A small portable DAC/amp or something else?

[Bhargu]

Not sure to what you are referring with that "10 dollar difference".

I'm not in the US, I'm in Eastern Europe. The SMSL IDEA is 73 GBP (94 USD) on Amazon, whereas the Sabaj Da2 is 48 GBP (62 USD). That's nowhere close to a 10 USD difference.
For comparison, the SMSL IDOL+ is 33 GBP (42 USD), the SMSL X4 is sold on the German Amazon for 42 EUR (48 USD), and the FiiO K1 is 36 GBP (46 USD).

Sorry, my mistake. I was not looking at Amazon rates. I was looking at AliExpress rates.

 

[AliveNoMore]

If the Da2 is really identical to the IDEA, I can go for that perhaps. My point was that if the IDOL+ and X4 also have low output impedance and decent measurements, they would do the job as well so no need to go for the IDEA. Like I said, I don't care about "Hi-Res" audio, DSD, and other audiophile things.

 

[AliveNoMore]

Come to think of it, the IDEA/Da2 might be a bit too power-hungry. Not sure if my phone won't simply cut them off.

The X4/Da1 seems to require 80mA in idle and 100mA at full volume, according to a Russian blog post. So that's a bit better. The K1 supposedly requires only 50mA so it seems my best bet, although it isn't advertised explicitly as OTG compatible.

Are there any downsides in simply getting a portable amp-only, like the FiiO A1, since my phone already has an amplifier built-in?