| | |  | DAC | Home » » NuForce Icon Mobile headphone amplifier and USB DAC (silver color) | | | | | | | Description: | | The Nuforce Icon Mobile, along with its accessories, allows the user to obtain better sound quality from mobile music players, smart phones and personal computers. The Icon Mobile also serves as a rechargeable, high-performance headphone amplifier with adjustable gain or stand-alone USB DAC with support for Skype, Messenger or similar microphones.
Desktop Applications:
1. Connected to a computer via USB, the Icon Mobile can drive a pair of active, i.e., powered, speakers.
2. The external 3.5mm stereo input, when inserted, takes precedence over the USB DAC. This function allows the user to listen to music from sources such as an iPod without having to disconnect the Icon Mobile from the computer.
Mobile Applications:
1. Due to cost constrains or power consumption considerations, mobile devices such as an iPod or smart phone do not incorporate high-performance headphone amplifiers. The Icon Mobile's optional iPod connector permits the user to bypass the iPod's volume control. The compact, lightweight Icon Mobile, which can drive a variety of headphones, connects to these devices via 3.5mm stereo input. | | | Features: | |
• Two headphone/line outputs: a 3.5mm 4-pin mini stereo (with mic) jack and a 3.5mm 3-pin mini stereo jack for driving earphones and line-level sources such as active speakers.
• A 3.5mm mini stereo external input.
• A Gain Select switch provides compatibility for a wide range of headphones and earphones.
• A high-quality rotary volume pot for maximizing USB and iPod signal-to-noise ratios.
• A built-in, rechargeable Lithium Ion battery with USB featuring a 2.5 hour charge-time for 13 hours of continuous playback at maximum power.
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Weight:
| 1.0 pounds | | Package Length:
| 0.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 0.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.0 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 13 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 Awesome valueMay 10, 2010
Wonderful, light, convenient and with surprisingly good sound quality you really can't go wrong. This is my first truly portable headphone amp and whilst it can't compare to my desktop dac/amp combo, it is more than enough for use on the road.
What amazes me more than anything is how they could have fit so much into this small body and still have great battery life. Miniaturisation at it's best.
 Non-audiophile reviewApr 08, 2010
I bought this DAC simply based on previous Amazon reviews and the fact that it was a recommended purchase for powering headphones on the go.
When in use with my SONY MDR-EX500 earbuds, they don't make any noticeable difference, regardless of source (yes, I did change the gain setting), but when using my AUDIO TECHNICA headphones with my mp3 player, they do improve the extremes of frequency, such as crisper highs, and bass with less fuzziness. Sorry but that's the best I can describe the difference.
I only gave 2 stars for sound quality since it is only noticeable under very specific conditions. Not really a big enough difference for 3 or more stars.
The USB charging and rechargable onboard + tiny size are very convenient.
 not for big ear cansFeb 09, 2010
I hoped this product would improve the output of my iPod mini into PXC 450 Sennheiser, which is designed as an ambient noise reducer phone. The Senn's are sweet sounding even sans battery, useful as just regular phones to mate with iPods. Recommend Sennheiser over competing Bose as more musical, with less midrange pre-emphasis. In the combo of NuForce + ipod mini + Sennheiser, even experimenting with the slap-on device that bypasses the ipod volume control, the ipod alone sounds better - louder overall, better deep bass - without the NuForce than with it. Sorry, guys. My Sennheiser IE8's are better yet, with less need for external help.. pity.
Top-notch!Feb 03, 2010
This is my second headphone amp (the first was FiiO E5) and all I can say is: this beauty kicks a**! The quality is awesome and it works also as DAC, so I am not forced to use built-in audio cards in my computers anymore. NuForce Icon products are reasonable choice for mid-level audio enthusiasts. NuForce Icon Mobile is really best bang for the buck.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Good amp, great valueOct 14, 2009
Upfront, I love quality, only the best is good enough. For this review I don't have a differnet amp to compare, but I like this one. I got new headphones Audio Technica ATH-50 to get better sound out of my iPod. I started to rip everything again in lossless to get instruments sound like instruments, away from this poor mp3 sound (even though I had a great codec). The headphones have low impedance where the iPod is known to be weak. This amp really made a big difference. In the end I had to buy the nuforce accessory kid which has the line out adapter. This is another 50 bucks. But it is worth it, the headphone jack of the iPod is very noisy.
In the end, the biggest sound improvement came from the headphones. Second biggest improvement was the amp on par with lossless format. Last improvement came from line out adapter.
Forgot to mention: This amp has also a DAC and can be used to get really good sound out of your computer.
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