Would I benefit from a dedicated DAC?

[bbvt]

Hi folks!

Quite new to all this so I would appreciate any help. I would like to get the most out of my equipment so I'm here for some advice.

Current setup:
- Audio-Technica ATH-M40x, KZ ZS10 Pro & (soon) LETSHUOER S12 Pro
- Tidal HiFi (non-MQA) through USB Audio Player PRO (bit-perfect mode)
- smartphone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC (3.5mm jack obviously)

The thing I was wondering is: would I benefit from a dedicated DAC (was thinking something portable like Qudelix-5K, FiiO BTR5...) when it comes to sound quality. Or is internal DAC with Qualcomm Aqstic™ audio codec (whatever tf that is) solid enough? Headphones/IEM I am using are not power demanding so I believe that smartphone's output power is already decent, but would like to know if there would be noticeable difference sound-wise with a dedicated DAC.

Thank you in advance! ✌

 

[Berwhale]

Welcome to ASR! I think it's impossible to say without knowing which phone you have and seeing some actually measurements of it (which are rare).

One benefit of using a USB DAC or Bluetooth DAC/Amp is that they do get measured on ASR and you know what you are getting in terms of measured performance.

In my case, this meant I could change phones from a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 flagship (which had a faulty screen), to a Poco F3 (which is newer and faster than the Note 9, but cost less than 1/4 of the Samsung) without worrying about the impact on sound - I was using an Radsone ES100 DAC/Amp at the time, but I now have Qudelix 5K (which is designed by the same person as the ES100).

*edit* I'd also stop worrying about bit perfect in UAPP, and start applying EQ (with the ToneBoosters PEQ plugin) for your IEMs and headphones.

 

[Andretti60]

IMHO, not much. Especially with your headphones, I have the ATH m50x and cannot hear any difference connecting them directly to the iPad or a more sophisticated dac. You can get a big improvement on sound quality firstly by upgrading the headphones.

 

[bbvt]

Welcome to ASR! I think it's impossible to say without knowing which phone you have and seeing some actually measurements of it (which are rare).

One benefit of using a USB DAC or Bluetooth DAC/Amp is that they do get measured on ASR and you know what you are getting in terms of measured performance.

In my case, this meant I could change phones from a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 flagship (which had a faulty screen), to a Poco F3 (which is newer and faster than the Note 9, but cost less than 1/4 of the Samsung) without worrying about the impact on sound - I was using an Radsone ES100 DAC/Amp at the time, but I now have Qudelix 5K (which is designed by the same person as the ES100).

*edit* I'd also stop worrying about bit perfect in UAPP, and start applying EQ (with the ToneBoosters PEQ plugin) for your IEMs and headphones.

Thank you!

 

[Dunring]

Yes upgrade the Audio-Technica ATH-M40x for an AKG K371Pro if you want to stick with closed back You've got a huge upgrade there, just stick with easy to power stuff like the Hifiman HE400SE, or the HE5xx which I'm using now and have to stay in low gain on the amplifiers, so they're easy to power too and sound great. If you need more power, the Soundblaster X1 works on Android, Windows, and Linux (don't have an Apple to test, but probably does).

 

[rockrolla]

Just reviving this post to ask a question , is it possible that a specific headphone sounds a lot better with a 4 euros dongle , instead of a more powerful DAC?

 

[staticV3]

@rockrolla Sure.

 

[solderdude]

Just reviving this post to ask a question , is it possible that a specific headphone sounds a lot better with a 4 euros dongle , instead of a more powerful DAC?

There could be circumstances where that would be the case.
Sounds a lot better is a tall order though. That powerful DAC (I assume you mean DAC/amp combo) would have to be really crappy or the dongle would have to have some sound changing properties the owner seems to prefer.