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Primarily, this forum is dedicated to dedicated PC audio hardware, but I've been finding new lease on portable amps/DAC's recently. This year, I've been pretty interested in what ALO Audio have put out for the headphone world and I hope someday, they implement their tight designs in small power amps. The spec is pretty 'about': Input: USB, 3,5mm stereo mini, analogue RCA Output: 6,3mm stereo headphone plug, 3,5mm stereo mini plug Valves: 61J compatible valves Battery run time: ~8-10 hours Compatible impedance range: 8-600Ω (but I found the best match is 50-600Ω) I live in Japan, so a power-hungry power amp and large speakers to go with my music server are right out. In fact, my current home system is none other than the compact CEntrance DACmini PX, which does a more than respectable job of pushing speakers, and is perfect with headphones. Surprisingly, the Pan Am, a mains or battery or wall wart powered amp that comes rings in at less than 800$ with all the necessary bits: battery module (Passport) and Pan Am amp, actually pushes my DT880 600Ω to much much higher levels of performance (output power) than the DACmini does. I've detailed my findings here and am interested in knowing how others are getting on with this amp. Please speak up as I am keen on finding brothers and sisters here.

I'm a newbie (first post!), so pardon me if this has been asked or if I break blogtiquette... Looking for a travel DAC/Amp for IPhone 5 and either headphones du jour (I have HD800, Polks, etymotics, and Ultimate Ears[and Stax, though I sure I won't travel with that behemoth). I prefer a transparent, analytical, precise sound, though something with plenty of low end oomph and high end openness and subtlety. Was considering Fostex, but then saw the new ALO International portable DAC/Amp with digital out for iPhone/iPod. Any experience with either of these would be appreciated, particularly comparison experience. Any other truly portable, battery-powered units that will input true digital from an iPhone? Much appreciated!