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Fully Portable Amp that measures better than Objective2?

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Roen

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Yes, I think you're right about the iem's. Not because of sensitivity but because of their impedance. Re Nx3s, starts rising around 4V, graph show 0.0005% at 5V, which is still very good, if the graph is to believed. More to the point, why a portable amp if you are going to plug into D50? Desktop would be a whole other conversation. Amir says JDS Atom almost looks like it is a brother to the D50, and that is, without question, the desktop pairing to get.

I use the D50 as a portable.

I basically have a quad stack on the train chair next to me.

Phone
USB Battery Pack
D50
O2

Might switch the D50 + Battery to a Khadas Tone Board if I can print a good enclosure for it.
 

HeadphoneFan

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Topping's NX3 has not been measured here but it probably measures similarly to the NX4 DSD, with the main difference being it does not include a DAC and is cheaper. Specs are listed on Topping's website and look quite good, other Topping products have measured well. Why not give it a try?
 
OP
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Roen

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Topping's NX3 has not been measured here but it probably measures similarly to the NX4 DSD, with the main difference being it does not include a DAC and is cheaper. Specs are listed on Topping's website and look quite good, other Topping products have measured well. Why not give it a try?
Output impedance = 5 ohms.
 

HeadphoneFan

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Dang, it's a shame I missed that. Well somebody else already recommended the A5, I suppose I would just second their recommendation.
 
OP
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Roen

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Any other suggestions?
 
OP
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Roen

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I guess manufacturers have moved away from creating powerful-ish amplifiers that can be driven off batteries, with low output impedance.
 

bravomail

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Topping NX4 has a analog input. That would be my suggestion.
 
OP
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Roen

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Topping NX4 has a analog input. That would be my suggestion.

Topping's NX3 has not been measured here but it probably measures similarly to the NX4 DSD, with the main difference being it does not include a DAC and is cheaper. Specs are listed on Topping's website and look quite good, other Topping products have measured well. Why not give it a try?
Output impedance = 5 ohms.

As mentioned above.
 

harry501501

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I'm new here but a regular on Head Fi. I'm more into earphones and headphones than sources but it's time to upgrade. I'm either going for a DAP with USB-DAC option or a new DAC. For DAP I'm checking out the Shanling M2s or one of the Cayin £150-200 offerings. In regards to just DACs though I'm torn between the NX4 and Topping D50. Current DAC is Sabaj DA3 which is great.

Will jumping from the Sabaj DA3 to one of the Toppings be considered a big upgrade?

Also out of mere curiosity... does a newer chip like the 9038 mean better quality sound over older models?
 

Dana reed

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I'm new here but a regular on Head Fi. I'm more into earphones and headphones than sources but it's time to upgrade. I'm either going for a DAP with USB-DAC option or a new DAC. For DAP I'm checking out the Shanling M2s or one of the Cayin £150-200 offerings. In regards to just DACs though I'm torn between the NX4 and Topping D50. Current DAC is Sabaj DA3 which is great.

Will jumping from the Sabaj DA3 to one of the Toppings be considered a big upgrade?

Also out of mere curiosity... does a newer chip like the 9038 mean better quality sound over older models?
Well, the toppings measure better than the Sabaj, but whether you’ll think it sounds better is another matter. If you get the D50, you’ll also need to get a headphone amp.

With regards to new chip vs old, it probably doesn’t matter as much as how they implement it. The rme-adi2 DAC and benchmark dac3 use older versions of chips, but measure better than lots of systems that use the 9038 and 4493.
 

computerex

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Just picked up Topping NX3 for like $45 off Massdrop! Seems like a total bargain, can't wait for its review.
 
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