[audionoob666]

Hey All!

An audio newbie here. Recently got the ATH-MSR7b headphones from a friend and was impressed with the sound even without any additional gear - using a basic apple 3.5 to lighting or simply plugging into an output on a motherboard.

So I wanted to ask if I can actually get a better sound out of this piece by buying something along the lines of a portable DAC.

I’m intending to use this with my iPhone 13 Pro Max on the go, so my choice pretty much comes down to DACs.

I’m quite limited on a budget, and willing to buy from the known retailer here, so the following options are available (multiple models listed below, separated by a slash:
- AudioQuest Dragonfly - Black / Red
- Astell&Kern AK - HC2 / HC3 / HC4
- FiiO - Q11 /

 

[dunring]

The Tanchjim Space is an upgrade for $89 and the Sound blaster X1 as well. We have the Apple and I've had the other two a few times. The kingpin is the Topping G5 I have which trades blows with any desktop setup. It's 10 ounces to carry though and best in a laptop bag.

 

[Thomasr]

ATH-MSR7b is incredibly easy to drive, so if you're finding it already sounds good out of your iPhone, it's not likely to scale much with a higher end DAC/amp.