DAP LOD True Line Out For The External Amplifier

DAP stands for Digital Audio Player is quite hype since the born of the iPod. It is quite long time and I guess the Hi-Res audio label also make the popularity of the DAP become more floating at the surface right now. The DAP doesn't dead yet, even for next few years, I am pretty sure they have their own market. It is simply the sound quality cannot compare to any smartphones right now. Imagine the electrical noise effect to the bad sound is less occurs you find in the dedicated music player like DAP comparing to smartphones. Then how you listen to the DAP is simply connect directly to the headphones. It is very straight forward and nothing special about that. But you know that not every listener enjoy what comes from the box. They figure it out how to maximize the performance and the number one upgrade is adding an external amplifier.

The wrong and very easy method to connect the DAP to the external amplifier is by using the headphones out from the DAP directly to the amplifier using 3.5 mm jack to RCA cable. This is wrong not by means how to connect it, but technically the headphones output is not intended to drive high impedance amplifier. The simple explanation is your headphones impedance is variate from the very small 16 ohm up to 300 ohm. 300 ohm in headphones considerably high impedance but in the amplifier is too small. Normal impedance solid state amplifier is started in 10 kilo ohm up to 50 kilo ohm and going to tube amplifier, it is start in 100 kilo ohm up to 500 kilo ohm. Do this matters? The answer is definitely matters in sound quality. Unmatched impedance sucks out the live of the music. If you DIY'ers for quite long time and make your own amplifier, then you know how the sound difference only because wrong calculation in the input volume potentiometer value.

The next explanation why headphones jack DAP will not sound better than DAP LOD is because there is one step the signal passes which contribute a lot of sound degradation. It is the internal DAP amplifier itself. I really notice this Line Out dock (LOD) is a true audio signal line output when I got this 30 pin iPod adapter from Fiio many years ago. I using it for quite some time and made an A-B testing. I could't more happier listen the iPod connect either to portable amplifier like CMOY or my home audio system with this LOD, and of course with great sound quality.

See the difference whenever I connect the 30 pin adapter to this iPod touch, the volume bar is missing. This by means, the Fiio adapter give a signal information to the iPod controller to re-route the output to the LOD.

To understand this, I make a draw for common steps inside most DAP. You can see the controller will give instruction to the DAC to pass the output to LOD, compares to the headphones output which has many steps ahead before going to the external amplifier.

Latest DAP like Fiio, iBasso, or Astell & Kern has provide dedicated line output jack on their device besides the headphones out. I have iBasso DX-50 which have it all and you can read it again here. My Sony NW-A55 which has their proprietary connector just like an iPod also can be connected to the external amplifier using LOD from Oyaide. But you should make it by your own instead.

You will notice once I attach the Oyaide LOD to Sony DAP, the volume control is missing. Same like the iPod above, this method gives the DAP output to true line out.

I wish after you reading this post, you will dig out your DAP and find the possibility to get the true line out and connect it to the external amplifier rather using the headphones output directly. Note should be taken that not all DAP has this LOD option and if so, you have you stick to their headphones out instead.

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