Nexum Aqua Portable Battery-Free, in-Line Headphone DAC and Amplifier (Space Grey)

Much better than the stock dac cable for new iphones. Sounds better than an iPad pro IMO. If using In-ear headphones, it compares to my Chord Mojo, however more compact (Tidal as source). It pushes all IEMs Ive tried very nicely, however not for high impedence over-ear cans (which is not what I bought it for. This is for a portable rig walking around, etc), while the chord mojo and adapter are more for listening / sitting away from home with cans. Well worth the money and somewhat underrated I think.

I could not believe the amazing improvement on my Iphone 7 music sound quality when I first got this product plus it is very convininet to use for exercising. After three weeks it suddenly stopped working. I read other reviews complaining also of its durability. Too bad because they could really have an amazing product that could makemthem lots of money. When the durability issue is ficed, I will be first in line buying one.

I have only had this for a week and am already concerned that the cable is going to fray out at the connector. I'm starting to see fuzz around the base . The pigtail is pretty rigid at first, but feels more flexible now, so maybe the first week was just rougher on it the normal. Also, just to clarify - I'm worried about the durability ONLY of the cable, the aluminum body of the DAC feels fantastic and very well-built.

I can't review the quality of the amplifier. It worked for less than 1 hour. The sound kept cutting out and it just stopped working the 2nd time I plugged it into my IPhone. I read on an electronics review forum Nexum has withdrawn the product from the marketplace and shut down the webpage for it. It's no longer listed on Amazon for sale or as an in stock item. Nexum also shut down the customer service number for the product and there is no manual or instruction pdf - and no troubleshooting website or support site of any kind. There is a design flaw in the product. Amazon Customer Service refunded my entire purchase price of $69.99. If you have purchased a Nexum Aqua thru Amazon get a refund. It's crap.

Sounds great but poor reliability. Started cutting out after about 60 days of use. Had to return to Amazon for a refund.

I was looking to up my audio experience by adding a headphone amp to my iPhone SE and Focal Sphere headphones. The Nexum seemed like a convenient and relatively low cost choice. After listening for a few weeks, I am extremely satisfied. The sound is full and rich; there's enough added volume to let my own tunes drown out the crap they play at the gym; and the device itself is portable and unobtrusive. If you really want the most from your music, I recommend switching over from the default iTunes player to the Onkyo HD app and springing for the $10 HD-audio plugin. The app not only lets you play full bitrate FLAC and WAV files, it also upconverts your existing tunes as high as 192 kHz, which is supported by the Nexum. The only drawbacks are that the Nexum sucks pretty hard on your battery (at least I think it's the Nexum - could also be the app) and doesn't have a passthrough to allow charging while you're listening. Since it occupies the Lightning Port, there's no way to do both. Otherwise, excellent value for money and a very sharp, well-designed product. Note that I have no basis for comparison of other headphone amps. All I can say is it sounds much better than standard iPhone and it's hard to imagine how much extra quality you'd get a 4x-5x the price, as you'll pay with some other models.

IT WORKED GREAT FOR 6 WEEKS, THEN COMPLETELY STOPPED.

Truly a unique portable sound enhancer. Increases quality, volume level. If you have an eq option on your device or even basic bass & treble adjustments, its unreal what a difference in quality. For the price it's an amazing enhancement.

No difference in audio quality with this adaptor, tried with Sennheiser, Hifiman, and high end headphones,