What is the Most powerful DAC/HP combo for iPhone

[babar]

Hi,

I’ve been looking for some time for the most powerful dongle that would work with an iPhone.

I looked on rankings but generally they don’t take into account if it works with an iPhone. I have the mojo2 but it’s not very practical unless I’m fairly stationary (for me) and it comes with it share of quirks.

Then other stuff in rankings pops up like the Diablo which isn’t portable but powerful.

So power would be the first and then sound quality and usability and finally looks.

There are some new ones out there and if any one can share names pf what to consider or their experience I’d find that mighty helpful. I have an iPhone 14.

Thanks so much.

 

[staticV3]

Then other stuff in rankings pops up like the Diablo which isn’t portable but powerful.

The Diablo's specs are borderline made up. Supposedly capable of 5W at 32Ω, yet in practice it can only do 0.6W: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/ifi-idsd-diablo/

So power would be the first and then sound quality and usability and finally looks.

Power depends on impedance.
Some dongles excel at driving high impedance headphones, others can output tons of current for driving low impedance planar headphones for example.
There is not one dongle that is best across the entire impedance spectrum.

Keeping that in mind, what sort of impedances are you looking to drive?

 

[babar]

Thanks Static.

So I’m looking to drive something along the lines of the expanse in a pinch. I have an rs8 coupled with a c9. But if i can’t take all the kit with me is there a dongle which could suffice?

 

[staticV3]

So I’m looking to drive something along the lines of the expanse in a pinch

For the Expanse, the E1DA 9038S is the most powerful dongle that I know. You can only use balanced headphones with it though. And no plugging the dongle into external Amps.

Here's a list of Lightning to Type-C cables that are confirmed working on the iPhone 14 + 9038S: Link

 

[babar]

Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

 

[Seiko]

For the Expanse, the E1DA 9038S is the most powerful dongle that I know. You can only use balanced headphones with it though. And no plugging the dongle into external Amps.

Here's a list of Lightning to Type-C cables that are confirmed working on the iPhone 14 + 9038S: Link

Hello! Didn’t want to make a new thread and all the jargon is really difficult to grasp for me, I wantes to ask you directly here for any recommendations for the HD6XX? Since the one you recommended only works for balanced.

Thank you!!

 

[babar]

For the Expanse, the E1DA 9038S is the most powerful dongle that I know. You can only use balanced headphones with it though. And no plugging the dongle into external Amps.

Here's a list of Lightning to Type-C cables that are confirmed working on the iPhone 14 + 9038S: Link

how does the E1DA 9038S compare with the LuxuryPrecision W4 or the Cayin RU7? particularly if looking to pair on the fly with an Expanse.
are they more powerful than the E1DA 9038S? is one of them much more than the other?

 

[Dunring]

I've got a Sound blaster X1 and it auto detects ohm rating so over 150ohm it outputs 2.4 volts. Even the DT880 600ohm gets loud enough and in stereo mode it sounds good and works on anything including Linux mint.
Amazon has them for $50 on sale. For low ohm headphones like planars it's not ideal though, since you can't manually adjust the power and something like an 18ohm planar wouldn't get enough power. If they just put in a manual setting instead of auto detect, it would be much more useable.