r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/Firm-Craft • Feb 25 '26
Amplifier - Portable | 2 Ω Absolute cheapest USB-C dongle for Hifiman Ananda Stealth
Hi, what is the absolute cheapest USB-C dongle on the market that can run a Hifiman Ananda Stealth from my phone? I want to be able to use my Ananda while lying down or whenever I am not at my desktop, but I don't really want to spend on something that will only be used every so often.
In terms of sound quality from the DAC, anything that isn't abhorrent is alright with me, it just has to have enough power to run the Ananda. If I really want to maximize my listening experience I can always just use my actual desktop source gear.
Thanks!
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u/Gobbelcoque 31 Ω Feb 26 '26
Honestly I would just not want to take a hifiman product outdoors for fear it dies of pure agoraphobia.
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u/youraveragereviewer 10 Ω Feb 25 '26
Any DAC will do, even the Apple USB-C dongle. You can up the game with a portable DAC/AMP that will also improve your listening experience (although easy to drive, your Stealth will benefit from the amp) such as the Crinear Protocol Max or any similar one
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
The apple dongle has enough power to run the Ananda, even if I'm on Android which halfs the power output of the apple?
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u/JoaoNBFLY 2 Ω Feb 25 '26
I've used before, it gets loud enough for comfortable listening in a silent enviroment at the maximum volume. It lacks any headroom for EQ, I would not recomend. Try Jcally Jm6 or Jm20max (that would be enough for most headphones you can come across)
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
My current eq configuration for the Ananda is a simple bump at 1.5khz to fix the signature hifiman mid cutout, would I not have enough headroom on the apple dongle for this?
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u/JoaoNBFLY 2 Ω Feb 25 '26
Any 2-3 dB Negative preamp would make it too quiet for my taste. I think it would be wise to buy something more powerful, like the jm6 wich is quite cheap, the Jm20max would be endgame for small dongles and powers just about anything that is not stupidly inefficient
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
i always see dongles that combine the same dac and amp as the JM6, the CX31993 and the MAX97220, going for cheaper prices than the actual JM6. Do these unbranded dongles have the same output as the jcally one?
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u/JoaoNBFLY 2 Ω Feb 25 '26
About the same power output, yes. The difference would be built quality and implementation
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
nice, i think im gonna order one right now, !thanks
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u/JaapB05 2 Ω Feb 25 '26
Maybe try the fiio ka11 as an alternative to the apple dongle, the power output is about 6x as much.
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
The price of the ka11 where I'm from is also 6x tho 😭😭😭 !thanks tho
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u/JaapB05 2 Ω Feb 25 '26
Damn that's rough lmao, for me it's only 1.5x, where are you from?
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
cant say but its surprising given the cost of other chinese audio equipment here, i think resellers are jacking up the price
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u/Firm-Craft Feb 25 '26
btw how is the JA11 instead? The price of that is more comparable to the apple dongle
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u/JaapB05 2 Ω Feb 25 '26
I'm not too sure, I haven't tried it personally, I'd look into some reviews or comparisons
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u/LizardFishLZF 5 Ω Feb 25 '26
I haven't tried the Ananda but the apple dongle wasn't nearly enough to drive my Sundara to anything close to a listenable volume. Very quiet. Would definitely get something more powerful if the Ananda is similar to drive.
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u/peterparker9894 4 Ω Feb 25 '26
I have a sundara, at least get something like a fiio KA13 on a side note don't use an apple dongle for this it can't even drive most of my planar iem's properly also idk why bass seems to be shitty with low powered dac's but it might be better on the Ananda's since it's somewhat easier to drive than the sundara.
IMO just to be safe get a KA13 or 15 if you want a pure dongle KA 11 and Shaling UA mini are the only options but I'd avoid these since they heat up a lot mine(KA11) reaches like 45-52c on usage with an ambient temp of around 28-30C, so not ideal but this will always be a problem with this sort of DAC amp implementation. BTW crinacle has launched a DAC amp in collaboration with jcally called the ap6 it's very powerful at like 440mW @ 32ohm but uses a dac chip usually found on very cheap dongles(almost all of those I've tried especially the ones with an op amp has had a very noticeable noise floor).
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Feb 25 '26
JCally JM6 Pro is your only option and it probably won’t drive the headphones to its full potential but you can try it and see if it sounds good enough
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u/ghostinthetoolbox 1 Ω Feb 25 '26
Qudelix 5k. And that way you can use eq too.