in terms). Anyway, using VBR, there will be parts of the audio and/or video that uses less bit rate, and other parts that use more. Two huge ones that were great examples of this were the Opera scene in The Fifth Element, and one of the fighting scenes in WaterWorld. The bitrate and bandwidth went through the roof on both of those, and no way 16bit audio would handle it.
In the end, I still would like to point out my original request. A portable headphone amp, capable of 600ohms and 32bit audio. Short of that, I'm leaning towards the Creative SoundBlaster E5. The Chord Mojo is a lot more expensive, but I'm seriously considering saving up for that one instead. I'm trying to find more information on how many mW/channel they output (it's been pointed out that some amps may say they can handle 600ohms, but not very loudly).

 

[Scars]

I use the Creative E3 and I’m very happy with it.
24 bit, 600 ohm portable thing.

It’s less than $100 right now.

 

[mac_angel]

I use the Creative E3 and I’m very happy with it.
24 bit, 600 ohm portable thing.

It’s less than $100 right now.

Nice. Browsing, I keep coming back to the Creative E5. The only negative I've heard is some people say it's not that loud. I use Neutron Music player which has a built in Pre-Amp, so not sure if that would help or not.
It's looking like if I can't afford the Mojo I'll probably get the Creative. Quite a big price difference, and I already know I like the sound of Creative's products. A little base heavy for some, but I like it, and no problems tweaking with an EQ.

 

[Scars]

I also like Creative's products. I use their Sound Blaster Z soundcard for the PC at home, and I use the Creative E1 for the laptop at work. I think their desktop software makes for easy tinkering to change EQ or do some DSP, if desired. I also like their prices.

I use the Oppo PM-3 primarily, or some Klipsch IEMs for on the go. I really can't comment on how the E3 would perform against a 600 ohm pair of cans.

I bought the E1 thinking I wouldn't mind the adapter and wires. It drove me crazy. I ended up getting the E3 and had decided if that wasn't enough, I'd take a look at...
Emotiva's Big Ego
https://www.amazon.com/Emotiva-Audio-Big-Ego-384K/dp/B014RIWVS4
Or the Little Ego
https://www.amazon.com/Emotiva-Audio-Little-Ego/dp/B014RIWVJ8/

Best of luck to you in deciding!

 

[mac_angel]

I also like Creative's products. I use their Sound Blaster Z soundcard for the PC at home, and I use the Creative E1 for the laptop at work. I think their desktop software makes for easy tinkering to change EQ or do some DSP, if desired. I also like their prices.

I use the Oppo PM-3 primarily, or some Klipsch IEMs for on the go. I really can't comment on how the E3 would perform against a 600 ohm pair of cans.

I bought the E1 thinking I wouldn't mind the adapter and wires. It drove me crazy. I ended up getting the E3 and had decided if that wasn't enough, I'd take a look at...
Emotiva's Big Ego
https://www.amazon.com/Emotiva-Audio-Big-Ego-384K/dp/B014RIWVS4
Or the Little Ego
https://www.amazon.com/Emotiva-Audio-Little-Ego/dp/B014RIWVJ8/

Best of luck to you in deciding!

It doesn't look like either of those support 600ohm headphones.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Nice. Browsing, I keep coming back to the Creative E5. The only negative I've heard is some people say it's not that loud. I use Neutron Music player which has a built in Pre-Amp, so not sure if that would help or not.
It's looking like if I can't afford the Mojo I'll probably get the Creative. Quite a big price difference, and I already know I like the sound of Creative's products. A little base heavy for some, but I like it, and no problems tweaking with an EQ.

fyi:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R29RLTWV1TWH9N/ref=cm_cr_othr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00MXJYDUO

 

[Andrein]

You might want to rethink dt990 thing:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/beyerdynamic/dt-990-pro

There are deals on Oppo's pm3 and ha2 se (which is 32bit but upto 300 Ohm). PM3 is closed design though but measures better in the bass department.

 

[mac_angel]

You might want to rethink dt990 thing:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/beyerdynamic/dt-990-pro

There are deals on Oppo's pm3 and ha2 se (which is 32bit but upto 300 Ohm). PM3 is closed design though but measures better in the bass department.

headphones and speakers are subjective to each person. A lot of people like Sennheiser. I had a pair and I didn't like them at all. I gave them to my brother in-law. I've also had high end Harman Kardon, Onkyo, and Yamaha receivers, and listened to Pioneer and Denon. My favourite was Yamaha, followed by Onkyo and Denon. I found the Harman Karon flat sounding.
Admittedly, I haven't heard the Beyerdynamics before, but I've read a LOT on them, and they sound like they represent the kind of audio feel that I am looking for. I'm hoping to find a place I can try them before hand at least. I'm still in need of finding a decent headphone amp, 24bit or 32bit. The Creatives that I was considering seem underpowered though. 60mW @600ohm. Reading Amazon reviews people comment on them not being very loud.

There was another thing I haven't been able to find an answer to. The music app that I am running on my cell phone is Neutron Music Player. It has a lot of audiophile features. It also has a pre-amp out control. If I go up, it gets a lot louder, but also distorts. I'm assuming that the 'amp' part of the cell phone isn't going to be powerful enough to push 250ohm, or 600ohm headphones (though I'm curious to see what happens), but I was wondering if that 'boost' might make the Creatives louder than 60mW. I'm not an electrician by any means, but my mind logically says the Creatives can only push what power they have available as a power source. But the same should be said about my cell phone and it clearly gets a lot louder when I move that slider up. Even if somehow my cell phone was able to push 250 or 600ohms that way, I'd still need to find something for my computer, it'd just make things a lot easier since I could look specifically at sound cards like the Asus Strix RAID DLX