FYI I have had terrible performance experience with Xduoo products, namely the X3 player from 2016 or 17, which clips at its max outputThe ATC is an exact copy of the Xduoo XD-05, can be found for around 200 € also.
Wow, that's remarkably bad... That would render it basically unusable, IMO. Thanks for sharing your experiences.Even worse, X3 stock firmware has 1% pitch error (1KHz would be outputted as 990Hz)
I'd need a 5V device, which I currently have (Topping D50), but none from the AK side except the Modi 3.if u don't find portable - try non portable with your own external battery to me to have another device which I need to keep charging is impossible. Tablet and phone is my max. Laptop I just use on constant power w/o battery.
I'm more than happy to wait, maybe SMSL or some other vendor will surprise me in 2019.
Might just pick up a bare board Khadas to use at home for now
Because I already have a good ESS DAC.Why AK? The DAC chip is only one component in a chain. It's possible to build a crappy DAC with any chip or build a great DAC with lots of chips.
SMSL Sanskrit 10th meets your definition of portable, uses the AK 4490, and measures quite well, it just requires you to use both USB ports.
On another note, I hope your commute is less crowded than mine, and if not, I'm glad I'm not on your train. Its standing room only on NJ Transit a lot of the time
I have the XD-05 and have been quite underwhelmed by the performance even after spending a few hundreds in opamp rolling vs a SMSL Idea or the wonderful Audioengine D3 (ak4452).... I can't quite get rid of it so I'm just waiting for the opportunity to get a Fiio K3 or a Topping NX4. The only use I have for it is hooking my cayin C5 amp to it (on passive pre-out) and listening to two headphones at the same time.The ATC is an exact copy of the Xduoo XD-05, can be found for around 200 € also.