[emilsoft]

I haven't encountered any issues with mine.

With both the old and new firmware?

 

[Ichos]

With both the old and new firmware?

I updated as soon as I unboxed it so I don't know about the old.

 

[emilsoft]

@Ichos @Miroslav EarMen Does the Colibri do power-impedance matching like the Sparrow? I think I noticed when I plugged in my HD800S or sensitive IEM -it seems to adapt the volume levels/power depending on the HP impedance.. I'm not 100% sure though.

If it does the power matching, do I need to plug in my headphone in first before turning on the Colibri? Or it can stay turned on constantly and adapt as I plug different headphones? I think the Sparrow only adapts the power when first turned on, subsequent matching it needed to be turned off/on

 

[emilsoft]

It's got gobs of power on 4.4mm- it's pushing my HD800s very loud without any trouble at 30% volume according to Roon.. I limited max to 60% as I'm scared of accidents!

Actually just tested with apple music and the volume has a lot less scope - i can almost max it out with HD800S.. but with Roon it can go much much louder. It seems that Roon unlocks extra volume levels when running it in exclusive mode - it can go twice as loud! Not sure what's going on here..

Also when in Roon exclusive mode I can't change the volume from the dongle buttons itself, i can only do it via software. Android UAPP bitperfect mode allows button volume change, shame Roon can't do it

 

[Ichos]

@Ichos @Miroslav EarMen Does the Colibri do power-impedance matching like the Sparrow? I think I noticed when I plugged in my HD800S or sensitive IEM -it seems to adapt the volume levels/power depending on the HP impedance.. I'm not 100% sure though.

If it does the power matching, do I need to plug in my headphone in first before turning on the Colibri? Or it can stay turned on constantly and adapt as I plug different headphones? I think the Sparrow only adapts the power when first turned on, subsequent matching it needed to be turned off/on

I am not sure but I think that it does because with the Sennheiser HD660S I had roughly the same volume range as with the FiiO FD7

 

[emilsoft]

Ok new firmware seems lot more stable, so far so good. Fw update is must.

Sound quality is excellent with IEMs, Colibri makes them sing adding depth and articulation I haven't heard before - it does it in a delicate manner. I will post more once I spend some time with it and burn in.

I noticed that it does hiss a fair bit with more sensitive IEMs which is unfortunate in this day and age, the Sparrow doesn't. I wish there was a way to decrease gain

 

[Ichos]

You must have very sensitive IEMs because with all the usual stuff I have tested, the Colibri is dead silent even with a short cable attached next to a phone.

 

[emilsoft]

You must have very sensitive IEMs because with all the usual stuff I have tested, the Colibri is dead silent even with a short cable attached next to a phone.

It not emi noise like the Sparrow, but hiss from the amplifier circuit. I tested with Campfire Andromeda and Softears RSV - 3.5mm out was okish, 4.4mm had good amount of hiss - especially on Andromeda and higher than i like on the RSV. In comparison RSV has zero hiss on balanced from ifi Gryphon 4.4mm/Qudelix/Sparrow - even Caying RU6 i think had less noise, not to mention Mojo 2

* It not a big enough deal with the RSV, i can still enjoy them.. I'm still testing the Andromeda

 

[emilsoft]

Looks like my Earmen Colibri is kaput. It won't turn on - charging light is on for a while now but device just won't turn on

 

[emilsoft]

@Miroslav EarMen - Colibri sometimes get stuck in a weird mode: when i turn it on, the light doesn't come on, but computer detects it as ESS USB audio instead of "Colibri" (and it doesn't work, no audio comes through). I managed to flash firmware twice and it started working again but now it's again stuck in this weird state and I can't get it to start working again.. It seems to be happening randomly, last time it happened when it powered off automatically with timeout when detached, i guess it didn't power down completely and ended up in a weird state. Please check the firmware maybe there is a clue why it gets stuck like this.

 

[Ichos]

Dear friends here are my impressions of the Colibri.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/earmen-colibri.25806/review/29172/

Thank you very much for reading and feel free to comment.

 

[emilsoft]

Dear friends here are my impressions of the Colibri.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/earmen-colibri.25806/review/29172/

Thank you very much for reading and feel free to comment.

Glad you enjoyed it. I was disappointed with it unfortunately - significant noise with sensitive IEMs (Softears RSV and Campfire Andromeda), no gain settings (nor impedance sensing unlike the Sparrow), also intermittent defect where it seems to crash and stay locked unable to fully boot - requiring firmware re-flash to get up and running again. As for sound quality - it was good, but I expected a little better if I'm honest in this day and age. I think the ifi Gryphon has a superior and more natural/pleasant sound - I was hoping it would match it putting aside the different form factors, both are battery powered devices.

Also I wish Earmen were more present on this forum, maybe they could have helped me debug my problems or provided me with new fw - they announce something and disappear shortly after, nowhere to be found.

I returned the Colibri as manufacturer defect. I will think twice before another Earmen product; I'm conflicted as their sound quality is typically great but it comes with significant gotchas, Sparrow included (terrible interference noise which is a design bug). They need to spend more effort on QA and real world testing it seems to me.

 

[Ichos]

Glad you enjoyed it. I was disappointed with it unfortunately - significant noise with sensitive IEMs (Softears RSV and Campfire Andromeda), no gain settings (nor impedance sensing unlike the Sparrow), also intermittent defect where it seems to crash and stay locked unable to fully boot - requiring firmware re-flash to get up and running again. As for sound quality - it was good, but I expected a little better if I'm honest in this day and age. I think the ifi Gryphon has a superior and more natural/pleasant sound - I was hoping it would match it putting aside the different form factors, both are battery powered devices.

Also I wish Earmen were more present on this forum, maybe they could have helped me debug my problems or provided me with new fw - they announce something and disappear shortly after, nowhere to be found.

I returned the Colibri as manufacturer defect. I will think twice before another Earmen product; I'm conflicted as their sound quality is typically great but it comes with significant gotchas, Sparrow included (terrible interference noise which is a design bug). They need to spend more effort on QA and real world testing it seems to me.

As I wrote in the review, I don't own super sensitive IEMs but with everything else the Colibri was dead silent.
I have used it for many hours and never encountered the bug you mentioned.
Was the latest firmware released during your time with the Colibri?
It is an obligatory update that solves a couple of bugs.
I agree with the lack of gain setting but sound-wise it is very good for what it is and maybe a bit unfair to compare it with the much larger Gryphon which is the best of it's kind.
The Sparrow is indeed very sensitive to EMI.

 

[emilsoft]

As I wrote in the review, I don't own super sensitive IEMs but with everything else the Colibri was dead silent.
I have used it for many hours and never encountered the bug you mentioned.
Was the latest firmware released during your time with the Colibri?
It is an obligatory update that solves a couple of bugs.
I agree with the lack of gain setting but sound-wise it is very good for what it is and maybe a bit unfair to compare it with the much larger Gryphon which is the best of it's kind.
The Sparrow is indeed very sensitive to EMI.

Yes the noise is a big problem with some of the popular sensitive IEMs - none of my other dongles/sources had such a hissy output, including Qudelix/Fiio BTR7/Mojo 2/Gryphon/Sparrow.

Yes latest mandatory FW update, the one you mentioned - the crashing bug was very intermittent - say after 10-40 plugs/unplugs from my Samsung phone it would lock up for good, power cycling doesn't fix it, only fw re-flash.

I compared it with Gryphon as someone reviewed the two side by side. Yes the Gryphon is larger but it houses many more features, still I agree it's not a like for like comparison but somehow I have very high expectations of Earmen SQ, and wanted to have my socks blown away. I might even prefer the Sparrow as i find it's more obvious coloring of warmth + speed is more characteristic and unique in the ocean of similar sounding "neutral" dongles

 

[Ichos]

Well, if I was forced to choose between the Sparrow and the Colibri, I would take the later.
Anyway I think that it is a little difficult to have jaw dropping experience with this small sized USB dongles, space is limited and you can't house a lot more than the DAC chip, maybe an XMOS receiver and a couple of clocks.
All known DAC chips have been used and most of them sound quite similar.
Larger sized devices like the Gryphon offer more room for the designer to be inventive.