Comparison of Mid-Fi DAC/Amp Combination Units (Grace, Schiit, iFi, LH, JDS, etc.)

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by purr1n, Oct 30, 2015.

  1. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Thank you for your feedback. I was considering to purchase M9xx or DacPort Slim (what a coincidence that you mentioned) and decided to purchase M9xx yesterday and it is now shipped. If I do not like it, I might have to sell it off and get something else. :(
     
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The important thing is that you like it. The Grace as an overall softer and slower sound compared to the Schiit stack. Other considerations may also come into play. I would have kept the Grace if I didn't have to return it because it's one box that doesn't need a wall wart. This comes in very handy for travel. The GOV2 is even handier for travel, but the Grace does have a very nice physical volume knob with better overall ergonomics.
     
  3. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    I tried M9xx and did not find much improvement on amp power and sound quality so got rid of it. I have to reach to 90 to 93 out of 100 volume level to listen loud on HD600 which is getting almost to max volume (Yes, I put both usb cables connected to drive).

    Has anyone tried JDS C5D? I was told that it is baby version of O2 combo and has power to drive large sized can as well as IEMs.
     
  4. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    JDS labs stuff is pretty junk and has poor price/performance. I felt the O2 failed to drive either HD6x0 so I don't see how C5D could.
     
  5. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Thank you. I am surprised to hear that O2 is lacking power to drive HD6x0. I was told that it has enough power to drive even 600ohm high impedance headphones...
     
  6. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    Lack of control over the driver leading to limp bass, abysmal staging, grain and masking of detail all over the mids and treble are just a few things you can expect with the O2 and HD6x0. I am not sure what your specific use case is but have you looked into the Micro iDSD? You can find them used commonly for $350-400
     
  7. Decomo

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    I was actually very keen on Micro IDSD but after reading measurement and impression published on this thread does not look good at all (worse than Schitt Magni/Modi combo) hence moved on. Do you own iDSD and pair with HD650?
     
  8. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    I'll reply to you here one more time but you should probably post in the general advice thread. I'm not sure where you got the negative impression of the Micro from, it seems the iFi discussed in this thread was the Nano which for all I know is a piece of shit. I have owned the Micro with the HD600 and thought it drove them just fine, comparable to my desktop setup at the time, very brit-fi sounding with smooth mids & lows and slightly accentuated treble (note: not bright, just a little bit of etch over extended listening sessions)

    See here for a detailed review: I agree with his points and he compares it to the Mojo http://www.head-fi.org/t/798562/por...-chord-mojo-vs-ifi-idac2-vs-hrt-microstreamer
     
  9. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Thank you. I checked the link. I might do my own testing by visiting local audio shops. The review says that Mojo got the highest score and I actually tried it and was not impressed much at all (amazing build quality though). I could not tell much difference between M9xx and Mojo by blind test. Hence I returned it after trying about a week. I might try Alo Continental v5 when it becomes available later this year.
     

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