Portable solution for iOS w/ PEQ and ability to drive DCA aeon noire and/or LCD-XC

[Dougr]

Looking for portable solution since teenage son has adopted my PM3s. Considering LCD-XC and DCA Noire. If I’m traveling light, I’ll just use IEM, so not worried about bulk of XCs. Will the 5k do OK with the DCAs or XCs? Any other good PEQ amp options for iOS ?

 

[velasfloyd]

I only use portable, my solution is:

iPhone -> lightning to usb-c cable -> qudelix 5k -> 3.5mm audio cable -> 3.5 mm audio in from xduoo xd05 -> focal Elegia

can be translated like this:

whatever phone -> cable to qudelix (or bluetooth) -> audio cable -> audio in from whatever headphone amp (if needed) -> whatever headphone

I just use xd05 because I like to use the knob

I know you asked for other options, but in all this years I could not find any other option for good PEQ... all daps, no matter the price, have horrible software... and all portable headphone amps had no peq

 

[Dougr]

I only use portable, my solution is:

iPhone -> lightning to usb-c cable -> qudelix 5k -> 3.5mm audio cable -> 3.5 mm audio in from xduoo xd05 -> focal Elegia

can be translated like this:

whatever phone -> cable to qudelix (or bluetooth) -> audio cable -> audio in from whatever headphone amp (if needed) -> whatever headphone

I just use xd05 because I like to use the knob

I know you asked for other options, but in all this years I could not find any other option for good PEQ... all daps, no matter the price, have horrible software... and all portable headphone amps had no peq

Does the qudelix app on iOS have PEQ or simple 10 band eq like on es100. If no different, any advantage to 5k (sound wise) over the es100 I already have? I’m assuming there might be some marginal improvement for the noires given the higher power req’s? If the 5k is decent portable without an additional amp, I could just use it and get a decent desktop amp as well?

 

[velasfloyd]

Does the qudelix app on iOS have PEQ or simple 10 band eq like on es100. If no different, any advantage to 5k (sound wise) over the es100 I already have? I’m assuming there might be some marginal improvement for the noires given the higher power req’s? If the 5k is decent portable without an additional amp, I could just use it and get a decent desktop amp as well?

I do not have nor have I used the es100, but I 100% recommend the qudelix. It has Geq and Peq, and the app is excellent, millions of light years away from any portable competition (like Fiio for example), you have a lot of other parameters to configure. You can tell that the team is very good since the product is a few years old and they are still always improving its capabilities. For example, they recently added an improvement to be able to handle the playback of a song when you are using it via cable. This is fabulous because the iPhone does not have physical buttons for play/pause, back and next, and previously it was only possible when used with Bluetooth.
It is also cheap (100 us), and its measurements show that it is well made.

In short: buy the qudelix and be happy forever (and only if you need more power or a nice volume knob, buy an external amp and use the qudelix as a dac)

 

[staticV3]

Besides the 5K, the FiiO BTR5 2021 and BTR7 also have App-controlled EQ.
However, the 5K is so far ahead in terms of features and App quality, that FiiO's offerings make IMO little sense comparatively.

Will the 5k do OK with the DCAs or XCs?

We can predict how loud the 5K can get using Qudelix's Power Budget data: https://www.qudelix.com/blogs/5k-dac-amp/power-budget

One compiled and with a curve fit applied, we can estimate the 5K's maximum output voltage at different load impedances. Here it is for the 5K's 2.5mm Bal output:


So, 2.21Vrms are possible with the LCD-XC (20Ω) and with its sensitivity of ~111dB/Vrms, that means SPL Peaks of 118dB SPL -> Extremely loud

At 13Ω (DCA Noire), the 5K can output 1.78V, and with the Noire's sensitivity of 103dB/Vrms, that means SPL Peaks of 108dB SPL -> Pretty loud

 

[Dougr]

I do not have nor have I used the es100, but I 100% recommend the qudelix. It has Geq and Peq, and the app is excellent, millions of light years away from any portable competition (like Fiio for example), you have a lot of other parameters to configure. You can tell that the team is very good since the product is a few years old and they are still always improving its capabilities. For example, they recently added an improvement to be able to handle the playback of a song when you are using it via cable. This is fabulous because the iPhone does not have physical buttons for play/pause, back and next, and previously it was only possible when used with Bluetooth.
It is also cheap (100 us), and its measurements show that it is well made.

In short: buy the qudelix and be happy forever (and only if you need more power or a nice volume knob, buy an external amp and use the qudelix as a dac)

Thanks… IIRC, the qudelix team came from ear studio, so there seem to be lots of similarities… sounds like the 5k is maybe the true es100 follow on.

 

[paudio]

Thanks… IIRC, the qudelix team came from ear studio, so there seem to be lots of similarities… sounds like the 5k is maybe the true es100 follow on.

I think the main guy left Earstudio and formed Qudelix iirc. I have a feeling the 5K is what he wanted the ES100 to be first time around but wasn't able to get there with EarStudio?

 

[antikryst]

topping G5. should be able to connect that to iOS... i use android.

It also drives my Aeon Closed X properly which is similar to the Noire. Tried it with the XC. Handled it no problems.

 

[ahofer]

Fiio BTR7 now has PEQ. I have one and love it.

FiiO Community-FiiO forum

forum.fiio.com

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Mojo2 is portable and does have onboard Tone controls , but not PEQ! (parametric equaliser)
It does not need any accompanying software for tone controls (iOS irrelevant). Many various combinations can be achieved with its four band tone controls.
If you are into precise EQ habits, forget Mojo2's tone controls.
If you just want to add Bass or tune the mid or treble, then it is a fabulous device.
If you happen to be in EU, prices have recently dropped.