DAC beneficial?

[Jonathan Cox]

Am running my Goldring DR150 from an iPhone into my Epiphany headphone amp so iPhone doing the digital conversion . Has anyone any experience of how worthwhile swapping to the Epiphany with DAC on board would be? And also how much would a headphone upgrade show any improvements (willing to go up to Sennheiser HD650 range). <!--break-->Similarly would putting the Edac between my Airport Express and my main Marantz amp give a nice improvement over the AEX DAC. I play AIFFs or Spotify 320kb and bear in mind my favourite music is metal like Metallica, Sepultura, Painters, Machine Head, Slayer! Thank you.

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[Jonathan Cox]

Would be nice to get an opinion on this also how would I connect my iPhone to a USB DAC so the iPhone DAC is bypassed? There's an Epiphany DAC on eBay now so tempted to try but some help would be great beforehand. Thank you all.

 

[chebby]

Would be nice to get an opinion on this also how would I connect my iPhone to a USB DAC so the iPhone DAC is bypassed?

I just use the Lightning ---> USB lead that comes as standard with my iPhone.

Just ensure that your DAC has the correct USB type A input connection for iPhone use.

 

[Jonathan Cox]

So have figured out that will need Apple camera kit to connect my iPhone 4s to DAC, anyone have opinion or experience of improvement DAC will give? In short how good is the 4s (mainly Spotify 320 kbps) as a source? Thank you for reading.

 

[davedotco]

So have figured out that will need Apple camera kit to connect my iPhone 4s to DAC, anyone have opinion or experience of improvement DAC will give? In short how good is the 4s (mainly Spotify 320 kbps) as a source? Thank you for reading.

Have you thought about going wireless with an AEX, or going to Spotify Connect and using a Gramofon or Chromecast Audio?

 

[Thompsonuxb]

You'd be better off getting a decent laptop with a full array of connections - iPhone 4 as source is pretty limited for music replay.

Spending a fortune on headphones for the phone is a false economy no dac will improve things by much more compared to what you have now.

 

[Jonathan Cox]

I have no intention to get a laptop as have an iMac upstairs already. Regarding iPhone as a source, surely using a computer would be exactly the same as iPhone if a separate DAC is used? I'm interested in potential sound improvement of DAC as currently the phone is doing the digital conversion.

I'm using an airport express for my main HiFi currently which I'm happy with for now long term I'm looking to get a record player. Again thanks for comments.

 

[davedotco]

I have no intention to get a laptop as have an iMac upstairs already. Regarding iPhone as a source, surely using a computer would be exactly the same as iPhone if a separate DAC is used? I'm interested in potential sound improvement of DAC as currently the phone is doing the digital conversion.

I'm using an airport express for my main HiFi currently which I'm happy with for now long term I'm looking to get a record player. Again thanks for comments.

Get another for your headphone amp.

The dac in the AEX is fine, it is lower output than most, which means you need to equalise levels when comparing with others, but it gives greater control on the headphone volume which is useful

 

[Jonathan Cox]

Used AEX into my headphone amp again streaming wirelessly from my iPhone. I did notice a nice improvement in sound quality actually thanks for the advice. Next step I'll try a amp/DAC combined but will order better quality headphones to try at same time. Saying that I really like my Goldrings except I need a slightly better clamp for my little nut! I've not tried likes of Sennheiser AKG Grado Beyer but they're easily the best I've heard to date.

 

[davedotco]

Performance is really not related to cost/

I use a pair of the ridiculously cheap Superlux HD668b, they cost about £30, though I do use mine with the AKG velour ear pads that cost half as much as the 'phones themselves.

They sound spectacularly good for the money but a touch of presence cut and a tiny boost above 10khz does help. They sound so good that I would have to spend on serious exotica (planar probably) to really make ne want to change.

Oh...... And they do that just driven by a Macbook Pro, next step is a decent bet cheap headphone amp.