[gancanjam]

I've had the fa-12 and fa-10 side by side. If you have hard to drive planars the fa-10 will power them gloriously meaning full dynamics and soundstage. The fa-10 treble is more laid back which would work well with brighter headphones like some hifiman, otherwise get a the fa-10 pro for dark headphones and/or avoid warm dacs.

Fa-12 is slightly richer than the fa-10 in the lower mids. Fa-12 is a fiery sound, fa-10 is an earthy sound.

A new term ! "Earthy" is a Scent-ophile (?) term than an Audiophile term ..LOL .. It certainly can resonate with audience though ! Especially pairing FA-10 with warmer HPs gives that "grounded" a.k.a. Earthy vibe

 

[brianfromspace]

I’d like to try it first with my Fiio M15 dap with Roon playing through this device with 2x AKM4499 DAC. Balanced 4.4mm to xlr into FA-10/12. Anyone else experience with daps?

i’m not sure if this dac player is good enough for the Flux amps.

 

[gancanjam]

I’d like to try it first with my Fiio M15 dap with Roon playing through this device with 2x AKM4499 DAC. Balanced 4.4mm to xlr into FA-10/12. Anyone else experience with daps?

i’m not sure if this dac player is good enough for the Flux amps.

I am from IEM background and have used DAPs like the AKs / DXs / Sonys / Cayins. They work great with IEMs giving that portable flexibility. Not many would have tried DAPs >> Full size Amps >> Full size HPs yet. Would suggest you try that first to see if in built DAP DAC is capable else you may have to buy another DAC for FA-10/FA-12. More than the Chip set, in DAC the design / topology is very important, unsure how it was done in a palm sized DAP to support a full size Amp.

 

[gancanjam]

My two penneth here would be similar, the A90, while highly accomplished at the price, is just two linear and flat, ultimately lacking in engagement and just a little bit dull. The Fa10/FCN-10 are on a different level when it comes to engagement and musicality, both subjective features, but ones that really highlight you the difference between amps designed for listening pleasure and hifi designed to measure well... this is a bit harsh perhaps, as i do have to keep reminding myself the a90 is $450. When it comes to comparing the FCN10 as DAC and Amp, i'd have to say the dac isnt quite as accomplished as the amp stage, but it is beautifully matched and while not as out and out resolving as other stand-alone dacs it plays perfectly with the FA10's strengths. From my experience with combo's around or below the £1K mark like DX7pro and RME ADI2 where the DAC's streets ahead of very lacklustre amp stages, which i'd argue in headfi, is definitely the wrong way around priority-wise. So again the FCN10 would more than likely work very well for you, but if it was my money i have to say i'd save a bit more for a Chord Qutest or RME AD12 (purely to use as a dac) to partner with the FA10.

Agree.. FCN -10 in built DAC will do just fine but given a choice for few hundred dollars more, RME or Used Qutest or Hugo 2 will be a better choice for FA-10. In a nut shell, Details and treble response will be better from these DACs compared to FCN-10 DAC.

 

[brianfromspace]

Problem i have if i move away from the dap, next to a dac i also need a Roon ready streamer.

 

[teknorob23]

Problem i have if i move away from the dap, next to a dac i also need a Roon ready streamer.

Financially bad but audibly worth it. I can highly recommend either the allo usb bridge signature which is incredible value for £299. We’ve had lots of streamers in to test with our Ethernet filter and this is one of the best under £1k, so I much so I kept it. Add a psu at a later date and it goes up another level. Runs seamlessly with roon too. If you prefer spdif their digione sig is just as good but a bit more pricey.

 

[Honeypot]

Hey guys, do you have any info on the availability of the FA-12? I asked Flux on email and i didn't get any response yet.
Currently is on backorder status..

 

[SQ13]

Financially bad but audibly worth it. I can highly recommend either the allo usb bridge signature which is incredible value for £299. We’ve had lots of streamers in to test with our Ethernet filter and this is one of the best under £1k, so I much so I kept it. Add a psu at a later date and it goes up another level. Runs seamlessly with roon too. If you prefer spdif their digione sig is just as good but a bit more pricey.

Besides streaming, can the Allo usb bridge act as a music player and play flac/dsd files from a microSD card or a usb drive?
Do you simply connect the "clean" usb to the dac?
thanks

 

[brianfromspace]

Besides streaming, can the Allo usb bridge act as a music player and play flac/dsd files from a microSD card or a usb drive?
Do you simply connect the "clean" usb to the dac?
thanks

Yes you can hook up USB drive to my knowledge.

 

[teknorob23]

Besides streaming, can the Allo usb bridge act as a music player and play flac/dsd files from a microSD card or a usb drive?
Do you simply connect the "clean" usb to the dac?
thanks

It’s designed as an endpoint so it needs music server to which you attached library drives and stream from, whether that’s a pc of dedicated server. The sd slot is for the OS, re clean usb is output for dac, the other two are for accessories like wifi dongle.

 

[cangle]

Financially bad but audibly worth it. I can highly recommend either the allo usb bridge signature which is incredible value for £299. We’ve had lots of streamers in to test with our Ethernet filter and this is one of the best under £1k, so I much so I kept it. Add a psu at a later date and it goes up another level. Runs seamlessly with roon too. If you prefer spdif their digione sig is just as good but a bit more pricey.

+1 for the Allo streamer. I'm using the digione signature as a roon endpoint powered by their shanti linear psu and am very happy with it.

Edit: I'm using RoPieee as the OS

 

[cangle]

Also I'm planning on purchasing an FA-12 in the next few days.

 

[Slim1970]

Agree.. FCN -10 in built DAC will do just fine but given a choice for few hundred dollars more, RME or Used Qutest or Hugo 2 will be a better choice for FA-10. In a nut shell, Details and treble response will be better from these DACs compared to FCN-10 DAC.

Yes, I’ve had two of the three connected to my FA-10, the RME and Hugo 2. Both improved the FA-10‘s treble response. The Hugo 2 also brought improvements in other areas as well. Namely, speed, clarity, and definition.

 

[mikem1062]

Besides streaming, can the Allo usb bridge act as a music player and play flac/dsd files from a microSD card or a usb drive?
Do you simply connect the "clean" usb to the dac?
thanks

I'm using a USBridge Signature and have a USB stick plugged into one of the two "Wifi/BT" USB ports on the front. I can play files from the USB stick using either of the two OS's I've tried (Volumio & Moode). Not sure if an unpowered USB drive would work - it might draw too much power, but a USB stick works great.

 

[SQ13]

I'm using a USBridge Signature and have a USB stick plugged into one of the two "Wifi/BT" USB ports on the front. I can play files from the USB stick using either of the two OS's I've tried (Volumio & Moode). Not sure if an unpowered USB drive would work - it might draw too much power, but a USB stick works great.

Thanks, that works for me as I use usb stick more than NAS ( i have always power off the NAS).
As I am new to Volumio and Moode, which do you recommend as a starter? and I can experiment with the other at a later stage.
Thanks for you help.