NuForce Icon Mobile^TM

| MSRP $79

Nuforce Icon Mobile^TM, along with its accessories, allows the user to obtain better sound quality from mobile music players, smart phones and personal computers. The Icon Mobile^TMserves as a rechargeable,high-performance headphone amplifier with adjustable gain or stand-alone USB DAC with mic input support for Skype, Messenger or similar applications (mic input function only works with USB Audio for computer).

Desktop Applications:

• Connected to a computer via USB, the Icon Mobile^TM can drive a pair of active, i.e., powered, speakers.
• 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^TM from the computer.

Mobile Applications

• Due to cost constrains or power consumption considerations, mobile devices such as an iPod or smart phone do not incorporate high-performance headphone amplifiers. A Line-Out-Cable for iPod (NuForce Line-Out Adapter for iPod is no longer available) allows the user to bypass the iPod's volume control. The compact, lightweight Icon Mobile^TM, which can drive a variety of headphones, connects to these devices via 3.5mm stereo input.

Why Icon Mobile provides better sound?

There are reasons your PC or Mac's audio output doesn't sound particularly good. Noise from the computer's digital circuits often bleeds into the audio signal. Also, design engineers who have been told to keep production costs down don't expend much effort on audio. Additionally, your computer's audio output has not been optimized for headphone use. Headphones require a low impedance output. The computer's output signal is normally high impedance. Briefly stated, your computer's Audio Line Out really isn't suitable for headphone use.
And there's this to consider too: a digital volume control reduces 16-bit audio resolution, which is already somewhat compromised with respect to first-rate sound, to even less resolution. By reducing volume through the computer's software, you may be listening to resolution as low as 8 bits.
The Icon Mobile sounds better for several critically important reasons. Among these are a heavily filtered power supply, a DAC that's been implemented for optimal performance, and a circuit designed to drive low-impedance headphones. Last but far from least, unlike digital volume controls, the Icon Mobile's high-quality analog volume control does not compromise resolution.

Companion Product: Icon Amp
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