1) 72,549   2) 78,405   3) 70,289

Awesome!   a) 117,321   b) 122,537   c) 127,274

The new Lenovo K Note 4 has a good AMP  and DAC section (including good speakers).   You could also find an used M8, which has a really AMP-section(DAC is okay, IMO not as detailed as Z-Series).   The Alcatel Idol 3 5.5 (very important that you choose the 5.5" version) is one killer "budget...

No. The DAC in the international(exynos) version is always on, but it is technically inferior to the one found in the V10.

The reason for that is that the Marshall London was very rarely bought. It is/ was really expensive for that power/richness of features and the company is more known for AMPs and not smarthphones.(And it is just a licensing deal with Marshall, FYI)   It has a Wolfson DAC, technically it is...

In that case, Marshall London is your only choice to this date...   Did you consider it?

The "phonearena.com" (link here: http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Samsung-Galaxy-S7-Review_id4165) is out. Interestingly, they say that the S7 si indeed "louder" than the S6 in terms of output. but after some experiences from members of this forum the physical numbers do not translate in...

You are living in the USA, get a V10 or if you can afford to wait, a LG G5 with the HiFi module...   And test it with your own music (usb drive + OTG cable)!!

I have to disappoint you, but there is no way that the DAC in the S7 is better than the one that is found in the V10. The V10 is better, especially if you trick the phone into high gain mode.   In almost every other aspect, the S7(edge) is much better, I give them that.   It is mostly...

The LG G5 will be atleast on par if not even better than the V10 (with the fitting HiFi module, of course). If you like LG it would be only good to upgrade.

*sigh again*   There is an European version.(Has Exynos SoC) And since Italy is part of the EU, or the geographical Europe, it is indeed and surprisingly the Exynos version with the Cirrus Logic/ Wolfson "Lucky" DAC, which is said to be be better than the American/ Snapdragon version.  ...

*sigh* Every device that produces sound uses a DAC. The American version has a simple Snapdragon DAC, nothing special. The European/ Asian version has Cirrus Logic/Wolfson DAC that is rumored to be better than the Snapdragon version.   It is supposed to sound better than the S6, maybe on par...

The iDSD sounds the same with every good smartphone. All the final audio processing is done within the iDSD. Thus "pairing" doesn´t exist. Just get a phone with enough processing power (no lag, (gapless) DSD playback).   Get yourself a good playback software(Neutron, UAPP, Poweramp...) and...

 I would recommend the Sony range (from Z3 up to X performance) and the HTC One 8-9 models, where as especially the Sony ones have really good BT interfaces (called "LDAC").

You also have to include the sound signature of your in-ears in your consideration, maybe it is a "bad" pairing...   Since you visited a Best Buy, I would presume that you listened to the American Snapdragon version...