eaterofthesoil t1_je9519n wrote on March 30, 2023 at 9:32 AM

Reply to comment by leftlanespawncamper in Hi guys! This community seems really interesting. Could someone give me a breakdown of what kind of things you do dofferently woth headphones and some popular budget picks? by blurpree

wait i was just thinking that apple dongle is a DAC, and if i use apple dongle instead of my embedded one, it would improve the sound quality.

leftlanespawncamper t1_jebizps wrote on March 30, 2023 at 8:28 PM

It's actually a full-on DAC/amp in an itty-bitty dongle package. It almost certainly will send a cleaner signal, which you'll hear as a lower noise floor.

Just getting into the hobby, though? It's not a place I'd put money. I think if you had a $100 budget, you'd be better off with a set of $80 Arias plugged straight into your phone's headphone jack than a set of $20 Holas plugged into a $80 portable dac/amp. Where hardware is concerned, the closer to your ears the more important it is.

eaterofthesoil t1_jee55o5 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 11:02 AM

thanks.