[H20Fidelity]

Look what Uncle H20 has boys.
 
 

 
 
 
Time to get this thread down the same path as the Shozy Alien. 

 

 

[shigzeo]

Are those P or S? It is possible that Astrapi may run them properly if S. I've not enough experience with P. And it shouldn't hiss much through either. They may be THE earphone to pair. 

 

[shigzeo]

   
In fact there are many ways to add extra steps and control to iphone (iwatch's knob, apps with gain knob like kaiser tone/ neplayer)....  using with android will give you a lower output that you probably won't complain, and noise level differs. It is not a product for you to sit in a silent room and blame the hiss anyways, this is portable gear, hiss is barely portable on the street unless you must use a very sensitive ciem with it (which is not recommended lol)
 
And should the sound quality of Alien be put into a cheaper product that has no battery inside and 1/5 the size? Probably no and shouldn't? It is another chipset and power constraints, space. programming all differs... not even practical to compare 

 Try compare to products of the exact same function.... anyways I kinda know what sound will make you happy now lol

Again: if Astrapi cannot outperform or add any other benefit to the iPhone to which it is supposed to be connected, and if it is only a DAC with a fixed HPA, it doesn't need to be big at all. If you reduced Alien down to the barest parts it should be tiny. Same with iPhone. SOC allows very small processors, and some of them can perform flawlessly. There is a flaw in the design; unequivocally that is what I'm saying. 

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Are those P or S? It is possible that Astrapi may run them properly if S. I've not enough experience with P. And it shouldn't hiss much through either. They may be THE earphone to pair. 

 
They're ER4S. 

 Astrapi seems to drive them well enough, not on ultimate levels I've heard using an amp though certainly usable with enough volume range. I had been reading the previous pages and thought ER4S would fit well. 

 
I will try some low impedance like 11ohm Fidue A83 and see where they stand.

 

[H20Fidelity]

It seems the stock Galaxy S3 music player was giving me some problems, the music would pause randomly sometimes.
 
However, I've been introduced quite recently to USB Audio Pro app on Android. While its not a free app (about $10) it clears up any problems immediately.
 
Also because of the apps hardware volume control I'm not limited to just 16 steps? I can go from super quiet listening levels to extremely loud.
 
Using this app provides much smoother, consistant flowing volume control.
 

 
 
As for the sound it eats the Galaxy S3 headphone out up easily. Completely noticeable without trying.
 
I'd say it reaches up around DX50 levels, maybe even higher (at least with the ER4S) which is all I've tried atm.

 

[Lohb]

Does anyone know if this has a Texas Instrument DAC chip ? I searched the thread and it seems what dac chip was inside was asked a couple of times...I doubt it will be anything Sabre.
I found the TI chip in HRT microStreamer to be very natural/musical/detailed for the price-point.
 
Looking at picking up an HRT MS used again or this new for my phone now I have USB Audio Pro vs buying a dedicated DAP.
Either USB DAC will hook up to an Aurisonics set of IEM's eventually so hopefully driving them off the DAC will be OK.

 

[money4me247]

  Does anyone know if this has a Texas Instrument DAC chip ? I searched the thread and it seems what dac chip was inside was asked a couple of times...I doubt it will be anything Sabre.
I found the TI chip in HRT microStreamer to be very natural/musical/detailed for the price-point.
 
Looking at picking up an HRT MS used again or this new for my phone now I have USB Audio Pro vs buying a dedicated DAP.
Either USB DAC will hook up to an Aurisonics set of IEM's eventually so hopefully driving them off the DAC will be OK.

dac chip is not revealed. I asked Cozoy directly and they said they prefer not to disclose. for more adventurous head-fiers, perhaps someone may crack it open & have a look at its inwards heh

 

[H20Fidelity]

  dac chip is not revealed. I asked Cozoy directly and they said they prefer not to disclose. for more adventurous head-fiers, perhaps someone may crack it open & have a look at its inwards heh

 
I doubt you will find out even opening Astrapi. My guess is the DAC chip will have been sanded free or any serial/model numbers.
 
Little tricks the Chinese companies do to protect from fakes and spying eyes. 

 

[shigzeo]

  It seems the stock Galaxy S3 music player was giving me some problems, the music would pause randomly sometimes.
 
However, I've been introduced quite recently to USB Audio Pro app on Android. While its not a free app (about $10) it clears up any problems immediately.
 
Also because of the apps hardware volume control I'm not limited to just 16 steps? I can go from super quiet listening levels to extremely loud.
 
Using this app provides much smoother, consistant flowing volume control.
 

 
 
As for the sound it eats the Galaxy S3 headphone out up easily. Completely noticeable without trying.
 
I'd say it reaches up around DX50 levels, maybe even higher (at least with the ER4S) which is all I've tried atm.

Well, DX50 shows very little load effect when driving earphones. Astrapi shows load like mad. So: no way is it near DX50 levels. In loudness? Sure. But in noise and current drive, no. Great device, but could do with better performance.

 

[H20Fidelity]

 
Well, DX50 shows very little load effect when driving earphones. Astrapi shows load like mad. So: no way is it near DX50 levels. In loudness? Sure. But in noise and current drive, no. Great device, but could do with better performance.

 
You don't think? I'm not really experienced with the load levels you speak about.
 
I was merely talking about the overall detail, clarity I was achieving with ER4S appeared on similar levels to DX50.
 
I haven't tried much else besides ER4S.  To be honest, I'm really about DX90, Shozy Alien, Pono player which are ahead of Astrapi imo.
 
I think Astrapi is fun and gives much cool factor for "look what I turned my phone into". But not something I'd seriously use, at least from the above mentioned players.

 

[Lohb]

  Also because of the apps hardware volume control I'm not limited to just 16 steps? I can go from super quiet listening levels to extremely loud.
 
Using this app provides much smoother, consistant flowing volume control.
 

Are you using the phone's hardware volume control with Astrapi/UAPP or UAPP on-screen volume controls ?

 

[H20Fidelity]

  Are you using the phone's hardware volume control with Astrapi/UAPP or UAPP on-screen volume controls ?

 
On screen. 

 
I'm pretty sure you can only switch between onscreen or hardware in the apps settings. (one or the other)
 
Using the phones volume buttons still only provides 16 steps. 
 
Pretty sure anyway.

 

[mks100]

Just ordered mine without realizing it was not USB 3.0 compatible.  My Laptop does not have any USB 2.0 ports.  Would a USB 2.0 Hub solve the issue?  Thanks in advance.

 

[mks100]

It works!!!  Still playing around with it but initial impressions are very positive.  Although not USB 3.0 "Compatible" my Windows 8.1 Laptop with USB 3.0 works perfectly.  More to come...

 

[shigzeo]

   
You don't think? I'm not really experienced with the load levels you speak about.
 
I was merely talking about the overall detail, clarity I was achieving with ER4S appeared on similar levels to DX50.
 
I haven't tried much else besides ER4S.  To be honest, I'm really about DX90, Shozy Alien, Pono player which are ahead of Astrapi imo.
 
I think Astrapi is fun and gives much cool factor for "look what I turned my phone into". But not something I'd seriously use, at least from the above mentioned players.

 

 
 
I didn't realise you were using the ER4s. It may be a sweet spot for Astrapi. Anything below 32Ω, and perhaps up to 40Ω, proves to be problematic for Astrapi to properly supply with enough current. I've written about it here.