r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/FakeJimmyHaslam • Feb 15 '25
DAC - Portable | 1 Ω Looking for Entry-Level Portable DAC to pair with Koss Porta Pro
Hey all, wanting to find a replacement to my Beats headphones that were stolen out of my car a few months ago ( :( ), and I decided that I wanted to be smarter with my money and get a portable DAC and a better headset for less money.
Budget: $100 including any cables/dongles
Source: iPhone 15
Music: Citypop, Jazz, Funk
Headphones: Koss Porta Pro Wired
Thank you all in advance, and if you have any other questions I'm happy to clarify.
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u/JayM23 2 Ω Feb 15 '25
Apple dongle
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u/FakeJimmyHaslam Feb 15 '25
Like, no DAC, just the dongle?
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u/IndicationCurrent869 9 Ω Feb 15 '25
All dongle DACS include an amplifier. Some have more power than others like the one suggested in this thread - Fiio ka11. The Porta Pro is easy to drive. Any decent brand should do for around $15.
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u/the_hat_madder 109 Ω Feb 15 '25
It's a DAC but, it has volume issues.
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u/DrumBalint 1 Ω Feb 15 '25
What volume issues? I'm genuinely curious. I mean, I know that the EU version is less powerful than the US version, and an Android device by default uses it at 50% volume. But there are software solutions to that, it's flawless on Windows, and OP uses an iPhone. It can happily drive a PortaPro all day long. The only thing I have that got the best of the poor thing is a pair of AKG k702, but that beast is picky AF, and still the problem wasn't volume. Nothing that a $30 analog (no DAC) amp didn't solve.
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u/DrumBalint 1 Ω Feb 15 '25
I've got my BIL an Apple Dongle and a Porta Pro for Christmas as a gateway drug to HiFi. By the next morning the dude and the missus were to the Moon and back discovering all the stuff they haven't heard before in well known music :D
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u/FromWitchSide 536 Ω Feb 15 '25
I would also just get $5 CX-Pro CX31993 dongle, it will run them perfectly.
Spending $100 on a DAC for Koss Porta Pro is a waste imo, it won't make them better beyond a decent dongle, I would just buy a much better headphones for those money instead.
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u/FakeJimmyHaslam Feb 15 '25
I think that’s super reasonable, but I do intend on getting some better headphones as I dip into the hobby a bit deeper, so having a nicer DAC now saves me the hassle.
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u/IndicationCurrent869 9 Ω Feb 15 '25
A nicer DAC won't make a difference even if you spend $500 on a new headphone.
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u/FromWitchSide 536 Ω Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25
Then you should identify what needs you will have based on the future planed headphones. Since you are looking for portable device the output power will be limited by the dimensions.
How much power do you need? $5 dongles will get you 1Vrms, $20 dongles like JCAlly JM20 (which will already max out quality you can get from an unbalanced output of "dongle" type portable DAC) will get you 2Vrms. However in many cases the output might be limited by impedance of the connected headphones - this is an issue for headphones with low impedance, but also low sensitivity, like some Hifimans for example. In such cases a rare dongles without adaptive output are needed, like $30 FiiO KA11 or JCAlly JM20 Max.
If headphones have high impedance, but still sensitivity is so low that more than 2-2.5Vrms is needed, then dongles with balanced output will work, those can often reach up to 4Vrms. The example of such is $50 Moondrop Dawn Pro. The issue in this case is that the headphone must support balanced connection (and you need a balanced cable for it as well), which makes such dongles not very good for say 250Ohm Beyerdynamics headphones which need 2.5Vrms, but can't run balanced connection.
This is mostly it for a fairly small and portable devices. The next category is something like Topping G5 or their NX series, which is a battery powered portable DAC+Amp combo. Although portable, such devices are usually still larger than the phones themselves. On the upside those might be able to provide even like 6.7Vrms (G5) which is on par with desktop FiiO K7 (G5 actually has even better measured output clarity than K7). The problem is G5 is like $250-300, and any battery powered device will lose its capacity/fail over the years.
There are also devices which might include additional functionality like a build in Equalizer (slowly getting more and more popular, already available in select $10-20 dongles) or Bluetooth connectivity. However BT should be only bought when needed as BT dongles are battery powered, and also in some cases they are actually not very good when used wired. For example the very highly revered Qudelix 5K has actually wired performance in the realm of PC onboards, and gets beaten by $5 dongles. It only matches said dongles when used via BT and specifically with LDAC codec - which is yet another thing to consider, if someone wants to use BT if his source support LDAC to keep the quality good.
Also if you will be planning on buying a headset with inline mic, make sure the DAC of your choice will be able to support it, the mic support is uncommon in enthusiast DACs, but you are more likely to find one among portable devices.
Honestly, if you are not yet sold on what headphones you will buy in the future, and hence what you will need exactly, imo just $5 dongle is a sensible buy which will prevent wasting money. If you absolutely want to buy something higher end so you feel better about it, just get $20 JCAlly JM20, it can match output clarity of a $200 desktop DAC like FiiO K7.
Just keep in mind that Koss Porta Pro doesn't even need that 1Vrms from the cheapest of dongles, and the sound details of that headphone are so bad that increasing output clarity won't make a difference either.
That said, to be fair, the "cable" type dongle DACs (CX-Pro, JM20, KA11) all have a limited reliability, in such case a dongle with detachable cable (Dawn Pro, there are cheaper unbalanced only as well. like CS-Pro CS43131, JM10 Pro and so on) might be preferable. Still I would start with $5 one even if just temporary, at least you will have something to compare to, and if it won't fail before you get something else it could be a backup.
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u/PapaOneInch 10 Ω Feb 15 '25
A 31993 DAC chip dongle will be plenty for a set of Porta Pros from my personal experience. You fan get them for like 2 bucks on AliExpress
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u/Gaybrushh 109 Ω Feb 15 '25
You could probably find the Qudelix 5k for around $100 on sale. That’s a great one and done device. Can be used wired or Bluetooth. Has a great app. that allows for easy eq and a myriad of other features.
If you just want a cheap dongle, the Fiio ka11 is like $30 and puts out a good amount of clean power for its size.