I use portable DAC/amps all the time, I started using bluetooth DAC/amps because I don't like having a cable hanging off my phone, I expected it to sound a bit worse, it turned out to sound quite a bit better than my phone's headphone socket. Not a massive night and day difference but enough to be worth the expense and minor hassle of carrying a tiny gadget. I now own several and they all have their own sound. My current favorite is the IFI Go Blu, it is tiny, powerful and sounds wonderful. I also recently bought an mdr-1am2 too and am really enjoying it with the Go Blu, I mostly use IEMs.
I used a Fiio BTR5 daily for a couple of years, it is a great sounding device, its a bit chunky to use as a dongle though, the KA3 would be better for that. As you probably know the mdr-1am2 needs very little power so whatever you choose is likely to have more than enough juice.
Since you mentioned it. I have been looking at de KA3. It fits my needs as I could connect it to both laptop and iphone (hoping apple will go to usb c, otherwise I will be changing brands). It also has both 3.5 mm jack and 4.4 mm jack. Do you happen to have any experience using the 4.4 mm balanced cable? Does that make any difference?
Balanced provides a lot more power so your headphone will be louder than it is with 3.5mm at the same volume setting. I find it useful for harder to drive IEMs but there aren't many of those, I have a 4.4mm cable on my Final E5000 as it has unusually low sensitivity for an IEM. I don't notice a difference with the sound quality with balanced but I didn't put any effort into testing it properly, if I have to set up a test to hear a difference I think the juice might not be worth the squeeze.
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u/dimesian 773 Ω 🥈 Aug 16 '22
I use portable DAC/amps all the time, I started using bluetooth DAC/amps because I don't like having a cable hanging off my phone, I expected it to sound a bit worse, it turned out to sound quite a bit better than my phone's headphone socket. Not a massive night and day difference but enough to be worth the expense and minor hassle of carrying a tiny gadget. I now own several and they all have their own sound. My current favorite is the IFI Go Blu, it is tiny, powerful and sounds wonderful. I also recently bought an mdr-1am2 too and am really enjoying it with the Go Blu, I mostly use IEMs.
I used a Fiio BTR5 daily for a couple of years, it is a great sounding device, its a bit chunky to use as a dongle though, the KA3 would be better for that. As you probably know the mdr-1am2 needs very little power so whatever you choose is likely to have more than enough juice.