The n6ii r2r → 4.4 balanced to 3 pin xlr → burson soloist sounds like a magical portable/deskto combination to me.
Just, $1900 for only the dap… yuck.
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Just remember, the R01 has no line out!
The R2R implementation is apparently quite costly. So is the Titanium shell, I guess.
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Ugh, forgot about the line out. It isn’t an option on the 4.4mm side?
That saddens me.
There was no space because of the R2R implementation. They use 48 resistors power side in a tiny housing.
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In case you are still looking for input, try out one of the two Luxury & Precision DAC/AMPs called W1 and W2. I just got the latter which I connect via included lightning connector to my iPhone and can then plug in my IEMs either via 4.4mm or 3.5mm jack. The sound of the W2 streaming Apple Lossless is just amazing…
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The w2 actually can’t run at full power on the iPhone because of the iPhone’s power limitations.
I have already considered them. Since I like to drive hard to drive things with these mobile amps, that limitation will be problematic. I routinely run my qudelix full power internally and modulate with the iPhone volume. This works really well.
I was really excited when they came out. They even have one of my favorite dac chips. Everything with that cirrus chip (43198) has had sound I liked.
Unfortunately, I really need something with a battery.
Time for you to revisit Mojo/Poly now that Apple Music is offering lossless, works flawlessly via AirPlay. No wires except to your IEMs
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Don’t start that again. AAC. Airplay isn’t always great.
Besides, qudelix 5k is spectacular. Mojo doesn’t have things like crossfeed and peq as far as I know. (not hard requirements, but qudelix is working fantastically for any headphone it powers)
Next thing I am trying is another DAP.
Lossless Airplay, that is all I am saying.
Crossfeed is built into Apple Music, as is EQ.
I am simply sharing the update, thought it might be useful now that it is lossless. I guarantee the Mojo will drive a full size planar and/or dynamic a hell of a lot better.
This is new. How do you do this?
I will look it up later, not at home on my mac.
Also, qudelix is lossless when wired (24/96 max). Works great. You should try it. I am not sure anything else can play beatles music better given almost nothing out there has crossfeed to make them tolerable to listen to.
Tons of old music has instruments in one channel or the other. Crossfeed fixes that by mixing the channels to your preference (I keep a low level of crossfeed on at all times). Phonitor has it. There is a tube dac/amp that has it (can’t remember the name). Without crossfeed, there are songs I simply can not deal with on headphones. Some bowie. Some michael jackson. Thankfully, this is not a large portion of my music. If Apple has it, I am not aware of it.
Also, note on airplay: technically, it is limited to 16/44 (I think. I didn’t dive deep because it’s not a primary use case for me). Since I am not actually a lossless crazed person, this doesn’t actually matter to me. But, it is interesting. It will down sample the source to get there.
Fun times.
So I mistook cross feed for cross fade
Wired will give you more always, Mojo and all Chord gear is capable of 32/768 via USB.
I don’t need to try it, does not have the power or sonics I am looking for.
Hugo 2 is portable, also has built-in cross feed. If using Roon it has cross feed too.
Yes it is limited to this, you mentioned lossless before not HiRez. If you want HiRez, I only know of Roon and Audivarna able to do that, maybe Plex can too.
Sure. But it will still likely sound better over bluetooth than the mojo/poly will over bluetooth. Which is, of course, my primary use case.
Have you driven a sundara with the mojo?
Yes, yes, well aware of your primary use case. When it comes to Bluetooth I stick with my AirPods Pro and call it a day.
I do not have the Sundara, I have the LCD-2 and have used the Mojo with an older HiFiMan the HE560 V2.
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Having owned the airpods pro, powerbeats pro (airpod pro equivalent), airpods max and regular airpods (still have these, none of the others though), I honestly don’t know how you can “live with” any of their sound quality. not when the “normal” sound is either the lcd-2 or he560.
All those portable wireless headphones are the reason I didn’t get into portable audiophile sound sooner. Even without comparing them to the better options, I didn’t want them.
Once I experienced the BTR5 (and then later the qudelix which replaced the btr5) + a good IEM (blessing 2 dusk in my case), there was no going back. That’s why I didn’t keep the airpods max. I realized that they didn’t make me want to listen to music. They were great practically, good NC, pretty awesome at movies, and good phone calls. But, I would just “forget” to listen to music. It was just “blah” for that.
Some corrections, normal sound or 99% of my music listening is not through my AirPods Pro, they are through a combo of the ZMF Verite, LCD-2, or Senn HD650 all wired to a number of amps.
I use the airpods for calls, webex, or on the go. If I have a choice of wired connection, I always choose that over Bluetooth. That’s why I will still use the mojo/poly, I can wire up my IEMs, or the LCD and have a nice walk around the house or in-office system.
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I just seamlessly switch between calls and music with the qudelix. It is clipped to my collar and acts as mic for whatever headphones I am wearing. Right now I have my LSA HP-2 on while waiting for a phone call. Nothing to think about. Same would be true if I had my dunu zen on. (rare these days) Haven’t used the airpods for anything in quite a long time.
Even a DAP will “get in the way”. However, getting the phone out of the picture will reduce issues. The phone pauses the music all the damn time for no good reason. Not sure how I will do calls if a DAP ends up being the musical source.
Right now there is a bug with lossless downloads on apple that only allows the first 15 seconds of downloaded songs to play sometimes. So I deleted all the downloaded tracks and stream everything for now. Was driving me crazy (I thought the qudelix 5k was dying. but nope, apple just messed up).
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Fwiw, the P6 Pro and HM1000 both have true LO if you want portable r2r that also works as a desktop dac
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