[TheVortex]

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mt3bUIk

Thanks very much and that's cheaper than I expected.

 

[voicemaster]

Thanks very much and that's cheaper than I expected.

Somebody posted that link on Fiio UTWS5 forum and I bought 2 right away. You could only find them on Taobao which is not very "international" friendly. Thanks to the guy that posted the link to AliExpress store otherwise I was almost give up looking for this dongle.

 

[PhonoPhi]

ah - I stand corrected! I've had that link in my sig to ask about treble peaks because it seems silly to me relative to live music to make such a fuss about it. so i have another treble head friend here in headfi, cool. What do you think of the tri starsea?

Regarding the FLAC containers - if you get familiar with Ogg Vorbis and rip different bit and sample rates from a high quality CD recording that's the best way to learn. Makes me nostalgic for my old Turtle Beach sound card. Now look at "streaming" software ... Most of those services are just http chunked downloads of the same kinds of files.



Conversely, there are a lot of folks here on headfi that refuse to use ESS Sabre DAC's, which is what's in the BTR5 on account of them being perceived as
bright. The new 2021 model has the "pro" chip in it w/ MQA unwrapping or whatever.

In contrast the little BTR3K has dual AKMs and some have said it has a warmer profile than the Sabre chip of the BTR5. I would rather sample an Earmen or E1DA 9038 variant at this point to try ESS since they are so similar, but i would maintain that btr3k is one of the highest quality DAC/amps available for the price.

My only other dac's are my desktop Behringer uphoria unit for work, which has a good DAC but substandard amp (for now. Im looking for a good amp to pair with it) and this PowerDAC v2.1. PDV21 has a really solid bottom end on it and is an amazing piece of gear for its price point. I've ordered a 30 ohm impedance plug to lower the line level hiss on my chifi IEM, but at moderately loud volumes it's not really an issue.

The clarity and instrument separation is incredible on this unit. For us tweakers, the HPToy app is great. Heart Mirror is an example where the "loudness" function is a dry/wet slider that let's you adjust a target frequency. I usually drop to 60 and set it to ~ 40% wet, which fixes all the issues on HM being clinical. On the BTR3k I need more out of the EQ for them to be enjoyable.



ASF/ASX/AST are dark out of the box, which we've beat to death already. Having said that you've convinced me a while ago that I should get a pair and hear for myself.

I was deciding between A16 and C12 when I got my first KZ pair after a brief disappointment with BL-03. I don't think AS16 has anything on the top end that my C12's do not. Do they? Curiosity has had me second guessing all year. The C12 are still my favorites. They are so detailed and so accurate, and I've figured out how to tame the bottom end for most genres by now. I still love 'em, especially for jazz and classical. But it's 45 min max before reaching for one of these other cheap hybrids. They set my tinnitus on edge.



Looking forward to testing a few more out this year.

I grant you that great components and good design are going to sound better than the highest bitrates on cheap dongles. But it's the multi-processor / quad redundant nonsense of FiiO's top model and others like it that drive me a bit batty. 2 large for a glorified iPod is way beyond my threshold for an acceptable cost/performance ratio.

Since I'm in mucking around with the EQ so often, a perfect amp for me is the rather boring "wire with gain". The THX 789 models, iFi's iDSD rigs, and this new TK2 from Tri all appeal to me on that criteria. I totally get that good iem/amp pairings exist that don't need EQ, it's just not quite my thing.

This new xDSD Gryphon from iFi looks good on paper and is retailing for about 600 or $700 which seems correct for a high-end device. The iDSD Diablo is also tempting. And who doesn't want a Cayin C9 with hybrid tube goodness? That might be my weak spot on the high end, but I've got other addictions to feed!

A lot of great points and questions!
My time is a bit limited now, so just a brief answer, sorry.

Two main reasons for my "trebleheadness" were classical music, commonly shy in treble, and my first ESS- based (!) DAP - Pioneer X30.
So I slowly learned that "cooking" of the DAC chip is very important. The same chip can sound very different.
For instance, UA2 is quite AK/analogue-like rendering of ESS. Here is a brief summary of my DAC journey.
I do feel that ESS fits trebleheadness quite well though in general If not - there are more neutral Cirrus. "Velvet" AK sound is so not my cup of tea somehow.

For C12- the treble is lovely, it is the DD for me that is the main limitation, I may try to equalize around midbass and low mids based on your points.

AS16 have BA bass - gentle, only when needed, very much an acquired taste, but two good Knowles-like BAs as in BA10 are there, and the drivers overall are like a double string quartet: 2X (bass+mid+2treble), so the graph is quite treble-rich, and the sound of four TWFK-like drivers is there as well - not so much treble extension, but the presence region - works really well with older classical recordings to my limited taste.
ASX are another story (4 SWFK-like + 4 TWFK-like BAs) but I would not recommend ASX readily, at least at first approximation.

As for the Starsea - 9.5 Ohm made it definite "no" for me - it can be fun to have crazy source- (and then more of the cable-) dependence, but why. I have ~12 Ohm VG4 also with switches (and 12 is just one value reported at 1 kHz, it can go even lower). VG4 somehow happened to be one of my strongest deep disappointments - not that it was something wrong with the sound per se - just could not find it any special - neither Sonion bass, nor RAF treble, so then got my biased opinion strengthened that it is more rewarding to get top products of companies, like KZ, rather than some "mid range" that must sound less than top products.

 

[seanwee]

Two main reasons for my "trebleheadness" were classical music, commonly shy in treble, and my first ESS- based (!) DAP - Pioneer X30.
So I slowly learned that "cooking" of the DAC chip is very important. The same chip can sound very different.
For instance, UA2 is quite AK/analogue-like rendering of ESS. Here is a brief summary of my DAC journey.
I do feel that ESS fits trebleheadness quite well though in general If not - there are more neutral Cirrus. "Velvet" AK sound is so not my cup of tea somehow.

While lower end AKMs have a "velvet" sound, I found that daps using the higher end 4497 and 4499 tend to sound analytical with the sole exception being the Cayin N8. Perhaps its an implementation choice since those chips are only found in higher end daps but that's the impression I've gotten so far. The odd one out would be the 4493 which seems to want to sound neutral-bright but its poor treble handling makes it sound unrefined, even in the N3 PRO which is a warm dap in general.

 

[yaps66]

New to this thread but thought I would just share my experience with the ZEX Pro. Have about 50 hours on them and am loving it. Been listening to Monty Alexander's Love You Madly: Live at Bubba's (DSD512) on repeat and am loving the sound I am hearing. Have been A/B'g some of the tracks with my EM5, Timeless and Starlights and the ZEX Pro hold their own over the other iems/bud. These will certainly go into my rotation. After going through this thread, I should perhaps qualify that my ears are about 56 years old!!!

 

[idunnowhyimhere]

So, just received my AptX adaptive usb bluetooth dongle from AE. Paired it up with my UTWS5 and it paired up really fast and the LED turn red means it is connected using AptX adaptive. Then I, out of curiosity, connected the AZ09 pro and lo and behold the LED turn solid red which mean it is connected using AptX adaptive instead of regular AptX. Is KZ not knowing that their qc3040 chip is AptX adaptive capable but not advertising it? I also tried my BT20s pro and BT30, both connected using regular AptX. I tried to connect the AZ09 pro again and it is still connected using AptX adaptive. This is really surprising and amazing at the same time.

I have the az09 pro and it absolutely can be switched to aptx adaptive on my LG v60. I too was confused by the fact that they didn't advertise it. I've been using it over my fiio utws3 adapter.
Adaptive plus high performance mode and low latency mode makes the az09 pro a steal at that price. If only they would turn off properly when I put them away

 

[voicemaster]

I have the az09 pro and it absolutely can be switched to aptx adaptive on my LG v60. I too was confused by the fact that they didn't advertise it. I've been using it over my fiio utws3 adapter.
Adaptive plus high performance mode and low latency mode makes the az09 pro a steal at that price. If only they would turn off properly when I put them away

Mine always turn off properly everytimr I put them in the case and close the lid.

 

[Tzennn]

Edit: Since i can't find qudelix 5k, i decide to buy az09 pro or bt20s pro. Can someone compare 2 of them, also suggesting 1 good dongle if possible. Thank in advance

 

[unifutomaki]

Any suggest for a good budget dac? I want a good budget bluetooth dac/amp with no colouration (neutral sound). I already have sone options in mind:
- Tempotec E44 + Kz az 09 pro
- Jcally JM10 JM20 JM40 + KZ AZ 09 pro.
- Fiio btr5 2021 - btr3k
- Qudelix 5k
- Shanling UP4
Have PEQ built in is a huge plus, also i tend to like a dial volume control if possible.

Why would you need the Tempotec or Jcally if you were to go with the AZ09?

 

[johnjazz]

I came across some strange findings and was wondering if anyone else experienced the same. I purchased the ZEX Pro followed by the CRN two weeks later (just for the sake of the CRIN logo) and was surprised to find that they both sounded quite differently. I thought they are supposedly both the same

 

[Tzennn]

Why would you need the Tempotec or Jcally if you were to go with the AZ09?

Well i might buy expensive mmcx iem so i want to have a proper dac to drive them. Az09 don't have mmcx option tho

 

[baskingshark]

I came across some strange findings and was wondering if anyone else experienced the same. I purchased the ZEX Pro followed by the CRN two weeks later (just for the sake of the CRIN logo) and was surprised to find that they both sounded quite differently. I thought they are supposedly both the same

Unit variation?

 

[johnjazz]

Unit variation?

The variation is pretty pronounced! One sounded laid back while the other has better clarity and more distinct imaging.

 

[1clearhead]

The variation is pretty pronounced! One sounded laid back while the other has better clarity and more distinct imaging.

So, which one sounds laid back and which one has better clarity and distinct imaging?

Thanks in advance.

-Clear

 

[seanwee]

Any suggest for a good budget dac? I want a good budget bluetooth dac/amp with no colouration (neutral sound). I already have sone options in mind:
- Tempotec E44 + Kz az 09 pro
- Jcally JM10 JM20 JM40 + KZ AZ 09 pro.
- Fiio btr5 2021 - btr3k
- Qudelix 5k
- Shanling UP4
Have PEQ built in is a huge plus, also i tend to like a dial volume control if possible.
Edit: or should i buy TRN bt20s pro ?

I recently got the JCALLY JM20 and its decent. Details are pretty good but compared to my DX160 it notably loses in bass extension/rumble, very small difference in microdetails/dynamics as well as soundstage.

The best value for money usb c dac is supposedly the meizu hifi dac pro but I could't find anywhere selling it so i got the JM20