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EarMen Angel
Dec 2, 2022 at 4:25 AM Post #46 of 167
rasmushorn said:
I use this one:
I also get MQA from Tidal with a Green LED from my iPhone this way. A very capable portable set!

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Thank you. I did a bit of research on the side:

The other one (Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter) with the additional lightning port lets you supply more power through it so that devices which require more power are able to function, otherwise iOS wouldn't let the device draw more power than the battery can allow.

Another benefit with this dual port adapter is that you could charge your phone while you listen to music simultaneously. One caveat, though, is that USB3 transfer speeds work only on the bigger iPad. iPhones and the rest are capped at USB2. But this does not really concern us audiophiles because the speed of USB2 is more than enough as far as I'm aware.

What I find mind boggling, though, is the fact that you need one of these little adapters by Apple themselves despite having an actual lightning cable that you could plug straight in. It seems like Apple has put a chip inside it with an actual firmware that communicates with the OS and controls power output. On one of the videos, when the guy plugged the adapter in, a pop up appeared on screen saying that the adapter's firmware is being updated.

This seems to be the only way to get audio out of an external DAC on iOS.
 
Dec 2, 2022 at 6:37 AM Post #47 of 167
hristo said:
What I find mind boggling, though, is the fact that you need one of these little adapters by Apple themselves despite having an actual lightning cable that you could plug straight in. It seems like Apple has put a chip inside it ..

This seems to be the only way to get audio out of an external DAC on iOS.
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Apple has indeed put a chip inside. A chip that is required in order to get the digital sound output from iOS devices. EarMen and a lot of other manufacturers do not include this chip because Apple probably take a hefty price for anyone to purchase it and that would make their products even more expensive. I am totally OK with using the camera connector because I almost never use my iPhone as the source.
 
Dec 2, 2022 at 3:28 PM Post #48 of 167
!!! UPDATE !!!

Everything is okay with the device! It is not defective! For some reason I was not able to use Apple's charger. I do not know why that was the case... Maybe it refused to supply power to it or something, no idea. I feel embarrassed I jumped to conclusions so early on..

I went out today and bought a new one rated at 5V/2.4A. As soon as I plugged it in, the LED started flashing blue indicating the device is charging. phew!

Spent more than 3 hours with the device enjoying music, hence the delay of this post :smiley:. I have to say it works flawlessly and sounds amazing :fire:. It blew me away right from the start when I paired it with the HD600 yesterday. I'm giving it a more extensive listen with the Elites now.

I also tried the Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter with iOS -- works great as expected and also shows up as EarMen Angel when you tap on the music source (AirPlay) button.

Huge thanks to EarMen's support team, namely Miroslav and Milomir (the founder himself!) for being kind and assisting me with this issue. Goes to show they really care about their customers!

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Dec 7, 2022 at 3:21 PM Post #50 of 167
Hifiman Arya SE+ Earmen Angel is such a nice pairing. Fantastic bass, and just as resolving as most desk setups. In general, I have found the Angel to pair well with most planars.

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Dec 11, 2022 at 3:32 PM Post #51 of 167
Dec 11, 2022 at 6:17 PM Post #52 of 167
Dec 12, 2022 at 12:52 AM Post #53 of 167
SCBob said:
Are you able to compare it to the iFi Diablo?
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I sometimes wonder if EarMen named the Angel as a comment to be seen as a direct counter to the Diablo. A direct comparison would indeed be interesting. I almost purchased a used Diablo to hear for myself.
 
Dec 12, 2022 at 1:35 AM Post #54 of 167
From memory alone they are quite close.
I remember the Diablo being more neutral where the Angel is a touch more natural and organic.
The Diablo is more clean and transparent but leaner compared to the Angel.
The Diablo is more powerful but not that versatile because it gets very loud too early, not a good match for sensitive IEMs.
Can't help anymore because I don't have the Diablo to do a direct comparison.

In my upcoming Angel review I will be comparing it to the Mojo 2.
 
Dec 12, 2022 at 3:12 AM Post #55 of 167
@Ichos that comparison is exactly what I'm looking for (Angel vs. Mojo 2) as I know you're in classical music too. When will it be ready :wink: ?
Currently I'm using LCD-XC (with EQ) or Sennheiser IE600 (flat) with my RME-ADI2 DAC and really like this setup.
Especially I'm kind of blown away by the IE600.

But I need somthing more transportable (business trips and bedside) that I can feed with my smartphone using qobuz and primarily the IE600.
I don't want to make any sacrifices to SQ. I have the EarMen Sparrow, but it has issues with EMI/RFI hissing with the balanced out.

I even was thinking about doing a comparison between EarMen Angel, Topping G5 and eventually EarMen Colibri.
But before Christmas there is little time and it's kind of difficult to have all that gear on loan at the same time.

However, looking forwar to your Review of the Angel.
 
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Dec 12, 2022 at 5:42 AM Post #56 of 167
Zubo said:
@Ichos that comparison is exactly what I'm looking for (Angel vs. Mojo 2) as I know you're in classical music too. When will it be ready :wink: ?
Currently I'm using LCD-XC (with EQ) or Sennheiser IE600 (flat) with my RME-ADI2 DAC and really like this setup.
Especially I'm kind of blown away by the IE600.

But I need somthing more transportable (business trips and bedside) that I can feed with my smartphone using qobuz and primarily the IE600.
I don't want to make any sacrifices to SQ. I have the EarMen Sparrow, but it has issues with EMI/RFI hissing with the balanced out.

I even was thinking about doing a comparison between EarMen Colibri, Angel, Topping G5 and eventually EarMen Colibri.
But before Christmas there is little time and it's kind of difficult to have all that gear on loan at the same time.

However, looking forwar to your Review of the Angel.
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Probably next week but your question can be already answered.
If you own the Mojo 2 and you don't intend selling it, then for the use you have described I would strongly suggest the Colibri.
 
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