Got my first wage today
I hope u remember me from the last iem post
Suggest me some good DAC+iem for a tight budget. It should be worth every single penny. I must be able to experience the glory of hires flacs and dad.
Suggest shit so good that I should never go back to shitty bluetooth audio.
Optimise the product selection such that the audio profile from the output must be true to its source.
>>316
Imagine listening to Random Access Memories on the right setup and getting to appreciate the high digital audio production standards that daft punk's known for this album!
>>316
oh wow that was fast, okay so for starters what what your previous gear? also maximum budget you can allot for your setup, and of course your whats your system of choice?
>>319
>what what your previous gear?
literally nothing, most I had was a sony mdr zx110a and a smartphone/computer filled with audio files. I used to use wavelet on Android to balance the too overpowered shitty bass on these headphones and tune it to the most neutral profile or the harman target. Even this simple step improved the experience by leaps and bounds.
>maximum budget you can allot for your setup
around 7k as a beginner... for both iem+dac
>>319
I don't care much about it, my phone would be the most common I'd say than my computer. It has a 3.5mm jack too.
>>318
In hand 6
fuck ctc thats always inflated
In hand 30 would be perfect
>>320
>sony mdr zx110a
holy kek I pretty much had a similar journey except I was a tad too autistic about sonic fidelity that I took it up on myself to read and learn about audio tech and how it even works to come up with purchase descisios what would fit my needs, ff to 8 years and several pages long articles and discussion forums and I think I have what can be called the "endgame" setup tho the definition of this term can vary from person to person
but the gist of it is invest in as much good source and drivers that you can afford and stick to that so you can spend time engaging with the most crucial aspect of this hobby; actually listening to and enjoying your music
>IEM's
stick to single DD (dinamic driver) pos for now as they are highly reliable and can produce more than enough (((techs))) and resolution across the FR (frequency response) graph
Make sure you choose a non-metal case IEM since metal shells can introduce condensation issues, something I personally had to deal with the Moondrop Chu's (the black box in the middle) and that shit sucks because they were susceptible to channel imbalance and worst case scenario the filters just kick the bucket, so to avoid that bullshit stick to plastic or resin shells
>Source
or the DAC+AMP in this case since you want a plug n play setup go for a portable one as they can literally drive any IEM on the market infact the tech has evolved so much most discreet dacs are an overkill but I guess that wouldn't hurt in any manner
There are portable USC C dongles for phones and slightly fatter ones for PC's I personally store all my flacs and DSD's on my thonkpad with debian+deadbeef with direct hardware transfer so the signal stays bit-perfect throughout the chain
>recommendations
The OG Kiwi Ears cadenza's are unfortunately discontinued were replaced by its successor Cadenza 2, haven't tried these but looking at the graphs they lean more towards "neutral" profile than the former but I reckon they should still retain the unique texture that the OG's had. I bought them on sale for around ~₹3500 and the newer variant are priced around ~₹5000
The Tangzu Waner SE are also good options but unlike Cadenza's the Wan'er Studio Editions as the name suggests carry a non-colored frequency response so its as neutral or (((flat))) as it gets in this price segment (~₹2000)
Chu and Chu II are metalpos so I wouldn't suggest trying them as your first IEMs
Like I said I keep my music on my PC that is connected to my Kiwi Ears Allegro and have both 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4mm balanced output, I primarily use the 3.5 and it sounds just perfect with no hiss or audio noise floor, can decode both PCM and DSD upto 32bit/384kHz and DSD256 respectively
just make sure your music player supports DoP for DSF/DFF files so the DAC gets fed with untouched DSD data
>>325
>>326
Thanks for the advice anon
What setup and tech will I need to use my Android as a source? My computer is like a family machine and I want my tunes on me all the time. So what hardware will i need in budget? Is using this Android device a downgrade compared to a computer?
>>329
>What setup and tech will I need to use my Android as a source?
Anything with the CX31993 or KT02H02 chip in it so that would lead you to JCally JM6 or the FiiO JA11. Both should work just fine for your Android and will set you back by ₹1000.
But here's the thing tho, unlike desktop computers phones don't really have "unlimited" power supply, the ampere's in your battery are limited and even though these aforementioned donglels aren't known to be power hogs, if you own an older phone that has smaller capacity cell or is simply ageing then you will notice the battery drain compared to what the lower quality internal DAC used to squeeze out.
But if you're fine with that trade-off in exchange for higher sonic findelity then sure go for it. Either that or you could possibly buy an DSP IEM, its a fancy term for IEM's that come with built in DAC to be used with newer phones that lack 3.5mm jack. And they perform almost as good as standalone donglels apparently whilst being conservative when it comes to power consumption. And you dont have to deal with an extra piece of gear to plug into. And you could potentially turn it into a 3.5 or even 4.4mm terminated IEM by changing its cable, because remember virtually all IEMs come with detachable cables so even if the stock cable fails you can replace it with better one and don't have to throw the entire unit into the bin.
>Is using this Android device a downgrade compared to a computer?
Let me get this straight. The OS you are using has nothing to do with sound quality. All it does is work as a mediator and handle all the 1s and 0s. Thats it. What determines audio quality is the source (DAC&) and the transducer which in our case is the Dynamic Driver. As long as these two components are well engineered and designed to execute their job you could literally use a toaster to play music and still get away with it. Its just that a PC is more convenient for oblivious reasons. If you protest otherwise then thats completely fine and dandy, the exact same setup wouldn't sound any different on either systems.
And to add a bit more to the previous post. I'm pretty sure the OG allegro is phased out and is succeeded by the Allegro Mini which sports a more phone friendly design and still retains DSD (upto 128) support whilst consting half of that the original so there's that.
>Where to Buy
So far I've purchased my gear from HeadphoneZone and Linsoul. With the former you get to enjoy some nicities that it brings by being based in Bharat itself so domestic cards, faster deliveries, free shipping and far better customer support I guess? Linsoul on the other hand is international and is based in China so they'll courier your pos straight to your nearest post office from Manchuria which could possibly take around a week or two. Standard shipping costs around 900 unfortunately, it used to be 500 a few years back kek absolute state. And keep a MasterCard or Visa ready of course. So depending on what you're lusting after you'll have to use either of the platforms because HeadphoneZone doesnt always have the most complete collection. There are a few others like TheAudioStore but I'm yet to use their services so can't vouch for them I'm afraid.
