[d m41n man]

@KHADAS,

Can you help me with my order please? It is supposed to be shipped to Manila, but it is being shipped to Kedron, QLD, Australia, and it is now in Botany. This are the balance RCA.

It might take them past Feb 20th to reply though due to the CNY holiday. Hope they'd get back to you soon, maybe your package is part of a bulk container hence the delay and route.

 

[AtomAmp]

It might take them past Feb 20th to reply though due to the CNY holiday. Hope they'd get back to you soon, maybe your package is part of a bulk container hence the delay and route.

All cool. Good thing it's not the Tone2 Pro itself. But I specified that the RCAs should be shipped together with the unit. Don't know what happened.

 

[Dolores Dolomites]

Sow-uh... My KHADAS Tone2 Pro finally landed on my porch yesterday morning!
First hours of testing left me nothing short of impressed and positively surprised: it proveded thick and musical sound to all of my IEM fleet ranging from BLON BL-03 to ThieAudio Monarch, and could even drive my 300Ω Drop x Sennheiser HD6XX _very_ loud on high-gain - both balanced and single-ended - far better than I expected after reading @d m41n man 's impressions. The Tone2 Pro allows me to unplug those 'phones from my desktop stack and take 'em with me around the house in a mere minute, although - needless to say - my desktop S.M.S.L. M200+SP200 combo has a perceiveably cleaner and more discerning sound. But it's also roughly 30x the size and weight!

Setting it up to work along with HQPlayer 4 Desktop was a breeze: on Ubuntu both the 5.4 patched raw DSD-capable kernel and the standard DoP only-capable 5.8 were plug 'n play to ALSA, while it only took a 2-minutes driver installation on Windows 10 Pro (20H2).

I'm shocked by the size-to-performance ratio of this little beauty!
Just about the perfect semi-portable tool my lappie was out there looking for... Love it.
Thank You, @KHADAS ! Awesome job.

 

[captblaze]

Sow-uh... My KHADAS Tone2 Pro finally landed on my porch yesterday morning!
First hours of testing left me nothing short of impressed and positively surprised: it proveded thick and musical sound to all of my IEM fleet ranging from BLON BL-03 to ThieAudio Monarch, and could even drive my 300Ω Drop x Sennheiser HD6XX _very_ loud on high-gain - both balanced and single-ended - way far better than I expected after reading @d m41n man 's impressions. The Tone2 Pro allows me to unplug those 'phones from my desktop stack and take 'em with me around the house in a mere minute, although - needless to say - my desktop S.M.S.L. M200+SP200 combo has a perceiveably cleaner and more discerning sound. But it's also roughly 30x the size and weight!

Setting it up to work along with HQPlayer 4 Desktop was a breeze: on Ubuntu both the 5.4 patched raw DSD-capable kernel and the standard DoP only-capable 5.8 were plug 'n play to ALSA, while it only took a 2 minutes driver installation on Windows 10 Pro (20H2).

I'm shocked by the size-to-performance ratio of this little beauty!
Just about the perfect semi-portable tool my lappie was out there looking for... Love it.
Thank You, @KHADAS ! Awesome job.

congrats... mine is still enroute, but your impressions should be a good reminder of what is to come

 

[d m41n man]

Sow-uh... My KHADAS Tone2 Pro finally landed on my porch yesterday morning!
First hours of testing left me nothing short of impressed and positively surprised: it proveded thick and musical sound to all of my IEM fleet ranging from BLON BL-03 to ThieAudio Monarch, and could even drive my 300Ω Drop x Sennheiser HD6XX _very_ loud on high-gain - both balanced and single-ended - far better than I expected after reading @d m41n man 's impressions. The Tone2 Pro allows me to unplug those 'phones from my desktop stack and take 'em with me around the house in a mere minute, although - needless to say - my desktop S.M.S.L. M200+SP200 combo has a perceiveably cleaner and more discerning sound. But it's also roughly 30x the size and weight!

Setting it up to work along with HQPlayer 4 Desktop was a breeze: on Ubuntu both the 5.4 patched raw DSD-capable kernel and the standard DoP only-capable 5.8 were plug 'n play to ALSA, while it only took a 2-minutes driver installation on Windows 10 Pro (20H2).

I'm shocked by the size-to-performance ratio of this little beauty!
Just about the perfect semi-portable tool my lappie was out there looking for... Love it.
Thank You, @KHADAS ! Awesome job.

Good to hear. Did you use a separate power supply on the i2s usb port? Mine does get the volume up on high gain single-ended while just on the main usb port but it is obviously struggling during the busy elements of the music, losing some layering in the process but yeah like you said, pretty impressive drive from a DAC/amp this size and might just potentially be the 'only' DAC/amp you'll ever need to bring.

 

[captblaze]

Good to hear. Did you use a separate power supply on the i2s usb port? Mine does get the volume up on high gain single-ended while just on the main usb port but it is obviously struggling during the busy elements of the music, losing some layering in the process but yeah like you said, pretty impressive drive from a DAC/amp this size and might just potentially be the 'only' DAC/amp you'll ever need to bring.

have you tried the balanced RCA output yet? I want to see how it will sound through a class d amp into some LS50s and plan on going that route with the Tone2 pro

 

[d m41n man]

have you tried the balanced RCA output yet? I want to see how it will sound through a class d amp into some LS50s and plan on going that route with the Tone2 pro

Not yet. I still don’t have the balanced RCA - XLR interconnects, hoping to try with some studio monitors.

 

[captblaze]

Not yet. I still don’t have the balanced RCA - XLR interconnects, hoping to try with some studio monitors.

any opinion on the way the volume wheel functions or how easy it is to navigate the options?

 

[d m41n man]

any opinion on the way the volume wheel functions or how easy it is to navigate the options?

It’s unintuitive at first but pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Cycling through the options just require the double press of the knob (on top side of knob itself, not surface). Here’s the video guide on how to navigate it like a pro - Tone2 Pro Volume Encoder Wheel

 

[Dolores Dolomites]

have you tried the balanced RCA output yet? I want to see how it will sound through a class d amp into some LS50s and plan on going that route with the Tone2 pro

For the time being, I'm not planning to use the Tone2's balanced RCAs so I haven't ordered the cables, but last night I've been doing some intensive unbalanced-RCA A/B comparison against my (balanced) desktop S.M.S.L M200 DAC (a well-measuring one, although still "mid-fi" class, I guess): the tiny jewel's Sabre converters sounded brighter across all tests, with elevated mids and low-trebles compared to the M200's AK4497s, which in turn are thicker in the lower-mids region, giving some male vocals and some instruments' fundamentals the energy they deserve, without being overwhelming.
Incredibly enough to me, it felt like a tie in terms of dynamics, positioning and soundstage. I had the toughest of times picking a clear favorite: depending on the audio material, I leaned towards one, then the other, and back again...
Both DACs were feeding an xDuoo TA-20 hybrid amp, with Russian Tung-Sol 12AU7Ws taking care of the pre-amp stage, which in turn fed my HD6XX and oldies but goodies NAD + Canton amp and bedroom speakers.

Musical bliss all along with both, so my educated guess would be that unless the speakers (or headphones for that matter) are _markedly_ on the bright side of the moon, the Tone2 Pro will make your KEFs some very happy campers considering the size, @captblaze !

 

[captblaze]

For the time being, I'm not planning to use the Tone2's balanced RCAs so I haven't ordered the cables, but last night I've been doing some intensive unbalanced-RCA A/B comparison against my (balanced) desktop S.M.S.L M200 DAC (a well-measuring one, although still "mid-fi" class, I guess): the tiny jewel's Sabre converters sounded brighter across all tests, with elevated mids and low-trebles compared to the M200's AK4497s, which in turn are thicker in the lower-mids region, giving some male vocals and some instruments' fundamentals the energy they deserve, without being overwhelming.
Incredibly enough to me, it felt like a tie in terms of dynamics, positioning and soundstage. I had the toughest of times picking a clear favorite: depending on the audio material, I leaned towards one, then the other, and back again...
Both DACs were feeding an xDuoo TA-20 hybrid amp, with Russian Tung-Sol 12AU7Ws taking care of the pre-amp stage, which in turn fed my HD6XX and oldies but goodies NAD + Canton amp and bedroom speakers.

Musical bliss all along with both, so my educated guess would be that unless the speakers (or headphones for that matter) are _markedly_ on the bright side of the moon, the Tone2 Pro will make your KEFs some very happy campers considering the size, @captblaze !

that sounds about right when you compare AKM vs. Sabre DACs. My current DAC in my desktop sports an AKM 4490 so I too will have the ability to hear both to compare. I am wanting the Tone2 Pro as a potential desktop replacement or will use it as my travel DAC (perfect size if you ask me).

I am glad some of us (not me yet) are getting these in a relatively short time from ordering. Props to @KHADAS for not doing the crowd source thing and getting these units out the door in fine fashion

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

Upgraded to the last firmware, and ALL PERFECT with DSD...



it is basic to update
Best regards

Sisco

How does it compare to your A50s, Sound any different?

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

@KHADAS Will there be a Non-PRO version of the Tone2? without MQA for a reduced price?

 

[AtomAmp]

All cool. Good thing it's not the Tone2 Pro itself. But I specified that the RCAs should be shipped together with the unit. Don't know what happened.

Hi @KHADAS, my order RCA to XLR adapter cable was delivered to the wrong person in Kedron, Australia. As to my order Tone 2 Pro, there has been no update to tracking since February 6, 2021. I am starting to have bad feelings about this. Please fix this.

 

[Palash]

My Tone 2 Pro is here.