Disclaimer
Reviews are subjective - your mileage may vary. Author is a basshead with older ears and limited hearing above 16k. I tested the PAW S1 with IEM use only, mostly more on the efficient side. As a result I mainly tested the SE output on low gain as I listen at lower volumes and don’t need the OMG POWAH. My experience (and thus this review) does not cover full-sized headphones.
The Good
- Tiny, ultra-portable design
- Clear, detailed sound with excellent imaging
- Almost silent background (even on the Andromeda!)
- Great value - amazing sound for the price
| The Bad
- A bit sharp with some tracks
- In-ear click when changing albums or non-gapless tracks
- Average soundstage
|
TL;DR
The PAW S1 is shockingly good for both its price and size. I prefer the Chord Mojo for stationary use at home, but when commuting to work or on trips, the Lotoo will be my new go-to. It’s now an essential part of my EDC bag!
Paired with mid-fi IEMs (Dunu DK-2001 or Moondrop Blessing 2), you get great, portable sound for a total cost of $450-500. Paired with a higher-end IEM (Andromeda, etc), it’s a surprisingly technically competent source in the price range.
The Lotoo PAW S1 (left), Fiio BTR5 (top), and Chord Mojo (bottom)
The Lotoo PAW S1 is the cutest little DAC/AMP. It’s so small it almost looks like a toy, but dang, it sounds nearly as good as some desktop sources dramatically more expensive and less portable.
It receives power and data from USB-C. The wattage provided by the USB connection does have an impact on the sound it produces - fed from mobile devices without lots of power, the sound is a little flatter with less detail.
When powered by a laptop or desktop offering at least a couple of watts, the sound the S1 produces is precise, clean, and detailed. I tend to prefer my sound a bit more on the warm/lush side, but something about the way the S1 presents a more technical sound engages me; it’s got a little excitement with just enough warmth there to keep it from being sterile. The sound profile is forward to my ears - nothing laid back here. The S1 features sharp attack - almost (but not quite) to a fault - leading to good transients and an excellent sense of dynamics.
Bass is well-represented and controlled with enough current to articulate dynamic drivers with authority. “Letters” from Yosi Horikawa’s Spaces album demonstrates impeccable presence with the right IEM, while not blooming over the crisp details in the midrange. Deep basslines found throughout Shpongle’s Museum of Consciousness have weight and presence. Radiohead’s “Ferel” from TKOL has an appropriate growl with the weight and impact the track deserves. Paired correctly, the S1 will satisfy bassheads, yet the transition from bass to the mids is coherent enough to not turn off those that are decidedly un-basshead-y.
The mids are very detailed on the S1. The presentation is on the clinical/dry side, but very nuanced. Vocals are naturally presented from the deepest vocal registers all the way through the most ethereal siren call. Brenda Boykin’s Chocolate and Chili album renders with her voice front and center. On albums like Radiohead’s Kid-A where the vocals are mixed a little further back, Thom Yorke’s singing emerges beautifully from the electro-rock soundscape enveloping his every strained word.
Treble is a touch brighter than I usually prefer. As mentioned above, it’s got some excitement and folks sensitive to treble may find it a bit more extended/emphasized than preferred. I’m generally treble sensitive and I quite enjoy the S1, but if you are sensitive, some of the EQ options (esp “dental”) would tame it further. On a few tracks with really hot mastering the treble can come across as slightly grainy, but on most tracks it just sounds crisp with details front and center.
The soundstage on the PAW S1 is not its strongest point, offering an average soundstage in terms of how far outside of my head it presents. This is counterbalanced by excellent imaging and layering. All that crispness in the detail helps separate each instrument out.
The PAW provides a set of
pre-packaged EQ settings. I’m usually not much for DSP, so I didn’t spend a ton of time with these. The “none” setting is where I spent most of my time. The movies, near field and far field options also feel like they add bits of crossfeed which I do appreciate (although crossfeed with a few ms of delay would be even better). Picking one of the crossfeed EFX does help widen the soundstage a little. The “dental” EFX setting is horribly named, but does cut the treble down a few db and helps smooth out the presentation a bit on tracks where it is overwhelming.
The S1 has a soft click in the headphones when switching tracks/albums in some players. I believe this is when the audio stream stops and starts again. Not a problem for gapless playback.
Although the S1 has been plug and play pretty much across the board with laptops, desktops, and Android phones, it’s the first device I’ve found that isn’t 100% reliable with the Apple camera connection kit. It works with some USB-A to USB-C cables and adapters connected to the CCK (including the one that came in the box with the S1), but other cables that work with other DAC/AMPS and the CCK will power the S1, but not transfer audio from the iDevice.
IEM pairings
The Lotoo PAW S1 is pretty versatile with IEMs. The almost dead silent background makes super-sensitive multi-BA IEMs like the Andromeda pleasant to use at the lowest volumes, while the unit has enough driving to power dynamic driver and hybrid IEMS at medium volumes. Bassheads will like that the S1 has enough authority to really drive the rumblier IEMs like the Polaris II. I didn’t like them with super-analytical pairings personally.
Select pairing notes:
Campfire Andromeda Gold - This is the least hiss I’ve heard yet on a portable source - almost dead silent to my sensitive-to-hiss ears! The warmth the mechanical crossover adds helps balance the sound of the S1. It’s hard to find good pairings for the Andromeda, so I’m delighted that the S1 fits the bill without needing an IEMatch.
Campfire Polaris II - Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these midbass cannons take a bit of power to fire properly. The S1 gives control to the “extra couple of subwoofers” thump of electronic beats on the Polaris. BOOM.
Dunu DK-2001 - My favorite mid-fi hybrid is really nice with the S1. The technical abilities of the DAC/AMP likely exceed those of the IEM by a hair. For a combined cost of <$500, this sounds amazing if you like slightly v-shaped sound.
JHAudio JH-16 - my trusty old detail monsters are one of the poorer pairings with the S1. Both are more on the analytical side and put details front and center. The combination is aggressive, yet somehow simultaneously flat and sharp. I didn’t spend a lot of time with this pairing because it was borderline unpleasant.
Moondrop Blessing 2 - Another good pairing, the tonal balance and technical capabilities of the Blessing 2 match up nicely with the technical capabilities of the S1. This is a bit more of a neutral pairing than the Dunu above if that’s your sound preference.
Tin HiFi T4 - While not super technical, the T4 has a really pleasant tonality that mellows out the S1. When the two meet in the middle, everything sounds great, at the loss of some of the detail I’ve come to expect so forward on the S1. The result is laid back and easy to relax with.
Compared to the Fiio BTR5
From what I understand, the BTR5 has more driving power and might be a better match to someone trying to power over the ear cans. That’s not my use case though, and when I compare IEMs, the S1 emerges a winner with (subjectively) better sound quality.
The Lotoo PAW S1 compared to the Fiio BTR5
Both devices feature small but informative screens, USB-C, and good industrial design. They feel good in the hand, and generally feel like someone cared deeply about both the outside and the inside during the design and manufacturing process.
Clearly the BTR5 wins hands down for wireless connectivity given that the Lotoo lacks Bluetooth (or a battery) entirely. All the comparisons below were comparing the BTR5 in USB DAC mode, not via Bluetooth.
The BTR5’s 3.5mm SE port is average at best, but the balanced port is actually pretty decent. The Lotoo’s SE port is subjectively a little better than the balanced port on the BTR5. The Fiio is 2.5mm and the Lotoo is 4.4, so depending on your preferred cable, one might edge out the other. If you’re a 3.5mm kind of person, the S1 is a pretty clear winner here.
Both have a forward presentation. The S1 renders finer details than the BTR5, but does so in a way that can come across as sharpness. Depending on your tastes, S1’s handling of detail can be either a good thing, or mildly fatiguing. The S1 has better imaging, and they share roughly the same average soundstage width.
Note that the PAW S1 requires a properly powered USB port to sound its best. When I plugged it into an old iPod Touch via the Apple Camera Connection Kit (puts out a little under a watt of power), the two became much more similar. The reduced power eliminated the edge the S1 had in terms of detail and imaging.
Both have relatively quiet backgrounds - the BTR5 has only a very slight hiss with the Andromeda, compared to virtually none for the S1.The S1 has more power and control in the bass when using the balanced output (and when powered by a decently-powered USB source, but only by a very nominal amount.
If I’m in a situation where plugging in a USB cable is possible, I’d always go for the Lotoo over the Fiio.
Compared to the Chord Mojo
I’ll get it out of the way: I prefer the Mojo sound to the S1. That being said, the Mojo isn’t a clear winner - it’s larger, heavier, feels more likely to break if I drop it, lacks a screen, and costs 3-4x as much.
The Lotoo PAW S1 next to the Chord Mojo
Subjectively, the Mojo’s sound profile tickles my fancy in a way no other DAC/AMP has to date. It articulates the finest details, but does so smoothly and without calling overt attention to them. The Lotoo can render almost if not as much detail, but it’s more in your face about it.
The Mojo has a warmer, more organic presentation - when A/B testing, the S1 comes across as analytical and science-y. All this lush organic rendering does present tradeoffs for the Mojo - the S1 does a better job at separating instruments out and layering them on top of each other in a way that the listener can pick out which is which. The Mojo presents a much wider and deeper soundstage - one of the more average points on the Lotoo. The Mojo has a more ‘natural’ presentation to my ears, particularly with well-recorded music.
An example of the difference in presentation is Muse’s “Take a Bow” from the Black Holes and Revelations album (Tidal FLAC version) - the track has some high-frequency hissy white noise in the mix. The difference in how these devices handle that slight noise floor in a poorly-mastered track is really distinct When listening on a sensitive IEM, the S1 renders this very sharply, with each noisy peak articulated clearly - it’s fairly easy to pick out. On the Mojo it’s still present, but Chord’s rendering technology does a better job at presenting details smoothly so the noise isn't as front and center and the music steals the show - you might even listen to the track casually and not notice the noise. The BTR5 is halfway between the two in terms of how obvious the noise is, although potentially simply because it lacks resolving capability to render it clearly.
I’d never take the Mojo out and about - it’s too large to be convenient for mobile use. If I’m not at home, the Lotoo is good enough. I would have no complaints listening to it in the office or for a pretty extended vacation.
