Cozoy Aegis - 192kHz 24bit DAC/amp - Compatible with Android and iOS!

[avitron142]

I hooked up the K7XX to the Aegis, and it is noticeably underpowered. I guess this should be obvious, since the K7XX is so power-hungry, but dammit, I was hoping for a miracle.
 
It sounds rather nice with my HE400S, though. At 22 ohms, they don't need much power, and sound great.
 
Just a side-note - while I only need ~30/100 of the PC volume, it is obvious there's not enough power for the K7XX. It's really a shame - if it would have powered the K7XX I would have bought the Aegis without a second thought. I'll post sooner or later the GO 1000 vs Aegis outcome for my efficient cans.
 
I guess you could only expect so much from a usb-sized DAC/amp.

 

[avitron142]

Strange... this is important, so listen up.
 
Any of you have any volume jumps at specific clicks? For example, from 10/100 to 11/100 there's not much difference, but add one more step to 12/100 and it's quite a bit louder. I need it on 11.5/100 here lol.
 
Jokes aside, I wonder what's causing the volume jumps. If someone can see if there's similar results with smartphone that would be helpful.
 
Or perhaps this is something Windows did to be lazy? Can't tell.

 

[nmatheis]

  Strange... this is important, so listen up.
 
Any of you have any volume jumps at specific clicks? For example, from 10/100 to 11/100 there's not much difference, but add one more step to 12/100 and it's quite a bit louder. I need it on 11.5/100 here lol.
 
Jokes aside, I wonder what's causing the volume jumps. If someone can see if there's similar results with smartphone that would be helpful.
 
Or perhaps this is something Windows did to be lazy? Can't tell.

Yes, I described that on the last page - or at least tried to...
 
"I can't tell any difference between 2 & 3 clicks, 4 & 5 clicks, etc... seems like the Aegis has discrete volume steps"

 

[nmatheis]

I don't get this behavior with the Calyx PaT, which is the only other battery-free smartphone DAC I've tried.
 
Does the Astrapi exhibit this behavior?

 

[Brooko]

Got mine a couple of hours ago Nik.
 
Mates perfectly with iPhone 5S - recognised quickly.  Powerful little unit.  Driving the 320 ohm Zens on around 25% volume on the iP5S. Same volume without the Aegis (approx - I haven't put an SPL meter on it yet) would need ~50%.
 
Re the volume steps - same with my unit. 2-3 clicks on the volume button goes up a level, but it's the same using the volume slider as well (doesn't change gradually).  I'll be able to measure it during the week, and see what sort of volume increments its jumping (with a variety of headphones).
 
Going to run it for an hour or so, and let you know re heat and battery consumption.

 

[nmatheis]

  Got mine a couple of hours ago Nik.
 
Mates perfectly with iPhone 5S - recognised quickly.  Powerful little unit.  Driving the 320 ohm Zens on around 25% volume on the iP5S. Same volume without the Aegis (approx - I haven't put an SPL meter on it yet) would need ~50%.
 
Re the volume steps - same with my unit. 2-3 clicks on the volume button goes up a level, but it's the same using the volume slider as well (doesn't change gradually).  I'll be able to measure it during the week, and see what sort of volume increments its jumping (with a variety of headphones).
 
Going to run it for an hour or so, and let you know re heat and battery consumption.

 
Hey Paul!
 
I agree, it paired quickly and painlessly with both my iPhone 5S and my MacBook Pro and can reach stunningly high volumes!
 
Thanks for confirming that you're also getting discrete, non-linear volume steps.
 
After using mine for a few hours, it's warming up more - but still not hot to the touch.
 
Curious what you get for battery drain.  I was streaming, which does chew through the battery faster than normal anyway, so it's hard for me to tell whether it was more the constant wifi usage or the Aegis's power requirements were the main contributor.
 
FYI: For those of you using a Mac, you'll need to open Audio MIDI Setup in the Utilities folder and configure the Aegis to output at its highest resolution to take full advantage of the Aegis's hi-res capabilities.
 

 

[Brooko]

Solely using it with the iP5S for now.  I wouldn't even call mine "luke-warm" after 30 minutes use (more like "not cold") - that 30 minutes has cost around 10% of the iP5S battery life though.  And that is a little worrying.  I guess for the power it is outputting though, it is to be expected.
 
I'll try it shortly with my DN-2000J - which should give me the other end of the sensitivity/impedance equation.

 

[avitron142]

As a PC dac/amp, volume jumps are a deal breaker to me.
 
Also, while changing volume on the computer, I often get a jump to blisteringly high volumes through only one side - breaks both my eardrums and possibly the headphone drivers. Curious as to whether mine is defective or this is a bug.

 

[nmatheis]

Brooko: Seems like your battery consumption matches up well with mine at about 20% per hour. Was that with streaming or with local music?

 

[nmatheis]

As a PC dac/amp, volume jumps are a deal breaker to me.

Also, while changing volume on the computer, I often get a jump to blisteringly high volumes through only one side - breaks both my eardrums and possibly the headphone drivers. Curious as to whether mine is defective or this is a bug.

So you're getting random, massive volume spikes in one channel? Did I interpret that correctly?

I haven't experienced that with my Mac, but I just set it on a pretty low system volume and used iTunes to adjust volume.

Given that HiFlight and I haven't had this issue, and we're on Mac & Linux which have built-in / out of the box support for Aegis vs. a PC which requires Cozoy's driver - I'm wondering if it might just be a bug in their driver.

I'm really curious why HiFlight was reporting very hot operating conditions.

 

[avitron142]

So you're getting random, massive volume spikes in one channel? Did I interpret that correctly?

I haven't experienced that with my Mac, but I just set it on a pretty low system volume and used iTunes to adjust volume.

Given that @HiFlight and I haven't had this issue, and we're on Mac & Linux which have built-in / out of the box support for Aegis vs. a PC which requires Cozoy's driver - I'm wondering if it might just be a bug in their driver.

I'm really curious why @HiFlight was reporting very hot operating conditions.

Exactly. Sometimes when I raise the volume, one side goes empty, while the other has a volume spike. There's also the issue of the volume being set to 100% every time you plug the Aegis in (!) This is probably a driver issue, but it's really darn annoying.
 
Please excuse my coherence right now. My head is still affected from the volume spikes earlier today, and it's hard to express myself in writing right now. Wish I had a Mac, then I wouldn't have to deal with these issues 

 

[HiFlight]

Mine is listed for sale in the Source Components For Sale forum. It works fine from my computer USB but draws too much current for use with my phone. I have experienced none of the volume issues mentioned by other users.

 

[nmatheis]

Mine is listed for sale in the Source Components For Sale forum. It works fine from my computer USB but draws too much current for use with my phone. I have experienced none of the volume issues mentioned by other users.

Again, the volume spikes avitron142 mentioned are most likely a Windows driver issue. Hopefully that is brought to Cozoy's attention and fixed quickly!

 

[avitron142]

Again, the volume spikes @avitron142 mentioned are most likely a Windows driver issue. Hopefully that is brought to Cozoy's attention and fixed quickly!

It seems I probably got a faulty one. I ship it 

 Well, not yet, but the pun wouldn't have worked otherwise.

 

[Wyd4]

I THINK mine is waiting for me at home.
Unlikely I will get a chance to listen tonight. I will get exte ded time tomorrow however.

Will be using it on my note 4 do will see if it behaves on this droid