[money4me247]

@ZMan2k2, what headphones are you using with it. I have received a demo unit for reviewing purposes and I've been impressed with its performance out of the S5. Also, do note that your hearing will be a bit off a few days after a cold/ear infx, so I would give it some time before making any judgements.

 

[ZMan2k2]

@ZMan2k2
, what headphones are you using with it. I have received a demo unit for reviewing purposes and I've been impressed with its performance out of the S5. Also, do note that your hearing will be a bit off a few days after a cold/ear infx, so I would give it some time before making any judgements.

I'm using the IEM I'm most familiar with, the RHA T10i's.

I don't think the ear infection had much to do with it, it simply didn't do what I hoped it would. When you've got to put it in LO mode, that's not good performance. And when the phone still has two clicks of volume to go, but matches the volume of LO, that's not good performance.

I never claimed to have golden ears. My only claim is "I'm a basshead". Obviously, this is why I'm not a reviewer here. I just don't hear the differences others do. Doesn't bother me, and I can move on. It just wasn't for me, but others my benefit.

 

[ZMan2k2]

  @ZMan2k2, what headphones are you using with it. I have received a demo unit for reviewing purposes and I've been impressed with its performance out of the S5. Also, do note that your hearing will be a bit off a few days after a cold/ear infx, so I would give it some time before making any judgements.

So I tried it again, with the only other earphones I have, the UE6000 over-ears.  I use them for gaming with the XBoxOne, I don't normally listen to music with them.  They must have a higher impedance, because with the Cozoy, they were slightly louder than out of the phone directly.  But like I said, I don't use them for music.  So, I can gather that with higher impedance earphones, the performance might be there.  But for me, using the RHA T10i's, with their 16ohm impedance, I'm just not seeing the benefit.  So, if you want to run some higher impedance stuff, this may be the ticket, it's certainly portable enough, but for me, there's no difference from the phone and the Cozoy to justify hanging on to it.
 
I'm going to have to look at something like the FiiO E18 or the likes of that, maybe something with a powered USB hub, but that eliminates the portability of the whole thing.  So I may just stick with the phone.  It works for me, I'm happy with it, but as you know in this hobby, there's the possibility of something better just around the corner.  

 

[Peter West]

There's something definitely not right here. I stopped my test of the Fiio X3 2nd Gen. (review to come) to fire up my IPhone with and without the Cozoy Astrapi into new Sennheiser Momentums and then my Shure 535s and finally my modified HD-439s to hear what's happening. (Then I added my T-Peos to the list.)
 
There is a definitive and obvious difference in how the IPhone sounds direct into the Momentums and especially the HD-439s where the sound becomes more balanced and listenable with the Cozoy. Without the Cozoy the 439s sound muddy and lethargic in the rendition of the music. It's boring as heck. With the Cozoy everything sounds more alive and balanced from bass to treble with likely a V-shape to the equalization but that's very listenable.
 
Now here comes the fun part. With the 535s there's not much difference. Huh? Yup and I don't know why these exceptionally sensitive in-ears can make the IPhone sound very good. I was really surprised. BTW I had to turn the volume all the way down with the 535s on the IPhone and same with the Cozoy in the line where the less sensitive Sennheiners needed a lot more drive.
 
More fun as my $36 T-Peos D-202Ns had very much the same result as the 535s although I think the Cozoy is levelling out the soundscape somewhat. I'm listening as I type. I've just confirmed to my ears that the Cozoy is taking some of the harsh trebles out of Bob Marley's voice on Stand Up and Bob's voice is definitely brought forward when using the Cozoy while not ignoring the bass.
 
The D-202Ns aren't the most linear headphones and even the supplier CTC Audio describes their sound as "fun" and it is fun to listen to as I'm bobbing away to The Whalers as I type and there is "bobbing away" difference (now there's a new technical term!) between the IPhone direct (boring) and the Cozoy which has me dancing out of my chair. This is pretty big news as I'm 66...okay a healthy 66 as I do hot yoga several times a week but really there is a big difference in the sound. My feet know it as do my ears Honestly I believe my body way over my ears and the body says "Cozoy"!
 
There are guys and gals here who can explain in way more technical and authoritative ways what's happening here but nobody can tell my body what to feel
 
I am convinced that it's the headphones that are making the difference and that shouldn't come as any surprise.
 
Your RHA T10i get good reviews but some question their sound characteristics which is not to say there's anything wrong with them but people have their preferences and biases Maybe the Cozoy just isn't a good companion to your in-ears.
 
And once I've made up my mind that something is working the way I like, I make it a point not to experiment any further. I especially don't try out new headphones at my local high-end dealer. That cost my a Fostex DAC and Audeze LCD-Xs when what I had gone in for was a $75 Fiio E-10K DAC (which I bought a few days later anyway)! I'm not complaining but my wife won't let me go shopping alone anymore.

 

[money4me247]

  So I tried it again, with the only other earphones I have, the UE6000 over-ears.  I use them for gaming with the XBoxOne, I don't normally listen to music with them.  They must have a higher impedance, because with the Cozoy, they were slightly louder than out of the phone directly.  But like I said, I don't use them for music.  So, I can gather that with higher impedance earphones, the performance might be there.  But for me, using the RHA T10i's, with their 16ohm impedance, I'm just not seeing the benefit.  So, if you want to run some higher impedance stuff, this may be the ticket, it's certainly portable enough, but for me, there's no difference from the phone and the Cozoy to justify hanging on to it.

mmm always good to hear different opinions/impressions. I am actually currently testing the Cozoy Astrapi with the PM-3 (26 ohm) out of both my S5 phone and laptop, and I am hearing some quite positive results. Will be moving onto a variety of IEMs maybe next week. cheers!

 

[ZMan2k2]

  mmm always good to hear different opinions/impressions. I am actually currently testing the Cozoy Astrapi with the PM-3 (26 ohm) out of both my S5 phone and laptop, and I am hearing some quite positive results. Will be moving onto a variety of IEMs maybe next week. cheers!

Maybe I'm not using it right.  Let me ask you this, when you plug in the Cozoy, are there any popup's on your screen?  I plug it in, and it just works.  But if there's a setting I need to change to get it to work differently, I'm willing to investigate that as well.  Do I need to turn on a setting in the phone's "settings" menu, or anything like that.  PowerAmp doesn't have a USB DAC setting that I can see, and that's my preferred music playback app, so if there's something in the phone that needs to be changed, I'm definitely willing to look into that too.

 

[money4me247]

  Maybe I'm not using it right.  Let me ask you this, when you plug in the Cozoy, are there any popup's on your screen?  I plug it in, and it just works.  But if there's a setting I need to change to get it to work differently, I'm willing to investigate that as well.  Do I need to turn on a setting in the phone's "settings" menu, or anything like that.  PowerAmp doesn't have a USB DAC setting that I can see, and that's my preferred music playback app, so if there's something in the phone that needs to be changed, I'm definitely willing to look into that too.

nope, if sound is coming out via the dac, it should be working fine. though there maybe some other audio settings you can fiddle with to change certain things, haven't really checked that out yet. I also don't use poweramp, so not sure about that app.

 

[ZMan2k2]

Well, I downloaded UAPP, $10 wasted. I tried every conceivable setting, and couldn't get any better performance than I did with PowerAmp, other than the EQ being more adjustable. I've already moved the Cozoy on, consider it a lesson learned.

 

[Tagjazz]

Can anyone comment on whether the Astrapi is a significant enough improvement over iPhone/Mac SQ to warrant a purchase? Just want a small set up for the office and am waiting on the CEntrance HIfi Skyn so thought it might be a good temporary measure and then I could use it on my Mac at work when the Skyn eventually arrives. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[money4me247]

Can anyone comment on whether the Astrapi is a significant enough improvement over iPhone/Mac SQ to warrant a purchase? Just want a small set up for the office and am waiting on the CEntrance HIfi Skyn so thought it might be a good temporary measure and then I could use it on my Mac at work when the Skyn eventually arrives. Thanks in advance for any advice.

dont use apple products, but it does seem to be an improvement over the internal dac of the s5 and my dell laptop.

 

[Peter West]

I've got one and I like it with my IPhone. It does seem to be dependent on which headphone or in-ear you're using as to whether it's worthwhile or not. I stream Tidal through the IPhone when I want to sit outside and using my Momentum on-ears, Shure 535s or really cheap T-Peos D-202Ns and I think the Cozoy Astrapi adds enough kick to the overall sound to be worthwhile. It seems to my hearing to increase the overall soundstage. Not everyone is going to agree with this I like it and use it all the time and beats $700 for an external dac/amp dedicated to I-devices. I couldn't get my older IPad to use it but that's not a big issue for me.

 

[n05ey]

I have a review unit in the house at the moment and I have to say, it is one of my favourite little gizmo's that I have used in a long time! If I wasn't converted to the world of DAP's at this stage, I would definitely be springing for one of these in a heartbeat. One of the few listens that I found to make it really difficult to go back to the note 3 headphone out.

 

[rschoi75]

I recently bought one of these out of pure curiosity to use with my iphone 6. I think it sounds great with my full size headphones above 35 ohms.
I definitely notice some additional bass, and some more richness from the mids. The gain is also surprisingly strong. 
 
Unfortunately, it's a different story with my iem's. The gain is so strong using it with Noble K10's and SE846's, that I can't even take the first volume step (1/16) 
without having to pull them out of my ears after a minute or so. On the bright side, this means my ears are still healthy and sensitive, but unfortunately I don't think I can use this for its intended purpose, which was to use with iem's on the go. 

 

[Buddhahacker]

  I recently bought one of these out of pure curiosity to use with my iphone 6. I think it sounds great with my full size headphones above 35 ohms.
I definitely notice some additional bass, and some more richness from the mids. The gain is also surprisingly strong. 
 
Unfortunately, it's a different story with my iem's. The gain is so strong using it with Noble K10's and SE846's, that I can't even take the first volume step (1/16) 
without having to pull them out of my ears after a minute or so. On the bright side, this means my ears are still healthy and sensitive, but unfortunately I don't think I can use this for its intended purpose, which was to use with iem's on the go. 

Yep. The gain issue is disappointing.  I was hoping for a small iphone dac which I could use with my IEMs in a pinch.  

 

[miceblue]

I definitely concur with the gain settings. I don't use the Astrapi with my MacBook because of that; it's simply just way too loud for me and there's very little I can do to easily manage that. As a DAC though, it does pretty well for its price.