The signature already has built in iematch. The diablo was purpose built for power. For iems, the signature is a better choice.
I assume that was the thinking by ifi.
For me, a single lightning to usb cable to signature and then a single cable to the headphone may still be too much bulk. I don’t typically have a pocket that can handle an idsd micro sized device. I am so not ready to sport a fanny pack at all times just for iems.
I just gave up on the dap thing for now until I gather more info. Turns out daps don’t support all aspects of Bluetooth.
Surprised it’s not in the top of the line as this seems like the most versatile and the top of the line for these mobile dac/amps. It does what most desktop dac/amps do, it is really nice. Thanks for the info. Think I still enjoy my full size headset more, that’s been my learning experience.
And it looks like the black nano has a ieMatch out with no adjustment. Good to know. And that’s what I hope people reading this will understand moving forward. What can these amp/dac’s do, what is needed and what can’t it do. If you want to use IEM’s with the Diablo, your most likely going to need the adapter. black label sounds like for IEM’s is the best option and without trying the nano, I couldn’t begin to tell you how it will work for your IEM.
Okay, I got to quit looking at this stuff. Watched a review where the ieMatch on the nano has higher resistance vs the normal output on the nano changing the tone of some IEM’s such as Campfire Andromeda and go figure, I have in hand the Solaris. I know your suppose to take stuff with a grain of salt until you can try it yourself but I have a sneaky suspicion this is true…
I just got one of the adapters and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the technical aspect and how it applies to different IEMs/sources too, because things are so variable it’s hard to gauge how it will affect sound overall.
A TLDR for how IEMatch works from our end…no dynamic range impact, as the difference from soft to loud sounds from the IEM is unchanged compared to a less efficient headphones. Only the sensitivity (and thus voltage needed to produce the same volume) has changed.
In some cases sensitive IEMs can be damaged (and so can your hearing!) by using them directly to a high-powered headphone amp (ie. without the iEMatch). For IEMs the Diablo should be set to Eco, which limits output to +/-7v.
Well, yeah, but isn’t the point of doing that you are bringing the full range into the usable audible range of the IEM? Maybe I misunderstood the tech note? So you can hear more of the bits?
The zen isn’t crazy sensitive, or stupidly efficient. So, if I run with -12 or -24db I should be increasing the volume on the amp. But it should have a blacker background and behave more like a slightly higher ohm headphone on the same amp?
Not many options with good BT. You can look into the M400 and xd-05 bal, but honestky, why not a dap? What part of bt are yoy missing kn the daps you are looking at?
??? I responded to your post specifically saying you are hunting for something with BT that isnt a dap with options with BT that arent daps and then asking clarification what features you want over BT because pretty well every dap in the past year has full 2-way BT5
