[Dionietzscheus]

Curious if anybody thinks the Angel would be an upgrade from what I'm using now. I use Android (UAPP player) with on-the-go cable to the Earmen Sparrow. Balanced cable out to a Romi BX-2 Plus. I have everything bundled pretty nicely so having a built-in Dac would not be enough reason by itself for me to switch. It would have to improved sound quality

Short answer to your question: yes, definitely - Angel is a more sophisticated product with way more power and refinement so much so that it's inappropriate to compare both because of the very significant price difference between the two. Keep in mind that Angel is nowhere as portable as the Sparrow.
I had the Sparrow earlier. It had (unresolved) emi/rfi/hiss issues on balanced. Apart from that, it had awesome sq.

 

[Ichos]

Agreed.

 

[nihalsharma]

I think the Earmen Angel is a must-have device. Rather than going with a dongle (DAC) and compromising the sound output, one should take a bit of pain and carry this around for a great time with music. And the fact that, if properly chained, it can put some very highly priced daps to shame.

 

[gunswick]

Two quick Angel questions to confirm if you can please I would appreciate it! Loving the sound a lot

1) I just purchased a new unit Aug-23 (#268) and it has the silver volume dial, later units have a black one, is this purely cosmetic or any functional differences on later units?

2) I will usually use it at my desk and therefore plugged in most of the time, does that wear out the battery or does it bypass the battery when at 100% charge? Some devices don't like to be always charging but it depends how smart the circuitry is, I've googled but can't confirm it. Any issues for the battery lifespan with running it plugged in all the time?

Thanks!

 

[Makiah S]

Two quick Angel questions to confirm if you can please I would appreciate it! Loving the sound a lot

1) I just purchased a new unit Aug-23 (#268) and it has the silver volume dial, later units have a black one, is this purely cosmetic or any functional differences on later units?

2) I will usually use it at my desk and therefore plugged in most of the time, does that wear out the battery or does it bypass the battery when at 100% charge? Some devices don't like to be always charging but it depends how smart the circuitry is, I've googled but can't confirm it. Any issues for the battery lifespan with running it plugged in all the time?

Thanks!

Let me check with the team and get a concrete answer on that!

 

[kmmbd]

Two quick Angel questions to confirm if you can please I would appreciate it! Loving the sound a lot

1) I just purchased a new unit Aug-23 (#268) and it has the silver volume dial, later units have a black one, is this purely cosmetic or any functional differences on later units?

2) I will usually use it at my desk and therefore plugged in most of the time, does that wear out the battery or does it bypass the battery when at 100% charge? Some devices don't like to be always charging but it depends how smart the circuitry is, I've googled but can't confirm it. Any issues for the battery lifespan with running it plugged in all the time?

Thanks!

Cannot help with #1, but regarding #2, there are two separate ports and when using the data port, the device will not charge.

So you will always use the battery. I have noticed that the unit gets warmer when charging and listening at the same time, and heat is not good for battery health.

I'd recommend (from my experience) to not have it plugged in all the time. Battery life is good already and under moderate use, charging overnight every two/three days should be enough.

 

[nihalsharma]

Adding to what @kmmdb has said, the battery charges on a 5V2A only, only to give it a better life. Plugging it all the time would certainly degrade its life. It gets warm too at times when is in charge and have been put to use.

Worth mentioning is the fact that the device is very solid built so with a proper decent usage, the battery should last for a very very long time.

 

[KOM66]

Getting mine on Thursday. Can’t wait

 

[Makiah S]

Getting mine on Thursday. Can’t wait

Your going to love it! I've been impressed with Angel and the longevity of its battery! I've had one since a bit before it launched officially, and I've had no issues with battery life.

As far as charging goes, I charge mine every few days as I deplete it, and never overnight nor while in use. Mostly out of habit, I have a little charging station next to my workstation so I prefer to let things charge to a few hours as needed and then unplug em after.

 

[nihalsharma]

Your going to love it! I've been impressed with Angel and the longevity of its battery! I've had one since a bit before it launched officially, and I've had no issues with battery life.

As far as charging goes, I charge mine every few days as I deplete it, and never overnight nor while in use. Mostly out of habit, I have a little charging station next to my workstation so I prefer to let things charge to a few hours as needed and then unplug em after.

I would really love to see an upgrade on Angel with just a better dac configuration. It is good for the standard of the type of device it is, but if given a better dac implementation, it can easily outshine a lot of Kilobuck DAPs. The amp section is pretty solid, IMO.

 

[ywheng89]

I would really love to see an upgrade on Angel with just a better dac configuration. It is good for the standard of the type of device it is, but if given a better dac implementation, it can easily outshine a lot of Kilobuck DAPs. The amp section is pretty solid, IMO.

The dac is pretty good imo, i use it with line out to the CH-AMP and the dynamics are even better. I have yet to get my hands on their pure dac Tradutto, that will definitely be several steps above Angel i'm sure.

 

[gunswick]

Let me check with the team and get a concrete answer on that!

Thank you! I appreciate the help...

 

[KOM66]

Your going to love it! I've been impressed with Angel and the longevity of its battery! I've had one since a bit before it launched officially, and I've had no issues with battery life.

As far as charging goes, I charge mine every few days as I deplete it, and never overnight nor while in use. Mostly out of habit, I have a little charging station next to my workstation so I prefer to let things charge to a few hours as needed and then unplug em after.

I got it last night. Listening to it this morning. Curious on how many hours of burn time before I can fully hear its potential ?

 

[gunswick]

I got it last night. Listening to it this morning. Curious on how many hours of burn time before I can fully hear its potential ?

My 2p since getting it last week. It's giving me more flexibility with EQ and tailoring it to the headphones. From what I am seeing if you just connect it, you may see it 100% but more likely you need to play with it. What I found, is I just want to keep listening, like everything is just enjoyable with it. It's not like a Woah moment, it's more like, I want to go listen to music with enthusiasm! That said with EDM some of the bass is impressive, and my headphones aren't crazy good (that's the next upgrade). I came from a Sparrow for context. It's quietly impressive so far.

 

[Makiah S]

I got it last night. Listening to it this morning. Curious on how many hours of burn time before I can fully hear its potential ?

I've found with burn in everyone has a different answer and a different idea on how long is acceptable; I'll check with Miki and see what his thoughts are, however, if your thinking about it now I'd recommend just playing some pink noise at no louder than 70dba overnight with your headphone of choice., let the battery run completely dead and give it a fresh charge

In my many years in this hobby, I've found that is most often sufficient, especially for smaller solid-state gear,

My 2p since getting it last week. It's giving me more flexibility with EQ and tailoring it to the headphones. From what I am seeing if you just connect it, you may see it 100% but more likely you need to play with it. What I found, is I just want to keep listening, like everything is just enjoyable with it. It's not like a Woah moment, it's more like, I want to go listen to music with enthusiasm! That said with EDM some of the bass is impressive, and my headphones aren't crazy good (that's the next upgrade). I came from a Sparrow for context. It's quietly impressive so far.

Seeee, this is what I like about our products too! As I've spent more time listening over the years I've found the most revealing/transparent gear tends to pull you in subtly, and as you spend more time you start picking up on more and more little details within music you already love!!!

That said tho, the first time I heard Angel I found a few tracks that wow'd me then and continue to do so haha! It's a fantastic product isn't it!