[JAnonymous5150]

So far I have only done maybe 45 minutes of listening with this setup: UAPP on my phone sending bit perfect 24bit from Qobuz into the RU6 with my AKG K812 Pros plugged into it. I have mostly been running the RU6 on the NOS setting and I am loving how natural and musical the midd are without picking up the fuzziness and blurred edges you often get with stacks or combos considered to be musical. The stepped volume control circuitry has been nice as well. I haven't had too much time for critical listening yet, but the RU6 is definitely a keeper. It offers me a nice 2nd option to my ultra clean/clinical ifi Gryphon.

 

[dharmasteve]

My RU6 needs about half a hour to warm up and get it's best sound and took a couple of weeks to burn in and produce Bass thump.

 

[wolfstar76]

Really!! I'm very surprized by your statement. RU6 has a lot of bass, sometimes I even find it too much. It is just not as fast as delta sigma DACs but in terms of quantity it is way enough

It's not the quantity, just feel a little soft compare to Modi3 (mine has the original AK chip).

 

[wolfstar76]

My RU6 needs about half a hour to warm up and get it's best sound and took a couple of weeks to burn in and produce Bass thump.

I indeed did not take that much time to warm up. Will try it later.

 

[wolfstar76]

It depends on what you are pairing it with, on some of my gear, I notice quicker bass roll off and on others I don't.


For me, the bigger change I noticed between RU6 and some of my other DS dongle DACs was in the mids. Mids on RU6 have good body and more organic tonality.

Yes, the mids seems to be thicker.

 

[fizzytao]

I indeed did not take that much time to warm up. Will try it later.

For me, the warm up takes like 3 songs and then I will be ‘immersed’ into the music……It is that good.

 

[autoexec]

Can you use the RU6 as a line-out, DAC-only device to connect to other amps without double amping? I'm guessing you cant with the 4.4 since an op-amp is involved but how about the 3.5?

 

[wolfstar76]

Can you use the RU6 as a line-out, DAC-only device to connect to other amps without double amping? I'm guessing you cant with the 4.4 since an op-amp is involved but how about the 3.5?

I think so, at least I tried with the 3.5mm to RCA able to connect to my amp. However, in that regard, RU6 lost the battle to Schiit Modi3 in my very short comparison. Haven't got time to check if it is pure DAC mode or pre-amp.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Can you use the RU6 as a line-out, DAC-only device to connect to other amps without double amping? I'm guessing you cant with the 4.4 since an op-amp is involved but how about the 3.5?

They RU6 doesn't have a line out and I will double check my manual, but I don't believe it has a bypass for the integrated amp either.

Are you just wanting to use it as an R-2R DAC option with a more powerful amp or something?

 

[autoexec]

I think so, at least I tried with the 3.5mm to RCA able to connect to my amp. However, in that regard, RU6 lost the battle to Schiit Modi3 in my very short comparison. Haven't got time to check if it is pure DAC mode or pre-amp.

Thanks.

They RU6 doesn't have a line out and I will double check my manual, but I don't believe it has a bypass for the integrated amp either.

Are you just wanting to use it as an R-2R DAC option with a more powerful amp or something?

Yes, I want to use it with my THX 789 so power won't be an issue with a more power demanding HPs or even HPs that perform better with extra power available on tap.


It is obvious to me that there is no dedicated line-out port in the device even in the settings. But it got me curious since iiWi Reviews on youtube has mentioned that you can use it as a DAC and wamted to confirm on other users here. It's not that I don't trust the guy in fact, I love his videos. I just want to dig in more to the legitimacy of this "unofficial feature" if you will. Here's his reply when I asked about it in the comments:

 

[Johnfg465vd]

@autoexec like @JAnonymous5150 said, there is no Line-Out. You can try using the RU6 as a DAC and see how it plays in your system. I've read posts here mentioning good results when using some Tube Amps or Class-A Amps with RU6 but personally when I tried pairing it with A30 Pro (3.5 to RCA) I didn't like it, it sounded distored and less clean & dynamic, but YMMV.

If you feel like trying, something to keep in mind is, Cayin recommended 70-80 volume when pairing RU6 with an external Amp, according to them that's the sweet spot to get good dynamics and less distortion.

 

[autoexec]

@autoexec like @JAnonymous5150 said, there is no Line-Out. You can try using the RU6 as a DAC and see how it plays in your system. I've read posts here mentioning good results when using some Tube Amps or Class-A Amps with RU6 but personally when I tried pairing it with A30 Pro (3.5 to RCA) I didn't like it, it sounded distored and less clean & dynamic, but YMMV.

If you feel like trying, something to keep in mind is, Cayin recommended 70-80 volume when pairing RU6 with an external Amp, according to them that's the sweet spot to get good dynamics and less distortion.

That's very helpful, thanks a lot!

 

[JAnonymous5150]

That's very helpful, thanks a lot!

I checked the manual for you just to be sure and the RU6 doesn't have a bypass for the amplification circuit so if you still want to use an external amp for more power it will largely come down to whether or not you can find a level to set the RU6 at that plays well with your other amp (AKA doesn't cause too much noise/distortion). I didn't know Cayin recommended 70-80, but that's good info.

I would start with the RU6 set in that recommended zone and adjust from there as needed until you find the sweet spot for your amp. I have never done this with the RU6, but I have used an external amp with other combos and the sweet spot where they two play well together us often different from device to device.

Just make sure you keep the volume really low when you plug in and turn up slowly so you don't blow your ears to hell by accidentally plugging in to a double amped signal that's louder than you anticipated lol! Also, if you change between different pairs of headphones it can be a good idea to turn down and start with low volume and slowly turn up for each new pair just to be safe.

Let us/me know how it works out if you don't mind.

 

[Dan DRC]

I have been using an RU6 with an iFi xCAN for about the last three weeks with the volume on the RU6 at 100 with excellent results. I would start with the Cayin recommended vol setting of 70 to 80 and see what works best for your system and go from there. I am using the 3.5mm single ended output on the Cayin to the 3.5mm SE input on the xCAN with the headphones on the xCAN's 2.5mm balanced output. I did not feel I would get much benefit from using the 4.4mm balanced out on the Cayin as it is not a true balanced design.

 

[tikue666]

Has anyone experience a drop in USB audio connection when using the RU6 with a phone? I've noticed mine to lose connection every now and then, at first I thought it was a faulty cable issue but I tried wiggling the cable and the connectors and the connection was still perfect. It wasn't until I noticed that it drops connection whenever there's some other audio source that comes into play other than the music I am playing eg. a message notification or sometimes audio coming from a video when browsing facebook or instagram. I noticed that it just gets dropped and normally you see the sampling rate displayed on the dongle but when it drops, it's just a blank display.

Anyone having this issue? Or is there some settings that I need to do on my phone? I am using a Samsung A73 as source by the way.