Dethonray Clarinet - Portable DAC/Amp Discussion + Impression thread

Jan 8, 2025 at 9:04 PM Post #106 of 265
In general coaxial isn't necessarily better than USB.

Optical is sometimes preferred because being light transmission of data with no electrical connection between the devices it can cut out ground loop hum that can sometimes occur with mains powered devices.

USB from a computer may be noisy depending on the computer and the ability of the receiving DAC to suppress that noise. From a portable battery powered device USB should be pretty clean.

I believe in the case of the Clarinet it is something to do with the implementation that makes coaxial seemingly preferable to USB, way above my pay grade I am sorry and I don't have a Clarinet to know what differences there are. It is on my maybe list hence having a look in this thread.

Another aspect is that coaxial is a "dumb" connection so there is no facility for a "smart" connection over USB where the receiving unit and sending units communicate back and forth or perhaps the receiver can provide playback control of the sending unit for example. Not sure that has any bearing on sonic quality.

I use USB and coaxial between various devices and frankly I don't notice any sonic differences but I seem to be less sensitive to that sort of thing (I like to think of it as more realistic but I can only base that on what I hear since I only have my ears)
Very helpful thanks!
 
Jan 9, 2025 at 11:45 AM Post #108 of 265
Sound is good, full and warm. I dont know what is the stock firmware but i think i will stick with it.

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Jan 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM Post #111 of 265
Stock FW is Rhapsody (slight V-shaped tuning).
Oh i see, I get it now. When i tried flashing the serenade it was a little bit more forward in the mids (vocals) than my preference. Rhapsody should be fine for me.
 
Jan 10, 2025 at 8:35 AM Post #113 of 265
Everybody,including me, said coaxial or optical input to Clarinet sounds much better than USB C input, so I asked myself why not try it more seriously by using an USB interface to pair with my iPAD mini 7 and my Andriod phone to see how good the performance gain will be

As I have this thought suddenly so I didn't bring the 2 USB interfaces (one of them is Singxer SU-2)from office to home. However, I remember I have an old and small one which was put aside long time ago after upgrade and I found it finally after searching for a while at home.

The said USB interface employed XMOS XU208 and I assume it is an entry level interface as it costs only USD20. It comes with an USB B as input so I have no choice but add an USB C to A female adaptor (and an ordinary USB A to B cable)to my Android phone and iPAD mini 7 for the testing.

At the beginning I tried this USB interface with my VIVO xFold 3 Pro , Hiby music apps and a silver-plated copper coaxial cable, the sound was better than using a USB C input to my Samsung zFold 2 before(Samsung zFold 2 USB out sounds better than VIVO xFold 3 Pro). Then I changed the VIVO mobile phone to my iPAD mini 7.......WOW!

I can hardly believe that the sounds produced by Clarinet in this way was much much better than my previous result of using the Iifatec optical cable. The sound was more open with better sense of 3D, much transparent, much better transient dynamic (but not harsh)and harder slam. Pairing the USB interface with Clarinet and using Coaxial input makes the sound just like output from a good desktop system of values USD 2000 or a DAP of USD2500. Be noted that, during the test, I was listening to Apple Music only and the USB A to B cable used was taken from my computer (also 2 adaptors were used for the connection). I wonder how the sound further improves if I use a better USB interface , a better USB C to B cable and get rid of those adaptors.

If you don't mind adding one more cable and even an USB Interface(preferable coaxial cable but optical cable is also good)to the chain, this Clarinet is another MUST have item from Dethonray as it breaks out the competition by her secret weapon (coacial/ optical IN).





Just to clarify, your chain was iPad—USB/Coaxial converter—to Clarinet input. Did this yield the best results? I was looking at something like this: https://www.amazon.com/DSD-TECH-SH-AU01A-TOSLINK-Coaxial/dp/B0BNMRYMCT. I'm wondering if it's sufficient or if something of a higher quality is required.

Edit: I think I answered my own question, seems the SMSL PO100 is well-regarded for this task. It seems the consensus is that the Coaxial input to the Clarinet is Better/different than the USB-C Input. Is there any noted difference between the optical and coaxial input?
 
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Jan 10, 2025 at 11:42 AM Post #114 of 265
Could someone please tell me step by step
guide on how to change the firmware from "Rhapsody" to "Serenade"?
 
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Jan 10, 2025 at 11:58 AM Post #115 of 265
Could someone please tell me step by step quide on how to change the firmware from "Rhapsody" to "Serenade"?
Also - what are the differences between the two? :)
 
Jan 11, 2025 at 1:16 PM Post #118 of 265
Showcased my Clarinet unit to a local Audiophile's meetup we had organised. Sublime performance. Superb pairing with Aune's Flagship CB Headphone SR7000.

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Jan 12, 2025 at 1:59 AM Post #119 of 265
The sound of tidal music is even better for Carinet paired with iPAD Pro 11"(M4)instead of iPAD mini7.

iPAD Pro> Clarinet>Sony IER Z1R

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