What a cool post!

These may be if interest to you: JCALLY AP7 7Hz Seven Hertz 7 Colorfly CDA M1P Shanling UA3

tl;dr: I agree with you and have done the same, but I think the amp itself has more effect on the sound than the actual DAC. Ideally the DAC output should be flat, and any sound coloring (for better or for worse) should come from the amplification. In small devices like a dongle there's only so...

In the budget category the CS43131 is your best shot. AKM doesn't really make ultra low power chips. And saber is well, saber sounding, until you get to the 9038q2m ones.

If only you could find any real info about it other than it's $5. Doesn't seem to be any specs listed online that I have found.

I haven't received mine yet (soon) but seems like Venture Electronics ODO is a great choice for a budget dac.

Yeah...I've been mainly focusing on DAC amps with CS43131 chips. Haven't really looked at too many with AKM chips...any budget minded ones you can recommend.

My general advice would be to stay away from ESS Sabre DAC Amps. Despite their low noise floor (SNR) and impeccable measurements, they are often bright, incredibly resolving but at the expense of sounding artificially clean (or what some would call the opposite of musical/organic/analogue...

Cayin RU6 - sublime synergy with the PR1 Pros anyway

Thanks for the update on this, baskingshark! Those KA series are laying down insane power for a "dongle"!! :bomb: :-o The KA11 looks insane. I remember when this kind of power only came from giant can or brick sized amplifiers built out of big components on a breadboard. Now it fits into...

My search for a DAC/AMP to use with my PR2s becomes more and more difficult after all the suggestions. There's just too much out there. 😂

I bought the KA11 3 months ago and have no issues with it, but I am using Android (seems some Apple users have issues). I think it will pair well with the PR2, as the KA11 will tame the highs and also provide sufficient power for the low sensitivity PR2.

Has FiiO sorted out the firmware issues with the KA11? Also, I've started wondering, what is best in a DAC/AMP for the PR2s when it comes to looking at sound signature given their bright highs and sorta tamed bass impact?

...a bit more, there are some nicer dongles like: AFUL Snowy Night (neutral, powerful, not harsh) EPZ TP50 (cold analytical, but has EQ and many DAC filters to play with) Fiio KA13/KA17 (huge power on desktop mode, with KA17 having PEQ for android app) Fiio KA11 ($30 with warm tonality and huge...

...a few pages ago. I do enjoy it. You can change the firmware flavour to suit apparently but I haven't done this. It's a reasonably good resolving DAC without elevated bass, with a touch more treble than the other Sabre DACs I've owned. For the price (currently) it's a no brainer. For...

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any reviews on the particular dongle on Aliexpress so I'll probably take a hard pass on it. I do see where they have a really good deal on the F.Audio KS01 that I've seen pretty good reviews about so I'm seriously considering grabbing one before it goes out...

Sabre's pretty standard for a high quality DAC, but you can't rely on chip version alone. There are too many other factors in how it's implemented in the hardware that can make a DAC/Amp great, mediocre, or plain terrible. Best to look for reviews of a specific device with that chipset.

Anyone know anything about the ES9318 DAC/AMP chip? I've seen several dongles on Aliexpress using it and the prices aren't too bad. Just curious if anyone has any info on it and whether it would be worth a damn.

...version usually came with newer more efficient hardware if you want a high end version of earhook dongle, there is moondrop evo with additional DAC chip per ear, but yeah its moondrop. KZ one is expensive due to they used higher end Qualcomm chip. personally, i would advice to just buy Fiio...

I'll check it out. Thanks.

If you're looking for a cheap decent dongle dac, try the F.Audio 🤣KS.01. I did just cos I'm a sucker for Sabre dacs and it's cheap (US$22-27) on special recently. Single ended, was itching to try the balanced 764 cable mod mentioned a few pages previously but the price of this 9038 dac was just...

The castor bass is NICE. What surprised me is that the bass is not tubby or bloated. It's well defined and tight, but not as tight and punchy as E.G. the BAs I have. It's just good, musical bass. How they can make those and sell them for $16 shipped is a mystery.

The PR2s are as hard to drive as my Anandas... I had the JM6, JM10, JM20. All don't power it sufficiently. I needed to step up to the Hidizs S9 Pro for it to sound unrestrained. And even then it still scales with better sources.

I'd consider the FiiO KA11 at $30

...I have read/heard online the Castor Bass will fit the bill very nicely. Can't wait for them to arrive. Still haven't pulled the trigger on a DAC/amp for the PR2s. Still trying to find something in the $10-$20 range that will drive them properly given I understand they need at least 2 vRMS...