Travel Setup

What’s everyone’s travel setup? We’ve been stuck in our homes for the past couple of months, so we’ve all most likely fantasized about traveling to some tropical island during the summer when the pandemic subsides. What gear would you bring, both for during and after the trip there? How will you ensure none of it breaks during transportation?

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I really enjoy the Koss Porta Pro through a Dragonfly Cobalt. It’s a very compact, and enjoyable listen.

You can buy a semi-hard case for the Porta Pros, or if you purchase one of the anniversary editions they include a nice case that fits the headphones and the DFC.

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I travel a lot for business (or rather, I did before lockdown) and what I take depends on the length of the flight and the duration of the stay where I am going (anything between 1 night and 5 weeks, depending on the project).

My indispensable items (audio/video related) are:

  • Laptop
  • Tablet
  • Phone
  • Koss PortaPros (these have become my default conference headset and they sound great for general listening from all of the above).
  • Set of IEMs (which ones depends on the flavour at the time).
  • Shanling M0 (doubles as a DAC from my PC when needed).
  • MPOW H12

If my stay will be between one and two weeks, I add to the above:

  • Shanling M2X
  • An extra set of IEMs
  • JBL Charge 3
  • GoPro style camera

If my stay will be more than a couple of weeks, I add to the above:

  • AT M40x
  • Electric Ukulele or Short Scale Bass guitar
  • Zoom multieffects pedal

In addition to all that, I also have a bunch of IT related stuff, such as wireless mouse, external hard drives, DSLR camera etc.

How do I make sure it doesn’t break? I can’t. I do my best to pack sensibly (20 years of air travel teaches you a few tricks) but it is still never certain everything will arrive in one piece :wink:

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I used to take my laptop with gigs of music files, an external DAC, speakers with a small subwoofer, etc.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve downsized - my current “rig” consists of a small Bluetooth speaker (which I VERY rarely use and usually just stays in my suitcase) and my iPhone + Audeze LCD-i3 earphones. That’s it.

99% of what I want to listen to is on either Tidal or Roon, so I just stream what I want to listen to (though I do cache some of it beforehand for 12+ hour flights).

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Your post just reminded me that I also take a JBL Charge 3 with me :smiley:

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Players/DAC

  • Hiby R6 pro
  • iPad Pro 12" (2018 version)
  • iFi xDSD

Headphones/IEMs:

  • Audeze LCD i4
  • Sony WH1000MX3
  • Shozy Form 1.1 (or the 1.4’s now) -
  • Tin T4 -

Depending on space / packing I may take:

  • Audeze LCD-1
  • Sennheiser Momentum
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Pictures of your portable rig this probably more of a daily carry thing, but could be helpful for you to see pics. :slight_smile:

Last time I went on travel, I just carried around ANC Headphones, galaxy buds, my favorite IEMs, and a DAP.

The last time I brought a real headphone, I brought HD600 since its super light and relatively small.

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I’ve learned to pare my possessions down to the minimum when traveling, as the daily routine is dominated by work or experiencing new stuff (play). With most pleasure travel I run myself ragged so audio always becomes a non-primary consideration. If planning to be in a new location for more than a couple weeks…that blends into relocation and depends on the space and time available.

When carrying significant luggage and not expecting much activity on the other end:

Sony WH-1000XM2 (old generation, but fine for the use case) - Active noise canceling headphones with Bluetooth from an Apple phone or tablet. I stuff the factory cable in the case for wired connections if needed.

When traveling light and expecting to carry luggage or a backpack:

Etymotic ER4XR with a cable into an iPad Mini. These are the most isolating IEMs I’ve ever used. The iPad Mini serves multi-duty for all audio, video, and information needs.

Bigger audiophile stuff:

As with @antdroid, I’d likely bring HD-600s because they are really compact for the quality they offer. They need a good amount of power to sound their best, so I’d bring a DAP or quasi-DAP like the Earstudio ES100, Fiio BTR5, etc.

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Upvote for the JBL Charge 3. I also bring the Chord Mojo/Poly and whichever pair of headphones are making me happy at the time.

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I’m enjoying my AK JR with the Campfire Audio Atlas IEMS.
It is absolutely wonderful and extremely compact. Portable audio has really come a long way.

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So so good!!! :slight_smile:

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My wife and decided to take a road trip to Michigan this week, and we’ve rented a lodge next to the Huron-Manistee National Forest. We’re in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbors. Perfect.

When I bought my BF2/Lyr 3 recently, I stuck my Oppo HA-2SE in a drawer, thinking it would never see the light of day again except in emergencies. But as I was packing, it occurred to me that I’d always used it on my desktop, even though it’s portable. So I threw it into a suitcase, along with my iPod Touch.

I’m sure there are better portable DACs and DAPs out there today, but honestly, I could care less. Sitting next to the river, listening to AAC files on my aged HA-2SE and iPod Touch through my Stellia is sheer heaven.

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It’s too bad Oppo stopped producing things in our hobby; I remember the excitement generated by the HA-2SE when it came out.

Enjoy the road trip (and nice photo)!

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Enjoy the music in that tranquil setting.

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That is a great set up, especially since those focal stellia’s are pretty easy to drive. :slight_smile:

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Very nice shot! Who needs headphones when you have the beautiful sound of nature.

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You could say we’re always traveling as we live aboard a continually cruising barge with no permeant mooring…

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Just out of curiosity, how are you driving them?

PS.: The 660S. :smile:

Looks like with an outboard motor? :wink:

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No it’s a wide beam barge on the Kennet & Avon canal UK…Power comes from 6 x 12v 110AH leisure batteries, backed up by an Isuzu 78bhp marine diesel engine running two alternators and 4 solar panels…240v is supplied by a Vetus 3KW inverter…pure sine wave so non of your dirty feeds :wink: …powers a non audiophile SONOS surround system and sound bar (no cables) and a Sony tv oh yeah we have WiFi too :open_mouth: not a bad life tbh we work hard play and listen hard :metal:

Ah but audio swag too :grinning:

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