Portable amp to pair with my Ibasso DX170

[SPUD1969]

Hi
Newbie here hoping to find the answers to my query.
I have an Ibasso DX170 DAP which I love, the sound quality is amazing and it has more than enough power to drive the I.E.M's even on the low gain setting. I want to use the player at home with a pair of RODE NTH 100 headphones but it doesn't have the OOMPH to drive these to a level that I am happy with.
I am after a portable amp to run with the RODE's, I was advised on another forum to get a iFi nano idsd which I duly did S/H off ebay but it won't work as expected, the music sounds clipped and speeded up when I connect everything together. I have since been told that the nano won't work after all so what do I actually need. I don't want to spend an awful lot, maybe a budget of up to £200. Thanks

 

[Rodolfo]

I'm a HiBy and Sennheiser/Soundcore guy, myself; but, have you previously been happy, impressed with the Rode's? Do you know if/that these are capable of OOMPHg you?

With all due respect, I doubt that these 32-ohm headphones are designed for being impressively driven by capable DAPs like your DX170, or capable DACs. It's early in the headphone game for Rode, and while you're ready for them, they may not be fully ready for you.

 

[SPUD1969]

Hi
Thanks for your reply.
I bought the RODE's to use with the DX170 specifically and on trying them found they weren't loud enough, I haven't tried them yet on my seperates system. They got really good reviews in the awards of 2023 so I took a punt on them as they weren't overly expensive.
The inexpensive I.E.M's I have are more than sufficient , the sound quality is fantastic and I can get them more than loud enough. I mainly use my DX170 when out running or on long walks with the dog so I.E.M's are more practical in this scenario.
I love my DX170, first grown up DAP i have had after my IPOD touch 4th generation wasn't able to be updated any longer because of Apple and their shxtty obsolescence , I will never buy another Apple product.
I wanted a A&K SR25 but couldn't run to a new unit, I may look for a second hand one now the SR35 has been released.

 

[RobSys]

Looking at the manual the iDSD nano (black label) has an iEMatch switch that adjusts the amp for headphone sensitivity. Have you tried playing with that? For the headphones it should be set to "Direct".
You could also try the line output using an RCA to jack socket cable.