I have a love/hate relationship with my Fiio X1ii. On one hand, it introduced me to the world of quality audio, teaching me that not everything is about bass and the importance of clarity an restraint. On the other hand, it's a buggy, slow mess of a player that comes with a huge side order of frustration. After battling with over the last couple of years I gave up and decided to use my phone for music duties.
Yeah, phone audio is rubbish, however the interface is great. I decided to go for a DAC/AMP combo and call it a day.
Looking around, I saw the Calyx PaT was on special ay $76 down from $130 (those are Australian dollars by the way) so I pulled the trigger.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much at the price and size. If it got anywhere close to the X1ii in terms of sound quality I would've been happy.
Well, it does sound a bit like my X1ii, except a bit better!
Build:
Good. A well machined piece of aluminium (I assume it's aluminium) with a soft rubber backing.
It's light and it feels like it could take a beating.
Portability:
This thing is tiny. Only a tad bigger than my thumb a weighing about 20g. Theres no need for mounting kits and such. You can just leave it dangling if you want or grip it under your phone with your hand.
Compatibility:
I've used the Calyx PaT on both my android phone (Version 7 - Nougat) and my PC (Windows 10) and it worked seamlessly with no driver required. Just plug and play.
The unit has 5 control buttons which work just fine on Windows (and apparently with iOS devices) but no luck with Android.
Be aware that this unit only does a max of 48khz at 16-bit. No 96khz 24-bit for you!
Also, one thing I've found is that FLAC produce some clicks and pops. May it's because I'm using level 8 compression.
I converted my files to WAV and the issue disappeared.
If I remember, I'll re-encode them as FLAC level 4 and see if the issue pops up again and will update this.
UPDATE: I lowered the compression level to 4 and now works beautifully.
Power Draw:
The unit is unpowered and relies on USB to function. Fortunately it just sips power.
Even With my old Galaxy S4 it didn't make much of a dent to its already disastrous battery life. With my new Huawei Y7, I listen to music for more than 11 hours a day and by the end I still have over 40% power left. YMMV of course.
Sound:
The first thing that hit me was the openness of the sound. Unlike my phone which sounded like everything was being played inside a phone booth, the Calyx PaT opened the stage and gives a lot more depth to the sound positioning.
Don't ask me how or why that is, but it's there. It just sounds so clean and full bodied!
My daily headphone is the MSR7. As most of you would know, it's a bit anaemic in the bass department. The Clayx PaT gives it a warmness and oomph that complements it beautifully.
Treble appears smoother too, with some of the harshness in the higher regions toned down providing a less fatiguing listening experience.
Compared to my Fiio X1ii, the sound is very similar except that there's more impact down the low end. There's a good amount of both quantity and quality.
Treble sounds a bit smoother. It could be placebo effect, but the highs and mids do appear to sound a tad richer and better separated.
I woukd say the Calyx PaT edges out my old X1ii and decimates my two phones in terms of sound quality.
Final Thoughts:
So, If I were to describe the sound of it, it would be warm, clean, detailed and spacious. Not bad for less than $100.
If you are not satisfied with the sound quality of your android (version 5 or higher) or iOS device, I have no reservation recommending the Calyx PaT. It's a cheap option that has nothing cheap about the sound it produces.
Yeah, phone audio is rubbish, however the interface is great. I decided to go for a DAC/AMP combo and call it a day.
Looking around, I saw the Calyx PaT was on special ay $76 down from $130 (those are Australian dollars by the way) so I pulled the trigger.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much at the price and size. If it got anywhere close to the X1ii in terms of sound quality I would've been happy.
Well, it does sound a bit like my X1ii, except a bit better!
Build:
Good. A well machined piece of aluminium (I assume it's aluminium) with a soft rubber backing.
It's light and it feels like it could take a beating.
Portability:
This thing is tiny. Only a tad bigger than my thumb a weighing about 20g. Theres no need for mounting kits and such. You can just leave it dangling if you want or grip it under your phone with your hand.
Compatibility:
I've used the Calyx PaT on both my android phone (Version 7 - Nougat) and my PC (Windows 10) and it worked seamlessly with no driver required. Just plug and play.
The unit has 5 control buttons which work just fine on Windows (and apparently with iOS devices) but no luck with Android.
Be aware that this unit only does a max of 48khz at 16-bit. No 96khz 24-bit for you!
Also, one thing I've found is that FLAC produce some clicks and pops. May it's because I'm using level 8 compression.
I converted my files to WAV and the issue disappeared.
If I remember, I'll re-encode them as FLAC level 4 and see if the issue pops up again and will update this.
UPDATE: I lowered the compression level to 4 and now works beautifully.
Power Draw:
The unit is unpowered and relies on USB to function. Fortunately it just sips power.
Even With my old Galaxy S4 it didn't make much of a dent to its already disastrous battery life. With my new Huawei Y7, I listen to music for more than 11 hours a day and by the end I still have over 40% power left. YMMV of course.
Sound:
The first thing that hit me was the openness of the sound. Unlike my phone which sounded like everything was being played inside a phone booth, the Calyx PaT opened the stage and gives a lot more depth to the sound positioning.
Don't ask me how or why that is, but it's there. It just sounds so clean and full bodied!
My daily headphone is the MSR7. As most of you would know, it's a bit anaemic in the bass department. The Clayx PaT gives it a warmness and oomph that complements it beautifully.
Treble appears smoother too, with some of the harshness in the higher regions toned down providing a less fatiguing listening experience.
Compared to my Fiio X1ii, the sound is very similar except that there's more impact down the low end. There's a good amount of both quantity and quality.
Treble sounds a bit smoother. It could be placebo effect, but the highs and mids do appear to sound a tad richer and better separated.
I woukd say the Calyx PaT edges out my old X1ii and decimates my two phones in terms of sound quality.
Final Thoughts:
So, If I were to describe the sound of it, it would be warm, clean, detailed and spacious. Not bad for less than $100.
If you are not satisfied with the sound quality of your android (version 5 or higher) or iOS device, I have no reservation recommending the Calyx PaT. It's a cheap option that has nothing cheap about the sound it produces.