Availability
Form factor
Compatability with varying sources (eg iOS devices don't mix well with devices that need plenty of power from the phone)
Can you use eq in the set ups it's going in
Price
By the sound of it availability will be your biggest hurdle.
Absolutely, and I'm already checking out stuff – trying out the Sundara with Mojo2 yesterday (and the Edition XS, which in my ears wasn't worth the price difference.
iOs doesn't allow a system wide EQ (other than the built in presets for music apps), which makes this a lot more difficult, just like my beed to deal with several Apple devices with different operating systems etc.
Reviews here (and some other places) have been useful – so useful that I wish I had found separate page on ASR listing all the DACS and DAC-amps, ideally with a rating system. I found this...
Links to reviews, measurements, explanatory articles, listening tests and other resources. ASR Youtube Channel & Wiki Speakers Speaker Review Index: Reviews, rankings and scatterplot by @Racheski (Feedback Thread) Loudspeaker Preference Ratings: Calculations and comparisons by @MZKM (Feedback...
www.audiosciencereview.com
...but if there is a list of ranked DACs, portable or not, with/without built in amps, I haven't found it yet.
For desktop simplicity, power and performance the topping dx3 Pro plus looks hard to beat.
For portable, the qudelix.
My reservation against Qudelix is still the mention of the 'not very good' DAC performance, a statement which is way less enthusiastic than what he wrote about some of the other, similar products.
OTOH, unless I have been dreaming this (!), I believe I saw a comment about the DX3 Pro+ was most useful for the DAC itself and not so much for the amp, along with a recommendation about bypassing the built in amp and use the DAC in that unit with an external amp. I don't think I have been dreaming this, but maybe I'm mixing up the Pro+ with some other DAC-amp?
Based on the measurements and reviews on this site, these are, along
DX3 Pro + ($199), the strongest contenders (disclaimer: there are still tons of reviews I haven't read):
Topping EX5 $349
In 2019: 'exceptionally good performance with both my Drop Ether CX and Sennheiser HD650'
Hidizs S9 $112
In 2021: 'a tiny device that delivers desktop class performance/'best phone adapter in the world?'
Fiio A5 $130 ($260)
In 2019: 'it rivals the best of the desktop headphone amplifiers. There is plenty of power to drive just about any headphone with very low output impedance. I don't think we have seen this combination before') But this is an amp only, and would need eg a Fiio A5 (also $130).
The iFI Go Blu ($199) also looks interesting, because it has a mic + volume/ff/rew/pause and apparently also can be used for phone calls.
I could actually buy two of these products for the price of the Dragonfly Cobalt.
Should I be worried that some of the quoted reviews/statements are from 2019?