Portable DAC/Amp + Closed-Back Headphones (Tidal Hi-Fi)

[BetweenThePeaks]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to buy a good-sounding portable DAC/headphone amp and closed-back wired headphones for walking around the city and listening to Hi-Fi / lossless music on Tidal.

The DAC/amp can be powered either by a power bank or have a built-in battery. My phone is a Samsung A35 5G.

My budget is €350–400, though I don’t necessarily need to spend all of it.

Do I need PEQ (parametric EQ) for this kind of setup?

Could you recommend a few portable DAC/amps and closed-back headphones that would pair well together?

The music I mainly listen to includes jazz, jazz fusion, and metal.

Thanks in advance!

 

[IngMishael]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to buy a good-sounding portable DAC/headphone amp and closed-back wired headphones for walking around the city and listening to Hi-Fi / lossless music on Tidal.

The DAC/amp can be powered either by a power bank or have a built-in battery. My phone is a Samsung A35 5G.

My budget is €350–400, though I don’t necessarily need to spend all of it.

Do I need PEQ (parametric EQ) for this kind of setup?

Could you recommend a few portable DAC/amps and closed-back headphones that would pair well together?

The music I mainly listen to includes jazz, jazz fusion, and metal.

Thanks in advance!

Qudelix 5K - https://hifi-passion.de/EN/Portable-Audio/Bluetooth-DAC-AMP/1259/Qudelix-5K

And

Sennheiser HD620S - https://www.thomannmusic.com/sennheiser_hd_620s.htm

 

[AndyBell]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to buy a good-sounding portable DAC/headphone amp and closed-back wired headphones for walking around the city and listening to Hi-Fi / lossless music on Tidal.

The DAC/amp can be powered either by a power bank or have a built-in battery. My phone is a Samsung A35 5G.

My budget is €350–400, though I don’t necessarily need to spend all of it.

Do I need PEQ (parametric EQ) for this kind of setup?

Could you recommend a few portable DAC/amps and closed-back headphones that would pair well together?

The music I mainly listen to includes jazz, jazz fusion, and metal.

Thanks in advance!

If you don’t need Bluetooth, then for the DAC/Headphone amp, Amir rated the Neutron HiFi DAC highly: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/neutron-hifi-dac-v1-review.56647/

It has all the settings you could ever want - PEQ and separate headphone EQ - plus many other adjustments. I don’t know of any other USB DACs that have this amount of ‘tweak ability’. But it’s not powered so will draw current from your phone…

I’ll let others recommend headphones as I don’t have any closed back ones.

 

[BetweenThePeaks]

When I built my first hi-fi system, I made a mistake by buying lower-quality speakers first.
I picked up the Teufel Ultima 40 Mk4 3 way floorstanding speakers because they were a great deal (€369/pair). However, after getting advice here, I ended up adding a WiiM Ultra and an Audiophonics AP300-S250NC (Hypex NCore).
I am truly satisfied with the WiiM Ultra’s capabilities and the Audiophonics amp's build quality, power, and sound. But now, my streamer and amp are much better than my speakers.
I don't want to create another bottleneck.
I’m planning to buy the Sennheiser HD 620S, and I want a DAC/Amp that can truly handle them. I’m considering the FiiO BTR17 or the Topping G5. I know these are a bit more expensive, but I’d rather spend more now than have regrets later.
What do you think of this pairing? Should I go for something else?

 

[AndyBell]

When I built my first hi-fi system, I made a mistake by buying lower-quality speakers first.
I picked up the Teufel Ultima 40 Mk4 3 way floorstanding speakers because they were a great deal (€369/pair). However, after getting advice here, I ended up adding a WiiM Ultra and an Audiophonics AP300-S250NC (Hypex NCore).
I am truly satisfied with the WiiM Ultra’s capabilities and the Audiophonics amp's build quality, power, and sound. But now, my streamer and amp are much better than my speakers.
I don't want to create another bottleneck.
I’m planning to buy the Sennheiser HD 620S, and I want a DAC/Amp that can truly handle them. I’m considering the FiiO BTR17 or the Topping G5. I know these are a bit more expensive, but I’d rather spend more now than have regrets later.
What do you think of this pairing? Should I go for something else?

I have both the FiiO BTR17 and the Neutron DAC. Both sound identical as DACs but the BTR17’s support of LDAC and APTX-HD (etc) makes it super convenient with very high quality - a wired connection between the phone and the DAC is very inconvenient, especially when out and about. I don’t hear any real difference between its wired and Bluetooth connection.

But the Neutron DAC is much better when streaming and not playing through a source with excellent DSP, such as Neutron Player. It supplies all the DSP I could wish for. The BTR17’s PEQ is good and sounds great, but Neutron can do much more.

Because I own both I can choose between convenience and sound…

I wouldn’t sell either, tbh.