[abitdeef]

Did you use it out of its balanced out? Big difference there... more so than any other source I've tried (where it's mostly been about power)

Yep, sure did. It sounded like typical ess setup. Well like ess with built in amps, which is a great sound. I just liked the presentation of the s1 and especially the w2 more.

 

[someyoungguy]

As in the sparrow sounds less dirty with blacker background, faster transients and less blur in general in the mids/bass, treble is cleaner (cymbals shimmer and are clearly outlined whilst still sounding smooth and easy to listen to) etc etc. I was careful to say technically better, and not necessarily better sounding - I have to spend some time with it to decide this one, especially after burn in. The RU6 is showing some other qualities which are nice and not so prominent in the Earsparrow - wider soundstage, denser mids and more muscular punchy bass, so i have to take the overall picture and decide over time. The Sparrow is a tough one anyway, it's a freak dongle that reaches for the stars, competition is tough these days for new dongles

Out of curiosity is that balanced out on the Sparrow you’re referring to? I see comments that the balanced is much better sounding than the SE on the Sparrow.

I think I get what you mean for the etched treble on the RU6, and the rest of your impressions line up with what I hear.

 

[abitdeef]

Lol the treble sounds much more realistic than the sanitized digital sounds of most daps to me. It's one of the first things I noticed. Real cymbal strikes aren't clean. I sat right by a drummer for years so I have that sound 'etched' in my head.

Most daps and dongles are missing the fullness on brass percussion. I've got dx240 right here and it sounds amazing on of the few that I think sounds realistic on percussion, but I'm sure that's do to the excellent amping. Ru6 gives me that too.

Anyways just my 2 cents.

 

[sp33ls]

I think many (not saying any of you) associate R2R with a similar presentation to most tube amps (lush mids, rolled off highs), but that would be a mistake to assume.

Like @abitdeef is referring to above, I've found the treble on many R2R DACs (not all) to sound more lifelike. And, in real life, a cymbal next to your ear will grab your attention right quick lol.

Live music has a ton of information and space in the upper registers.

This is why I'm excited to grab an RU6 as a portable DAC/amp.

 

[Johnfg465vd]

Hey, RU6 users, do you find a decent improvement when jumping from 3.5 to 4.4 on RU6? or do both outputs sound mostly the same?

I ask because on devices like the Sparrow & BTR5 the Single Ended was not as good as the Balanced. This was true for very easy to drive IEM's too, so I'm guessing those units were designed with balanced connection in mind and had Single Ended out for convenience. Is that the same for RU6?

 

[twister6]

Hey, RU6 users, do you find a decent improvement when jumping from 3.5 to 4.4 on RU6? or do both outputs sound mostly the same?

I ask because on devices like the Sparrow & BTR5 the Single Ended was not as good as the Balanced. This was true for very easy to drive IEM's too, so I'm guessing those units were designed with balanced connection in mind and had Single Ended out for convenience. Is that the same for RU6?

As it was pointed out by @Andykong in the first post of this thread, RU6 is not full balanced, the signal path is singled ended and for convenience of 4.4mm BAL output a unity gain amp was added to convert SE to BAL. When I'm listening and comparing 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs of RU6, the tonality and technical performance are nearly the same, the only difference is in power output, as expected. Now, just because the design follows single ended path, I'm comparing it to BAL output of something like W2, and find this pseudo BAL performance to be on the same level, even wider in soundstage expansion and with improvement in 3D imaging.

 

[linux4ever]

I found treble to have the sparkle without being sibilant. And I haven't noticed much change in the Treble after burn-in. I've 80 hours on it now and the changes that I've noticed is at the lower end. The congestion in certain intense sections of some songs are better now.

So far I've been pairing it with my Macbook Pro. I decided today to pair with Cayin Nii. What an upgrade to the sound between the digital out from the Macbook's sound card to N6ii. The output from N6ii is so clear and the RU6 sings so happily.

This tells me that a good source is important for RU6 (Not RU6's fault). Everything is so clean as if a veil has ben lifted. If the output from the source is not good enough or clean, it is going to show up in RU6.

Also the RU6 sounds distinctly different from N6ii + R01 even though there are similarities.

Planning to try using Cayin N3Pro as a source and see if it could be a good portable combo.

 

[TYATYA]

2nd day with RU6.
I am now unclear if I prefer NOS to OS.
Some tracks sound as rough, dry with NOS that case OS will retouch for more musicality.
For pianos, I like NOS for pureness

 

[bnupy]

About 8 hours burn in on mine. Compared to Earmen Sparrow, the sparrow sound much cleaner, more direct and less etched - it's technically superior sounding. The RU6 in NOS has this etch/dirt which I'm struggling with a little now (i guess mostly in the treble), but it sounds larger, wider, with weightier bass and has natural, dense and pleasant mids. Usually I don't see massive differences with burn but this has many resistors so who knows.. i hope the etch can settle down a little - i will report after a good more hours. I also struggled with this slightly dirty sound etch with the Cayin N3 pro

Both tested with Sony IERM7 and ifi iusb 3.0

Its mostly with m7 being a warm netural. You will have to work with the treble side of things, whether ru6 can work with that.

 

[rwelles]

I gotta give kudos to @Andykong for all his informative posts in this thread!! This is exactly the type of manufacturer support that makes me to purchase. My RU6 tomorrow should be delivered tomorrow. If I like it as much as I think I will, there's a N6ii/R01 in my near future. My wallet blames you, Andy!!

 

[Andykong]

Thank you for the detailed response.
Trying to digest this info but may need some help — does this mean that it’s always better to use Low gain, and no benefit in using High gain, unless more volume is required on the RU6?

... unless more headroom is required on the RU6.

But that's the technical explanation only, personal preference always have priority over technical achievement in our hobby, IMO, so if you happen to like the sound of high gain better, feel free to stick with High Gain.

 

[Andykong]

I say that with reservation as I'm still going through burn in so take this as 10 hour play point impression. It's not necessarily that the treble is exaggerated, but more of a dirtyness to it - if you have cymbal hitting hard for example, one a refined dac (or even the Earmen sparrow), it will be more of a case of making itself clear that it's loud but not annoying -where the RU6 just adds a touch of low fi grit to it, making the cymbal denser and more prominent CSHNNhHn. - where the sparrow is Cshhhhh.. that's a ridiculous example I know ... but anyway I'm hoping burn in will help a little. Maybe it's an R2R thing, maybe it's lack of burn in, or maybe it just is -I'm giving it more time

Are you refer to the decay? That the Sparrow and RU6 has a different decay pattern on High Frequency?
Maybe this is the different between R-2R or ESS chipset in Sparrow, or it can be a different due to in analogue implementation. For example, this can relate to handling power or the ability to control your transducer at high frequency.

 

[Andykong]

2nd day with RU6.
I am now unclear if I prefer NOS to OS.
Some tracks sound as rough, dry with NOS that case OS will retouch for more musicality.
For pianos, I like NOS for pureness

You don't have to make that decision, you own both already.

 

[gr8soundz]

Both ASIO and WASAPI are available in our Foobar setting for RU6

Thanks Andy. My mistake. After swapping the RU6 from my android phone over to a new laptop, I forgot to install the additional components Foobar needs for asio and wasapi. Bitperfect works fine now.

As others have already stated, thanks again for taking the time respond here to the many questions we've been asking.

 

[emilsoft]

Are you refer to the decay? That the Sparrow and RU6 has a different decay pattern on High Frequency?
Maybe this is the different between R-2R or ESS chipset in Sparrow, or it can be a different due to in analogue implementation. For example, this can relate to handling power or the ability to control your transducer at high frequency.

Oh yes to be honest not sure what is I can't articulate yet, I need to give it some time. For sure they're very different topologies and sound quite different both offering something unique on the table.