Most suitable portable headphone amp for Dan Clark Expanse/Stealth

[Liya]

Planning to get Stealth or Expanse headphones. I was wondering which headphone amp would be the best (in terms of power) for either of these? Plan is to use iPhone (or MacBook) as a source. Are there any audiable benefits of having a separate dac?
I am going to use the rig in various rooms at home, but also hotels etc, so that's why I need the amp to be portable.

 

[staticV3]

A Topping G5 should do the job. Amir reviewed it here:

Topping G5 Review (Portable DAC & HP Amp)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping G5 portable, battery operated DAC, headphone amplifier with bluetooth. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $299. The G5 comes in a super stout metal enclosure. It is on the heavy side for a portable product (2 to 4 times...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[pukemon]

from the little I read recently, I'm guessing those headphones use more juice than than fostex Tx0 planar magnetic headphones. whilst that amp can put out some juice and can barely power the fostex T60s I have on high gain at ~90% on the volume knob, the dac/amp gets quite hot and my battery got quite swollen. I wouldn't recommend using as intended. I would still recommend finding a small powered desktop amp for best results when stationary or something portable with even more headroom like maybe the diablo. maybe the battery might suffer with better results.

 

[Liya]

I haven't bought any amp yet so thank you for your comment. Yeah, I could just use a small desktop amp.

 

[tifune]

I tried the NX7 with my Stealth , which is a tiny bit more powerful than G5, and I heard a subbass problem which amir also mentioned in his review of G5. For that reason I went with CEntrance Ampersand. No measurements available, and their reputation here is not so good, but I have no complaints about it. It plays anything I listen to on a regular basis (music) but I'm skeptical it could handle some LFE content if you plan on watching TV/movies

The ifi diablo goes into protection mode with stealth if played too loudly. Many HPA do not fare well <32 ohm

If you haven't purchased yet, seemingly E3+G5 is a much smarter financial decision without sacrificing much. But, I know we're not all here for that kind of talk

 

[Liya]

Thank you Tifune. Looks like I'll only get the required power from... mains powered amp.

 

[Jimster480]

Thank you Tifune. Looks like I'll only get the required power from... mains powered amp.

get a dx5 or ex5 or similar.

 

[staticV3]

get a dx5 or ex5 or similar.

dx3 costs less and has more power:

 

[Liya]

What about RME dacs?

 

[staticV3]

What about RME dacs?

Great products, great long-term support.

Also very expensive if you don't need all of their features like Hardware EQ, M/S Processing, etc.

 

[Jimster480]

dx3 costs less and has more power:
View attachment 350216

DX3 has less outputs and overall features. Also you can find an EX5 for cheap when it is used.