Battery Powered Dac / Amp - Aeon Noire

[ShootingStills]

Hi guys,

Looking for a portable DAC / Amp ideally smaller than the Gryphon I have that will power these headphones with relative ease?

I had in mind a Colibri (Earmen) as it states 580mw of power at 16 ohms… one review I read suggested that was false but I have no way of confirming.

Any other suggestions?

Needs to be battery as iPhone limits output power for dongles

 

[staticV3]

I had in mind a Colibri (Earmen) as it states 580mw of power at 16 ohms… one review I read suggested that was false but I have no way of confirming.

WolfX-700 measured the Colibri and at 16Ω load, it managed 120mW per channel, both using the 4.4mm output as well as 3.5mm.
You can find his measurements here: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/earmen-colibri/

Needs to be battery as iPhone limits output power for dongles

It's less the iPhone that limits power and more the MFi cable that you use to connect the DAC to your iPhone.
There are MFi cables that'll allow your DAC to draw up to 2W from your phone. That should be enough to power the Noire.
Though if you'd rather have a battery-powered Amp to avoid draining your phone's own battery, totally understandable.

Any other suggestions?

Topping G5: battery-powered, 1W at 16Ω, but about the same size as your ifi Gryphon
Khadas Tea: small, battery-powered, but only 0.13W at 16Ω
ifi hip-dac2: small, battery-powered, but no 16Ω data available. Should be roughly .3W based on company specs.
E1DA 9038SG3: very small, USB powered, .5W at 16Ω

 

[ShootingStills]

What is with that measurement vs the claimed 500+ mw of the manufacturer? Close to 5 times less. Is this even possible? This supports the other review or measurement of this thing on the headfi forum too. Seems poor form from earmen to overstate that?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Can I question you on the iPhone power output? Are you certain that power (2w) applies to the iPhone too? Everything I have read across the web suggests is a tiny fraction of that amount.

Could the 2w be a the possible draw from usb c devices? Like android phones and tablets rather than the iPhones lightning port. That port is known for being limited in power.

I would love it to be wrong and would love a cable to allow all the power needed to the Go Bar for example or another dongle.

If you have a specific cable recommendation for the iPhone to get more power I’d appreciate that.

Thanks again

 

[staticV3]

2W is what Meenova claims you can draw from your iPhone through the Lightning port, using their OTG adapters: Link1 Link2
To be fair, I haven't confirmed that myself.
There are probably close to 100 of these adapters and Lightning to Type-C cables. Here's a spreadsheet with some of them: Link3

Since you mentioned the GO bar, that's yet another device that can't match its claimed specs in the real world.
It's supposed to do 475mW at 32Ω, yet it starts clipping at 200mW and at 1% THD+N, only outputs 400mW. See here.
Even worse, at 16Ω, you get barely 100mW out of it, so not a good match for the Noire, and at $330, quite the rip-off imo.

ifi is no stranger to dodgy specs btw. The Diablo is supposed to do 5W at 32Ω, yet when Wolf tested it, it called quits at just 0.5W: Link4

 

[ShootingStills]

Wow blimey that is quite interesting to hear about the Go Bar... This maybe explains why when I use the Power / Headphone calculators online I am surprised by how loud a headphone is supposed to get with a certain device (Go Bar for example) but when I listen it doesn't feel like the 'painful' description even at max volume.

So I actually have a Khadas Tea. I bought it about a week ago and I am in love with it. Without doubt the best dac / amp for iPhone users who want a simple solution. The first one I can walk around the house with or go on a walk with that doesnt get in the way, or cause cables to be bent in the wrong direction etc.

In fact, it does power the Aeon Noire and much better than I though. Turning up to max is probably 10-20% too loud for me. I just wonder if I would get better sound from something a little 'better' or more powerful.

 

[staticV3]

In my experience, having more headroom does not magically improve sound quality. If you have a 5W amp and a 0.5W amp and you run them both at 0.3W output, then they'll sound the same.

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

iBasso 240 or bigger.

 

[ShootingStills]

I can't tell you how much I like this site. I feel like its the only forum that I have been a part of that cuts through the nonsense. Thank you again!

I am going to order the Colibri (Earmen) and compare to my Khadas and Gryphon as see what the differences are if any.

 

[ShootingStills]

iBasso 240 or bigger.

That’s a Dap isn’t it? Wouldn’t be something I’d need / use. Well, not yet

 

[Alexander Gödde]

Depending on the music you listen to and the volume you want the Quedlix 5k may be enough. Perfectly fine for me with Rock, Pop or Techno. For classical music I combine this with a Fiio A5 (relatively easily available used) and I have not found any recording yet where I would need more power (listening to symphonies at really high volume).
For an integrated device the Topping G5 that somebody else here recommended would likely be a good choice.