What's needed to properly run Dan Clarks ÆON RT's?

[RadioRyan]

Hello all and thank you in advance! Quick background.. I've spent many hours reading reviews here on the best hifi headphones sub $500. I made the decision to order some Verum Ones, but I'm also looking for closed back headphones. I eventually landed on Dan Clarks AEON RT's, but now I'm stumped on the best driver.

I intend to enjoy these in various locations, and I'm looking for the most discrete approach to adequately drive the RT's. Would the TempoTec Sonata BHD Pro portable DAC be sufficient? Or the Meizu Mblu Lifeme portable DAC? If not, I'm absolutely open to suggestions, and in the unfortunate case, alternate headphone suggestions to accomplish the mission. Part of the reason I sprung for the AEON's is because I've already ordered the open back Verums and it doesn't seem like a bad idea to have a nice set of Open Backs and separate Closed Backs.

Thanks again, pros!

 

[middlemarch]

As someone who has a set of the RTs, all I can tell you is it all depends on how loud you like to listen. When I've not had a couple of beers I can be content plugging them directly into my M1 MacBook Pro and not even have the volume all the way up. But the sound is a little thin that way. When you want to crank them, well, I first tried with a JDS Atom, and that was better but not good enough. I settled on a Topping L30 ||, which does the deed, probably not doing my hearing loss any good at all. The RTs just suck power, one man's experience. A portable DAC will not do it for you, I don't think.

 

[Dunring]

The Topping G5 is the only way to go for them with real portability. I'm charging one now and it's 4.5 hours to fully charge, but 6.5 hours on medium gain depending on volume levels. It sounds stunning and measurements back these up. I just popped this on the scale, and it's a little over 9oz but it's worth it for desktop stack performance without draining your phone battery.

 

[RadioRyan]

Thank you both @Dunring and @middlemarch for your help. I ordered the AEROs from Dan the Topping G5 from Apos. I'll report back after the slow 5-10 day wait