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Not everyone is down with offshoring their portable music playback to an Astell&Kern, HifiMan or Fiio DAP. Some 'philes want their smartphone to hold fast to tune spinner. Moreover Spotify streamers (and the like) have no choice but to keep things under iOS (or Android) cover. Officially digital audio streams can only be extracted from an iPhone after licensing approval from Apple. Money has to be paid and paperwork completed.


Midway through 2013 iOS sprang an unofficial leak: forum chatter revealed portable DACs from numerous manufacturers to be talking turkey over Lightning connector cables to iOS 7-carpeted iPhones. Older 30-pin connecting models weren't left out of the picture. With CCK clicked into place my iPhone 4 surrendered its digital goods to the lassoed HRT. To the best of my knowledge this feature isn't officially documented or supported by HRT yet it worked flawlessly, easily besting the sound of the iPhone's onboard headphone output (which is far from terrible).

The Resonessence Labs Herus worked similarly, sounding tonally richer and meatier as well as offering superior low frequency horsepower. But there was to be a catch. The iPhone refused the jump with the Herus in the saddle at the 90% volume marker. Pushing volumes to near maximum, iOS 7 pulled the pin on the Herus, reporting too great a power draw via an onscreen badge alert after which music flipped back to squeaking from the iPhone's in-built speakers. I'd peg the Herus as sonically superior to the HRT when it comes to a midtown computer-connected showdown but out on the fringes where iPhone connectivity lives, it's the HRT that wins simply because it's never rejected.


Quicksand? The ground beneath $200 feet is shifting. In June 2013 the microStreamer was one of the only USB DACs from the bigger digital players to squeeze beneath the $200 mark. Its combination of sticker and iPad compatibility were the two factors that closed my purchase and subsequent review assignment. In the months to follow, Audioquest upped their Dragonfly to version 1.2 and dropped its sticker to $150. No official word yet on iDevice compatibility. AMR offspring iFi Audio last week officially launched its iPhone-compatible nano iDSD, a USB DAC that runs on battery juice and sells for the same as the teeny HRT: $189. With the ground continually shifting around the microStreamer, staying abreast of feature sets and aural deltas would be a full-time gig for even the most committed reviewer. 


If this news puts you back on the fence, know that I prefer the microStreamer to Astell&Kern's AK10 ($299) dedicated iPhone add-on which, whilst offering transport and volume controls, sounds softer, more laid back and lacks the vigour of the HRT. You should opt for the microStreamer because you demand a/ a portable solution that serves up the detail and finesse that the piss-weak headphone jack on your computer simply cannot muster and b/ 100% certainty that it'll play ball with your iPad where virtual Squeezeboxing is also possible. iPhone conversations are a neat bonus. This mini DAC gets the nod from yours truly because of its iDevice appendability as well as its crisply cut sonic lines that play so nicely into the hands of wetter warmer 'phones like the Mr Speakers Mad Dog or V-Moda Crossfade M-100.

johnhdarko @ gmail.com