[AlexCBSN]

I think it would also be nice to turn the led off entirely, its so bright at night time when in bed I would assume that would involve developing an app.

Or a “custom fw” though an app would be a better idea, though development after release might be a hassle, don’t know if there’s the need for specific hw changes. Nevertheless, the led should be addressed.

hi all! Not so long lurker, heard about this device back in September or so, I thought I would pass on it, but lockdown has give me a looooot of free time and instead of starting a new hobby, I just kept diggging in my favorite (and money consuming) one, so I ordered a sparrow, i think I’ll post a comparison with ltp s1 and e1da 9038s g3 susumu3000, I haven’t seen those 2 compared with this. Lately as much as I love carrying a dap, I think dacs are the best solution (portability wise)

I’m looking forward for my sparrow

 

[Dionietzscheus]

Or a “custom fw” though an app would be a better idea, though development after release might be a hassle, don’t know if there’s the need for specific hw changes. Nevertheless, the led should be addressed.

hi all! Not so long lurker, heard about this device back in September or so, I thought I would pass on it, but lockdown has give me a looooot of free time and instead of starting a new hobby, I just kept diggging in my favorite (and money consuming) one, so I ordered a sparrow, i think I’ll post a comparison with ltp s1 and e1da 9038s g3 susumu3000, I haven’t seen those 2 compared with this. Lately as much as I love carrying a dap, I think dacs are the best solution (portability wise)

I’m looking forward for my sparrow

Looking forward to your comparo with 9038s. I have iBasso DX 160 but love the presentation on Sparrow balanced output + Qobuz.

 

[Azonic]

Hey everyone,

Got myself an Earmen Sparrow in the sales last month, been incredibly impressed so far for such a small unit!

I have had a couple of issues with it that I am yet to get a response from Earmen, the retailer or Tidal about, so I thought it might be worth seeing if anyone else has found a solution here.

Just to give you some idea of hardware - I'm using the Sparrow DAC with a Windows 10 laptop and a Samsung Galaxy S10 android phone. I have Tidal Premium and mostly use Mangird Tea IEMS and both a 3.5mm and 2.5mm KBear Rhyme 8-core 2-pin cable.

The first issue has to do with playing MQA through Tidal on Windows 10.

I have followed Earmens instructions here for how to play MQA files through Tidal on the Sparrow - https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...uction_for_playing_MQA_files.pdf?v=1605172752

When I select "Use Exclusive Mode" and turn "Passthrough MQA" off I do get the magenta coloured icon light up on the Sparrow indicating MQA mode is active however it also automatically sets my volume level to 51 on Windows 10, which comes through incredibly loud (like, ear damaging loud) through my Sparrow. When I turn this down through the Windows 10 volume control (Tidal volume control is locked out in Exclusive mode) it automatically switches back to volume level 51 when the next track plays, which is incredibly jarring and loud as you can imagine.

I have not found any way around this, I either have to remember to pull out my headphones before the end of a track so I can quickly manually turn the volume down on the Windows 10 volume mixer or I cannot listen to Tidal MQA at all as volume 51 is way way too loud. Is anyone else having this issue?

My Sparrow is up to date with the latest firmware (ver 0.1.7982), this seems to me like it's an issue with Tidal, rather than the DAC itself.

The second issue concerns buzzing noises when plugged in to the 2.5mm jack of the Sparrow.

I'm getting electrical interference whenever I have a set of headphones plugged in to the 2.5mm balanced side which essentially causes a buzzing crackling noise in my right earphone in varying degrees of loudness and frequency (as in it intermittantly happens every 10 seconds or so) depending on what im doing on the device it’s plugged in to.

There is no buzzing at all when I have the same set of headphones plugged in using a different cable that uses the 3.5mm jack instead, I have also tested multiple phones (Galaxy S10, S20 and Google Pixel 3) but the same issue remains. The only thing I haven’t been able to test is a different 2.5mm 2-pin IEM cable as I do not own one, but the IEMs work fine on other devices with no buzzing when not using them with the Sparrow.

If it was just a slight buzz in between tracks I wouldn’t mind, but it’s an almost constant quiet buzzing and crackling in one ear regardless of whether a track is playing or not, and is especially obvious in quiet parts of a song or when the volume is low.

The only way I’ve found to stop the noise while using the 2.5mm balanced output is to actually hold the DAC in my hand. When I do this the buzzing disappears however when I don’t have it held in my hand the buzzing comes back, which leads me to believe there's an issue with the device itself.

As i've stated above, I downloaded the Earmen firmware updater and most recent firmware update, it appears as if my Sparrow already came pre-flashed with the most up to date firmware version (0.1.7982)

Cheers for reading,

Azonic

Just a quick update on the volume issue I was having -

For some reason when I was selecting "Use Exclusive Mode" on Tidal it would grey out the "Force Volume" option, so I was unable to deselect it. This no longer appears to be the case as I was able to keep "Use Exclusive Mode" checked and uncheck "Force Volume" which has eliminated the issue I was having with the volume increase after each track.

 

[Dobrescu George]

I made a video review about the Earmen Sparrow!

This is quite cool, with MQA and all the fluff, but it costs a bit more than most of the competition, so I also roast it a bit, and made some fun and smile-bringing content for U guys

 

[AlexCBSN]

Ok... on y va...
Let’s rant a bit...

why? Why do you have an email and don’t attend it? Whyyyyy!?

so, mailed them about taxes and declared value,whoever checks their mail didn’t forward mine, I paid half of what I paid
For the dac cause in mexico they don’t care and invent taxes whenever something comes over 50 usd... so... add 96 dlls plus to the value of the dac that went to a useless government... thanks mate!

second: my box came broken and the “seals” violated, the plastic was intact though, so don’t know if it wasn’t properly sealed when it was packed in the factory Or what, the box had a hit in it, pictures at the end

third: efi with the oem cable was absurd, truly, they are getting heat over here cause of it and they argument a bad cable, purchased mine late December (around the 26 or so) and got an effed cable, changed it to the one from e1da 9038sg3 s3k, no more efi.

the unit itself was intact, so I guess the “warranty seals” were broken back in the factory by mistake or while shipping, or maybe here in customs and they broke my box cause they had to check the unit, that would be a first cause the outside plastic was intact, I don’t know of any custom agency that rewraps stuff

the unit is gorgeous, I love the cristal, however I would not sell it without a proper case, this will take the heat of pockets and bags,will need to get a solution asap

I already said the oem cables are rubish

sound wise

I own a pretty hefty collection of dongles, they are way more practical than daps, I’m getting l&p w1 next week. So... let’s talk first impressions from the sparrow... does it play the game?
YES IT DOES

A tint of warm here, a wee of extension in the treble and perfectly balanced, I cannot compare it with the ltp s1 cause mine is modded, but for what it’s worth, the sound has weight and it has an extended soundstage. Im
Comparing it right now with hidizs s8, ztella mqa and beam2. Funny how the beam2 is outstanding but no one gets it, the company has released fw with better sound signatures and I think it just kept getting better

though the sparrow has a clean presentation and quite a punch. Soundstage feels ample due to the clean presentation in the treble, bass is clear and I can notice how it is presented in a surround manner, though iems are the clear denominator but I’m using my 2go headphones (imr zenith) and believe me, I know how they behave with different sources. I’ll try ex1000 and ier m9 latter tonight.

I want to make a video comparing all the dongles I have but i don’t know how to even edit it, so I guess I will investigate about the topic, media is not my field of expertise, I’m a chef but i LOVE music. And I’m quite demanding with the quality which i listen to it. Therefor my addiction

so yes, the sparrow is worth it... just wished attention to detail in the purchasing experience was taken

 

[voja]

Ok... on y va...
Let’s rant a bit...

why? Why do you have an email and don’t attend it? Whyyyyy!?

so, mailed them about taxes and declared value,whoever checks their mail didn’t forward mine, I paid half of what I paid
For the dac cause in mexico they don’t care and invent taxes whenever something comes over 50 usd... so... add 96 dlls plus to the value of the dac that went to a useless government... thanks mate!

second: my box came broken and the “seals” violated, the plastic was intact though, so don’t know if it wasn’t properly sealed when it was packed in the factory Or what, the box had a hit in it, pictures at the end

third: efi with the oem cable was absurd, truly, they are getting heat over here cause of it and they argument a bad cable, purchased mine late December (around the 26 or so) and got an effed cable, changed it to the one from e1da 9038sg3 s3k, no more efi.

the unit itself was intact, so I guess the “warranty seals” were broken back in the factory by mistake or while shipping, or maybe here in customs and they broke my box cause they had to check the unit, that would be a first cause the outside plastic was intact, I don’t know of any custom agency that rewraps stuff

the unit is gorgeous, I love the cristal, however I would not sell it without a proper case, this will take the heat of pockets and bags,will need to get a solution asap

I already said the oem cables are rubish

sound wise

I own a pretty hefty collection of dongles, they are way more practical than daps, I’m getting l&p w1 next week. So... let’s talk first impressions from the sparrow... does it play the game?
YES IT DOES

A tint of warm here, a wee of extension in the treble and perfectly balanced, I cannot compare it with the ltp s1 cause mine is modded, but for what it’s worth, the sound has weight and it has an extended soundstage. Im
Comparing it right now with hidizs s8, ztella mqa and beam2. Funny how the beam2 is outstanding but no one gets it, the company has released fw with better sound signatures and I think it just kept getting better

though the sparrow has a clean presentation and quite a punch. Soundstage feels ample due to the clean presentation in the treble, bass is clear and I can notice how it is presented in a surround manner, though iems are the clear denominator but I’m using my 2go headphones (imr zenith) and believe me, I know how they behave with different sources. I’ll try ex1000 and ier m9 latter tonight.

I want to make a video comparing all the dongles I have but i don’t know how to even edit it, so I guess I will investigate about the topic, media is not my field of expertise, I’m a chef but i LOVE music. And I’m quite demanding with the quality which i listen to it. Therefor my addiction

so yes, the sparrow is worth it... just wished attention to detail in the purchasing experience was taken

Let me help you out.

First of all, you have to keep in mind that there was New Year's so they might not've been working when you contacted them. Also, in Serbia we celebrate the Orthodox Christmas, so it's the holiday season here and some people do not work. I always received very fast replies from EarMen

Secondly, the factory did not break the seal... they put it so you know if the device has been opened. Of course the customs did indeed open the package and break the seal. You are in Mexico, I am in Serbia. Customs are no different - same corruption and same over the 50 euro value rule. Hopefully you feel better that you are not the only one.

To make you feel even better. I paid something like 105 euros for customs fees on a package that was worth 100 euros. Yup. Customs were more expensive than the declared value of the package itself...

I hope you enjoy your Sparrow and looking forward to see your video review =)

 

[AlexCBSN]

Let me help you out.

First of all, you have to keep in mind that there was New Year's so they might not've been working when you contacted them. Also, in Serbia we celebrate the Orthodox Christmas, so it's the holiday season here and some people do not work. I always received very fast replies from EarMen

Secondly, the factory did not break the seal... they put it so you know if the device has been opened. Of course the customs did indeed open the package and break the seal. You are in Mexico, I am in Serbia. Customs are no different - same corruption and same over the 50 euro value rule. Hopefully you feel better that you are not the only one.

To make you feel even better. I paid something like 105 euros for customs fees on a package that was worth 100 euros. Yup. Customs were more expensive than the declared value of the package itself...

I hope you enjoy your Sparrow and looking forward to see your video review =)

Well thing is that the box came
Perfectly wrapped, and the plastic outside was intact, just asked with a good friend that works in customs, no agency breaks
The plastic, they just go with the Dhl manifesto and from there they google the product. Really rare cases where they open the box, or even bother to open the plastic envelope. Nevertheless, the dac is worth it. Enjoying it right now

 

[Dionietzscheus]

After going through all your posts above, I have to say that due to festive season, there might be some delay in responding from EarMen. Understandable. Ah, and customs, I can understand your pain: due to absurd import/export levies/taxes rules, the cost for items can go through the roof. India is no different in this respect; fortunately, there is an authorised retailer here from whom I bought the Sparrow directly for about 178 euros. So none of that customs nonsense.
Yes, customs are authorised to open seals to check contents, manufacturers don't/ won't (usually) send packages with broken seals.

I can't find any suitable one to replace the stock cable. I wish EarMen would take steps asap to replace that damned cable though. Guys, are you listening?

Most importantly, it'd be nice to have members using other dongles such as EIDA 9038 series or AudioQuest DGF Red/Cobalt post their impressions as to Sparrow's performance vs 9038 vs Cobalt, etc. Thanks for reading.

 

[AlexCBSN]

Sparrow and 9038g3 are quite similar, sparrow has a more natural presentation, though e1da has a more analogue approach (im using a 3rd harmonic filter) and the app gives some good options like selecting the output filter and the already mentioned 3rd harmonic that can be used for analogue sound or the other way around and clean a bit the frequency and make a darker sound

overall the sparrow has a more “natural” presentation and mqa, that’s where it lays it hand up, 9038s has the app, a more coloured presentation and the discord channel where Ivan and staticv3 answer to every single question themselves

 

[AlexCBSN]

Day 3

the highlights:

this guy packs a punch, seriously good quality, even on se it delivers some massive hits, ltp for example lacks in the se quite a bit, I love the presentation of the sound, it’s quite organic, bass reaches low and presents details, it loves a good power source, right now using it from my iPad Pro, it feels quite outstanding, I loved that imr pb2 sounds mighty impressive from the balanced output, all the other dongles I have doesn’t drive em this well, only this and 9038s and ltp s1 are able to deliver good sound from em, from there on, dap or desktop dac only.

the boomers

efi is quite strong, using outdoors with my iPhone gives some pops here and there (depends a lot of the phone signal, and whether there’s music playing in the back) I was buying lunch yesterday when I lowered the volume to order and “pop popoppopopop crack pop” I can’t stand that sound. I’ll try to make a case for it and put some faraday tape as I did for the ltp s1. Will come back with the results, Efi noise is quite common on this devices so it’s not something I’m obsessed or blaming anyone for it.

 

[Dionietzscheus]

For those unhappy owners : ( , myself included, who has had to deal with that infernal hiss on balanced, this could be the perfect solution. Note that 99% of the time, I use Win 10 laptop > Sparrow (USB A > USB C):

https://www.lindy-international.com...e.htm?websale8=ld0101.ld020102&pi=36917&ci=80

This comes with triple-shielding, the kind EarMen recommends on their website: "Due to the increased radiation of some phone models, as well as using the Sparrow without a GND shield cables, there may be some interference when using the device. Our recommendation is to keep Sparrow away from your phone and use shielded GND USB C cables at least 50 cm (20") long."

If you are experiencing EMI/ RFI issues with Sparrow (balanced) > smartphone, think twice before putting your money down on a non-shielded USB C TO USB C CABLE.

I connected this otherwise excellent OTG cable from ddHiFi, the TC 05, to Sparrow but it didn't make the EMI/ RFI noise go away - probably because it was too short and was not adequately shielded.

 

[Azonic]

For those unhappy owners : ( , myself included, who has had to deal with that infernal hiss on balanced, this could be perfect solution. Note that 99% of the time I use Win 10 laptop > Sparrow (USB A > USB C):

https://www.lindy-international.com...e.htm?websale8=ld0101.ld020102&pi=36917&ci=80

This comes with triple-shielding, the kind EarMen recommends on their website: "Due to the increased radiation of some phone models, as well as using the Sparrow without a GND shield cables, there may be some interference when using the device. Our recommendation is to keep Sparrow away from your phone and use shielded GND USB C cables at least 50 cm (20") long."

If you are experiencing EMI/ RFI issues with Sparrow (balanced) > smartphone, think twice before putting your money down on a non-shielded USB C TO USB C CABLE.

I connected this otherwise excellent OTG cable from ddHiFi, the TC 05, to Sparrow but it didn't make the EMI/ RFI noise go away - probably because it was too short and was not adequately shielded.

Damnit, I was hoping you wouldn't say that. As soon as Earmen said the issue was with the cable but they had no eta on when they could send out a replacement I went ahead and bought a ddHiFi TC05 cable which I'm waiting to be delivered! The Sparrow was a big purchase for me and now it seems I'm throwing away money trying to get it to work properly

Were you using the ddhifi cable with the 2.5mm side? I thought the cable was shielded, evidently not enough for a sensitive dac like the sparrow. Just out of interest, did you use the old ddHifi cable or the new one? As they seem to have just released an updated version of the cable with the same name in the past month or so.

Thanks for the heads up. I suppose if Earmen don't get in touch with me in the next month or so about sending a replacement and the new ddhifi cable also still has the same rfi issues at least there's another cable I can try!

 

[onedvt]

Wonder if you'd get the interference issues with the Lotoo Paw S1 cable

 

[paulgc]

@EarMen DHL delivered mine today. About an hour into my first listen. iPad Pro>Tidal MQA>Sparrow 2.5>ALO Audio Pure Silver Litz Balanced>Shure SE846. Great impactful sound; tons of headroom with IEMs; need to keep the Sparrow as far from the Pad as possible or Apple iPad Keyboard or click click click .Only with Keyboard. Now really interested to try with Campfire Cascade. Hmmm...@KB think I will be ordering a balanced set of SXC 8!

 

[paulgc]

@EarMen DHL delivered mine today. About an hour into my first listen. iPad Pro>Tidal MQA>Sparrow 2.5>ALO Audio Pure Silver Litz Balanced>Shure SE846. Great impactful sound; tons of headroom with IEMs; need to keep the Sparrow as far from the Pad as possible or Apple iPad Keyboard or click click click .Only with Keyboard. Now really interested to try with Campfire Cascade. Hmmm...@KB think I will be ordering a balanced set of SXC 8!

Wow @KB just over an hour after ordering the 2.5 SXC 8 I get a FedEx tracking #! Typical Campfire/ALO Audio service one again.