The RWA Isabellina HPA is a usb dac with headphone output and it runs on batteries. Right now Im using a laptop run off its batteries into a offramp run on a bpt power supply then into my battery powered Isabellina HPA. Im completly off the grid and it sounds great. Its a very good battery powered usb dac. I had the great pleasure of hearing Kingstyles1's headphone rig, he's describing here, just recently and can say that this combination sounded remarkably good. Not a trace of typical digital screaming meanies or graininess or stridency, which on headphones will encourage liberal use of Advil. I was mightily impressed at this thoughtful combination of components. It did not speak of digital in any way at all to me. If it weren't for the complete absence of pops and clicks I might of thought I was listening to an LP. |
The RWA Isabellina HPA is a usb dac with headphone output and it runs on batteries. Right now Im using a laptop run off its batteries into a offramp run on a bpt power supply then into my battery powered Isabellina HPA. Im completly off the grid and it sounds great. Its a very good battery powered usb dac. |
I too have purchased a Nu-force UDAC. Paired with my Sennheiser HD 555's, I find this setup to be very satisfying. One bump in the road to mention, which I have not addressed with Nu-force (& may decide not to): My UDAC doesn't like to be powered up continuously. Left turned on, after several days a whistle developed in the left channel, that disappeared after the unit was powered off for an hour or so. This problem has been repeatable, as I have forgotten to turn the unit off after several satisfying listening sessions of multiple hours each. The unit was also warm to the touch after several days of being powered up. The whistling has occurred when the UDAC unit has been driven, or idling. Once cooled down and off for awhile, the unit comes back sounding as good as new. Guess the power switch is on there for a reason.......but Nu-force does not provide any warning about it being powered up continuously. The sound is so impressive on this little unit, it makes me want to audition their amplifiers.... |
Pugstub,
Before completing my research, I impulsively ordered a Nuforce UDAC.
It arrived quickly, and I was also impressed with the finish, build quality and cool LED light. Very small and USB powered, so also perfect for traveling.
On this morning's commute, I tried it out with my Lenovo netbook, iTunes and a pair of in ear Shure headphones.
This reminded me why I got into this hobby about 30 years ago:
Despite the bashing that we audiophiles sometimes receive for being preoccupied with equipment and tinkering, it felt like the first time in a few thousand miles of recent commuting and business travel that I forgot about the equipment and really enjoyed listening to music.
This may not be the state of the art solution for portable USB audio, but it was very enjoyable and thanks for the tip.
Of course, no self respecting audiophile would stop with any solution simply because they were satisfied and happy, so please do continue with any suggestions for the ultimate quality in portable devices.
When I have the chance, I will try using the Nuforce device simply as a DAC, with RCA out to my Head Room or Grado head phone amp.
cwlondon |
Cw- I have the Music Streamer+ which is very nice sounding and costs about the same as the VDAC. I have not used it w headphones; I am using it to feed the digital stream from my music server to the NHT M00/S20 speakers I have in my office. I have not done any comparisons at all w the office rig, but I do believe it sounds very nice, in total. |
More to choose from here than I would have imagined...would love to see the results of a "shoot out" with high resolution headphones. So a search over at HeadFi.org. There are numerous shootout threads pitting one or two of these against the other. Like here, take everything with a grain of salt...in fact, take it with more salt IMO - it is a different crowd over there, with plenty of crossover. There's a member there, Skylab, who's been doing an ongoing shootout that focuses more on the small headphone amnps, rather than the DAC's. In general the Pico DAC and the iBasso D4 DAC are two of the most respected in the smaller offerings. I don't use a laptop interface - I simply use an LOD cable out of my iPod (older model or iPhone), into the D4 which is straped together with the iPod. The kit fits neatly with some accessories into a Lowepro Rezo 50 digitial camera bag. You didn't ask about portable headphones, and that's a whole other ball of wax. |
Jax2
Thanks for the excellent research and links - just finished working my way through them. Justin from Pico sounds like a true enthusiast - could be a one box solution...
Jondkaufman - the Wavelength looks very nice too - not sure about the weight or value per $$$....
More to choose from here than I would have imagined...would love to see the results of a "shoot out" with high resolution headphones. |
Great responses. Be concerned that if you do airline travel with all these 'boxes' you will shortly be running afoul of the many new security measures that will hit travelers. The 'no lap stuff' rule will most likely ban anything you are thinking about, including the netbook. The only thing left will be the airline audio/video seat feeds. Flying will surely be a form of punishment, so you can ask your company for combat pay. |
Thanks for ideas so far....
Swampwalker, have you listened to the music streamer?
Re one box vs. two, I don't mind an extra box, cables and a bit of weight, but would want the performance to justify it.
I have both the Grado headphone amp and a somewhat vintage, supposedly state of the art at the time amp from the guys at Headroom - the "Cosmic" I think.
Hence, my search for a high quality portable DAC to use with either of these devices.
If either the Grado or Cosmic amp, or any of the separate box DACs are nothing to write home about, then sure - I could sell the Grado amp and just buy one of the all in one box solutions - there seems to be quite a few.
Within reason however (with respect to weight and/or cost), my priority is performance, not low cost or convenience. |
Could look at the Wavelength Proton DAC - in addition to Async control, it has a headphone connection, volume control from computer, and built-in battery (to supplement the USB power)...Could be a one box stop for you... |
For bang for the buck and maximum portability, I like my iBasso D4 Mamba. It has a very good portable headphone amp, and the USB DAC converts straight to I2S rather than going to SPDIF in between. The DAC sounds quite good. It runs on a 9 volt for about 9 hours, or via USB if you have access to your laptop or desktop. About $240 with shipping to the States from iBasso. Plenty of alternatives as well. Check over at HeadFi.org for more input on this subject. Other favorites there that combine a DAC and amp in one would be iQube which is a bit more expensive here in the U.S., or if you are really going for serious quality in a semi-portable (this one's kind of large) look at the Lisa III by Triad Audio. I just saved you a whole lot of reading over at Headfi. Two others you'll see come up often are Meier Corda amps, as well as Ray Samuels amps. You can throw all kinds of money at this. If you just want to add a standalone DAC to your Grado amp (adding one more little box to your cluster) check out the Pico DAC, which I think also goes straight to I2S. PS Whoops, sorry, the Lisa III does not include a DAC, it is just a (highly regarded) headphone amp. |
I just received my USB powered Nuforce UDAC. It is USB DAC/headphone amp combined. It sounds much better than its $99 price |
HRT Streamer is powered via the USB port of your pc/laptop. Obviously would result in faster drain of the laptop battery, but I can't imagine it would be significant in comparison to the HDD or display. |
