> Aside I have een looking into nice headphone amps for iPhones and that market seems really small. It seems that audiophiles would skip the built in DAC yes or yes if audio quality would really matter?
The market it there, but like you said it is very boutique and specific. Step 1: be an audiophile, step 2: have good portable headphones where a good dac/amp will actually make a difference, step 3: user your phone as an audio source enough to care, step 4: be willing to spend a bunch of money on it.
I fall in to the audiophile category, have very nice custom IEMs (64 Audio, being upgraded + remolded from v6-s to a6 right now actually), and would be willing to spend money. However, I almost NEVER use my phone as an audio source, so I just don't care enough to invest in a portable dac/amp setup.
The market it there, but like you said it is very boutique and specific. Step 1: be an audiophile, step 2: have good portable headphones where a good dac/amp will actually make a difference, step 3: user your phone as an audio source enough to care, step 4: be willing to spend a bunch of money on it.
I fall in to the audiophile category, have very nice custom IEMs (64 Audio, being upgraded + remolded from v6-s to a6 right now actually), and would be willing to spend money. However, I almost NEVER use my phone as an audio source, so I just don't care enough to invest in a portable dac/amp setup.
Hence the limited availability.