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
This amp is good. It's definitely captured my attention. Seems to work with a variety of headphones, HD800, LCD2C, HD650K, etc. Feeding the the balanced inputs and using the balanced outs. Those who want a bassier or warm sound should look elsewhere. I wouldn't call it lean. It hits all the low notes spectacularly. Treble is accurate yet smooth. Tonal balance and articulation is like the Benchmark AHB2 power amp (although I really hate to make this comparison). However, microdynamics, involvement factor, and openness are far superior (FWIW, I was not a fan of the AHB2) and more along the lines of the Hegel H2, which also uses the feed forward error correction technology. (I'm sure THX patented a specific implementation of it, so Hegel's implementation might be slightly different.) The question is how good is it? I will need to line up other amps for direct comparison. TBC.
Jot Comparison: Gave both amp 24 hours - left on. Used modded HD800 (vader modded) and modded HD650 (KISS modded) and LCD2C (stock). I'd say the THX AAA and Jot are in the same class. Both amps sound extremely similar. I know the Jot measures fantastically (see both mine and @atomicbob's measurements in the appropriate sections here), and I am sure the THX AAA measures fantastically too (I don't have time this week to confirm). Now keeping in mind that both amps sound closer to each other than not, and that the Jot seems revised from the original, here are the differences:
- Jot is slightly thicker, warmer, and full bodied than THX AAA
- Jot treble is smoother than THX AAA
- THX AAA treble has just a slight sense brittleness (HD800) or rasp (LCD2C), not surprising given how these headphones measure
- THX AAA has more depth in the stage front to back, most noticeable on HD800, least noticeable on LCD2C.
- Jot stage depth is fairly flat
- Jot bass has more impact and sustain
- Jot seems a tad slower (Jot isn't a slow amp by any means)
- THX AAA has transients which are a tad faster and crisper
- Both are equally resolving and very good at picking up microdetail
- THX AAA costs $50 less than Jot
Again, keep in mind that differences are not huge and it took me a bit of back and forth to note the differences. Comparisons were made with Jot on high gain and THX AAA on medium gain. Gain seemed high on the THX AAA, to get equivalent spot on the volume knob to Jot on high gain, I had to set the THX AAA to lowest gain setting. This is a proto, so I am not sure of what is going on without measuring.lol
To answer your original question about the Jot vs Gilmore, I've only listened to the Jot with the HD6XX and I've never liked it. I've also listened to the GSX mk2 but never their lower end stuff. I think the Jot sounds very good for the price but I cannot stand the treble glare. Even the similarly priced ifi iCan SE is a superior amp in some ways, at least I can listen to it without getting a headache.
Ah, if you are saying "anti-science" and going on an anti-Schiit rant, you have just outed yourself as a member of ASR, one of the nastiest and most ill-informed audio forums around.
So so let me just say, dude, you are definitely not helping your point by how you are saying what you are saying. My advice is to stay, as your name implies, frosty...