Portable DAC

[Theabbot]

What up to my fellow Audiophiles out there.
I am looking for a portable DAC. I am thinking about getting the Fiio X3 or X5.
Anyone have experience with either one? Or something better?
I wanna keep my budget below $500.

 

[el_oh_el]

What up to my fellow Audiophiles out there.
I am looking for a portable DAC. I am thinking about getting the Fiio X3 or X5.
Anyone have experience with either one? Or something better?
I wanna keep my budget below $500.

I looked into that year's ago and found it wasn't really worth it. Your typical high end phone will do well enough these days. Even with flac files. I can almost guarantee you won't hear much of a difference.
Now the only reason I could see you getting one is if you had some very high impedance headphones

 

[Theabbot]

I looked into that year's ago and found it wasn't really worth it. Your typical high end phone will do well enough these days. Even with flac files. I can almost guarantee you won't hear much of a difference.
Now the only reason I could see you getting one is if you had some very high impedance headphones

Yeah I have some HD650's and tons of FLAC's at 192k. I have read that a dedicated DAC can be

 

[Ruck]

wait, why portable? u telling me walking outside with them hd650s?

i've heard great things about ibasso portables, tho.

 

[el_oh_el]

shyt ...those are rated at 300 ohms. Yea you definitely need an amp. I dont have experience with them though as I chose to get a lower
Ω rated headphone

 

[Theabbot]

wait, why portable? u telling me walking outside with them hd650s?

i've heard great things about ibasso portables, tho.

Nah.... Just for use around the house. Outside of the house I throw on a pair of AT50's.

 

[Theabbot]

shyt ...those are rated at 300 ohms. Yea you definitely need an amp. I dont have experience with them though as I chose to get a lower
Ω rated headphone

I actually have an amp, a fiio e12. I figure if two out of three components are decent, a good source would make it even better. Up till now I've been using my iPhone with a 3.5mm to the amp.