DAC/amp streamer for iPhone

[TankTop]

Pretty straight forward question, looking for great streaming DAC/Amp to use with iPhone as a source. HD6xx for headphones and I use Tidal and Amazon for my media. DX7 Pro is my leading contender but I think I can do just as well with something lower priced that will fit my needs without a noticeable difference in quality based on how I’m using it.

Let the suggestions commence!

 

[twsecrest]

Budget?

 

[TankTop]

Budget?

DX7 Pro is pushing what I want to spend…. Under $700

I’d prefer an all in one solution but not mandatory

 

[TankTop]

Just found a DX7 pro on US audiomart, probably going that direction.

what cables are compatible with both for HD6xx?

 

[Tangband]

Pretty straight forward question, looking for great streaming DAC/Amp to use with iPhone as a source. HD6xx for headphones and I use Tidal and Amazon for my media. DX7 Pro is my leading contender but I think I can do just as well with something lower priced that will fit my needs without a noticeable difference in quality based on how I’m using it.

Let the suggestions commence!

My advice is to get Apple Music lossless and skip TIDAL and amazon .
Buy the Apple dongle for 9 dollars and then you have a really good system , with minimal extra gear.
You can first buy the dongle to see if its good enough , using TIDAL on your iPhone .
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/

 

[Paolo]

Pretty straight forward question, looking for great streaming DAC/Amp to use with iPhone as a source. HD6xx for headphones and I use Tidal and Amazon for my media. DX7 Pro is my leading contender but I think I can do just as well with something lower priced that will fit my needs without a noticeable difference in quality based on how I’m using it.

Let the suggestions commence!

I'm puzzled: what do you need the streaming feature for, if you plan to use the iPhone and the headphones?

 

[Dumdum]

I'm puzzled: what do you need the streaming feature for, if you plan to use the iPhone and the headphones?

I presume he doesn’t mean a streamer as such, just that the headphone amp will be used with a streaming service from an iphone

 

[Dumdum]

My advice is to get Apple Music lossless and skip TIDAL and amazon .
Buy the Apple dongle for 9 dollars and then you have a really good system , with minimal extra gear.
You can first buy the dongle to see if its good enough , using TIDAL on your iPhone .
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/

I don’t think I’d go so cheap, but for value for money, the atom headphone amp and a topping d10s is an awesome value for money combination

i would agree with skipping tidal because of mqa and related scandal, and Amazon because it upsamples everything to the output dacs maximum resolution (verified by a topping d10 display)

 

[TankTop]

I actually stream mostly with Amazon, letting my Tidal subscription expire. I liked the DX7 pros flexibility, it’s basically a Swiss Army knife. I can use Bluetooth and I think I can also use it as a preamp with some thing like Meta’s. The iPhone doesn’t have anywhere near the power needed for HD6XX’s.

 

[twsecrest]

For $60 or more, you can get a balanced cable for the HD6XX.

 

[3125b]

You could get a Topping EX5 instead of the DX7 Pro. It's a lot cheaper with a similar feature set.

 

[Dumdum]

I actually stream mostly with Amazon, letting my Tidal subscription expire. I liked the DX7 pros flexibility, it’s basically a Swiss Army knife. I can use Bluetooth and I think I can also use it as a preamp with some thing like Meta’s. The iPhone doesn’t have anywhere near the power needed for HD6XX’s.

Check the bitrate into the topping as Amazon on the iPhone app upsamples everything to the maximum the dac can do, despite what the app says it’s outputting, I found this out with my d10s and it’s display