Best phone/personal listening device under $500

^^^I’m sorry Mr.dealer but in my direct comparrison with iFi the Chord is overpriced & didn’t image as well...
OP:Instead of adding or changing gear why not get a good set of Bluetooth headphones?

Hi

I love my current headphones and so I am trying to work with them as my “baseline” equipment and find the source that will work well with them.

I’ve read that a LG V30 phone might not be a bad low cost option...

Well my recommendation then would be the M6 DAP from FiiO.

I use my iPhone with the Apple Camera Adapter and an Audioquest Dragonfly Red Amp/DAC into my HIFIMAN HE400S. Sounds MUCH better than direct out of the iPhone, and it’s extremely portable and perfectly comfortable to walk around with to the point you barely know it’s even there. And at $200 for the Dragonfly Red (or around $150 used) and 30 bucks for the Camera Adapter you’re at less than half your $500 limit. Best of luck.

Thanks Soix
Does this mean that I am bypassing the internal DAC in the phone and solely using the USB DAC for the digital conversion? I have a HRT Micorstreamer that I can connect but I thought that there may be an issue with how the data is sent to the external DAC via a iPhone - meaning that the D to A conversion is done with the phone DAC.
GLR