Encore mDAC Headphone Amp 96kHz USB DAC Silver

A really good device with superior vocal presentation and musicality.Pros:- First, as many around the web pointed out, this has a totally dark background. No hiss. No hiss even when using my most sensitive IEMs. But I recommend using with less-sensitive IEM or full headphones to get the dac's full benefits.- Never picks up beeping (beep beep beeep) signal from 3g phone antenna common in cheaper (or even some expensive) dacs and amp. Does not get any signal noise from my phone at all. I was surprised. A good sign of good of its engineering.- Separate USB for data and power means you can charge while using with your phone. Hook up to a power bank and you will play music for as long as your phone and powerank has battery.- This is an async DAC, in theory less jitter than synchronous dacs. In async, phone CPU is relieved from processing clock-timing and the DAC does that vs synchronous dac.- With my headphones, does not sound digital at all, it has a very analog tone. Not as super-detailed sounding as some so-called digital-sounding dacs but musically the analog sound is a superior signature and an overall good trade off.- For me, its sound signature means that music such as orchestra or live recordings you really feel the atmosphere of the concert hall or stage in the quality of the sound.- Great sound-stage, Good details and Good clarity. Great for very bright headphones as it smooths harshness of otherwise harsh tracks.- One of the strongest point for me is the vocals. Even on bright headsets female vocals sounds very smooth and nice and no simblace (harshness at the end of 'ssshhh', 'thhh' and 'sss' vocal sounds) at all even with a mdr-v6 or a grado.- Volume control. I was sceptical at first but now I think buttons are superior to analog volume knobs for a portable dac. This is better than most analog pots because I get zero channel imbalance and no image shift at any sound level. Advantage of buttons is no scratchy noise will ever develop common to cheaper analog vol pots. You have 2 ways of controlling volume: hold down button in either direction for really fine smooth vol control or press once for a larger but still smooth db jump.- It is a beauty. Just look at it, design lines, all-aluminium, brush aliminum. Flat buttons. Hard to find me a better looking portable dac.Cons:- The shape is weird and awkward for the pocket.- No digital display to show volume, sample rate, etc.- Internal battery is small and rated to play up to 6-hours. But you can charge it while in use.- Its "analog" sound signature rounds-off some details at the highs but not a bad trade-off for its better overall musicality and superior vocal presentation.-Higher output impedance means to appreciate you must use full cans or not too sensitive IEMs.- Its warm sound signature and analog sound is not for all ears or headsets.

Wonderful little unit! I use it when I am traveling and it performs its task very well. All of my files sound better than through my phone (LGG2), and my phone sounds pretty good as a stand alone. Well worth the money if you like listening on the go! Recommended.

It is so good sound compared to its price.

After a bit of use, maybe be warming up, I hear pop sizzle sounds. I'm using high impedance headphones, so perhaps that has something to do with it.

Clear improvement over iPhone I build electronics. In fact I would consider it music now. Good timing. Excellent value

Sounds great and is cheap. Portable. All I could ask for.Here's a bit of in-depth about this product.It has a headphones out, no SPDIF out, a simple array of buttons and is battery powered with two ports at the back. One port is for charging only and one seems to charge the device and hook up to a device at the same time. I use this with a phone charger I have from an old LG.Sound is very clean and detailed. I'd buy this in a heartbeat over the comparatively similar Fiio E10k that has too much bass in my opinion. No 1/4" jack which bothers me a bit but that's not something an adapter can't fix. Would still like to see a revision with a 1/4".Overall, it's great for the price and I'd wholly recommend it. I got mine in the black version off of some sketchy site for about $40 more and it was still worth the money and 3 week shipping that went along with it so for $55 this is a steal.