What would be a good portable Dac/Amp to use with my HD6xx and Sony Xperia 1 V cell phone?
I am new to this hobby. I purchased a HD6XX and plan to use it with my Sony Xperia 1 V cell phone, that has a 3.5mm jack. I was wondering if I needed a portable dac/amp or just a portable amp and if so what would one recommend? Any assistance one could provide, would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards, Haz
Mar 7, 2024
It's rare these days that a product comes in and really impresses me, but I think the X7 is a fantastic swiss army knife that gives you so many options. When I started in the hobby, I got myself an O2/ODAC combo. It was a noticeable improvement and I was pretty satisfied for a while.
But then I went deeper down the audio hole and picked up a pair of active speakers, then a pair of passive speakers. I bought some Bluetooth headphones. I wanted to play with USB Host and plug my phone/tablet in to a system. I wanted to try EQ settings to see what I liked and disliked.
Here's where the X7 kills it. Right now, you might not need some of the features that the X7 has. You may never use some of the features. But it's such a good feeling of security knowing that if you do buy something new, you don't have to buy anything crazy to make it work. The Sound Blaster's got you.
I tried a couple headphones out of the X7 - Senn PC350 SE, AKG K7XX, Senn HD 800. So long as you're not expecting Schiit Rag/Yggy level performance, you'll be impressed. Yes, I would recommend this as a pairing with the K7XX. Even more so if you have any of the other use cases - pick it up with an Antlion Modmic and it accepts mic-in, if you've got speakers to plug in, etc.
At the lowest price point, I give this one a really big two thumbs up. Also, I don't care what anyone says - the headphone stand is a stroke of genius.
Earfonia's got a crazy detailed review on Head-Fi, check it out: http://www.head-fi.org/t/756102/creative-sound-blaster-x7-detailed-review-impressions
Based on what I've read, I think it's an attractive option (especially at the $299 price point) and this jack of all trades should serve many people well. But I don't want to waste my money if it's a noticeable step down from what I currently have. I'll probably never use the passive speaker amp section, so I'd be evaluating this from a headphone/DAC/active speaker standpoint only.
Thanks for the thoughtful question. The DACmini is another good choice for an all-in-one unit, and you can't really go wrong with a Schiit stack from a price to performance perspective either.
Although I've heard all 3 units, I haven't compared them side-by-side so I can't give a valid opinion. I don't think you'll be disappointed at how the X7 fares, but it really comes down to a value perspective considering you already own the DACmini.
"Do I need another amp/DAC combo?" If you're looking to pick up another one for office use or work, I think the X7 is a pretty safe bet at the price. But if you're looking at replacing your current unit, if you're not going to be using a lot of the features the X7 has then I don't think you'll find a substantial enough improvement to justify the purchase.
I think it's a good pairing for your headphones, Galaxy S5, and gaming, but the biggest things you'll benefit from are headphone surround processing and USB Host mode for your phone, and the Android app to adjust settings. With the ADG1, I'd recommend turning off Crystalizer, maybe EQ-ing down the treble a bit or eventually explore op-amp rolling, Creative's amps have a house sound I'd describe as a smidge bright (possibly to balance the darker sound of their full size headphones?). I often use my X7 with my AKG K612 with no EQ/flat, so I wouldn't say it's a problem area, but for long sessions with the ADG1 you might be more comfortable taking advantage of a little EQ.