[musicday]

Silicone case

The silicone case is the best I've seen for any portable device.

 

[hakunamakaka]

Cable input (usb c) side ways instead of the top/ bottom position, or L shaped usb c to usb c cable. Get an “average” size of smartphones and do the cable that size, taking in count that the phone will be in a pocket, therefor the L shape already got you covered in how the phone will be sitting inside the pocket. With those 2 adjustments I can tell that you could be carrying it And not having to pull the phone with a lot of care to not damage it. Better efi shielding inside or in the cable implementation. And of course the volume being on the actual phone or at least a better solution to the actual ones. Believe me, the hilidac beam 2 due to its size it’s way more practical, why I don’t use it exclusively, cause I bought this product and it actually kills it, more with the romi mod, sadly the caveats are quite big, in things that should be already thought on when doing the marketing research. It’s not like “our audience will love this, you know? Hardcore audiophiles that will be substituting their whole desktop solutions for this” “hey phil! But don’t you think there will be customers walking around with this and might be an average person that will walk, jog, even run from a Killer bee hive while using the dongle” “Jesus Dave! You always bringing your negativity to the table! We are talking about an audiophile market, not super heroes!” I can tell that meeting went like that

Forget any wired portable dongles on the go. Get the BT one and you won't look back on S1. By the way you describe things you would be much more happy with BT amp.
These advantages seems like a small details, but makes a massive difference while you are outdoors

I have Shanling UP4, can't comment on other BT amps, but I think they should be fairly similar. BT connection will give you a complete free phone to use / adjusting volume on either amplifier or phone / no more worries about bent cable/ no phone battery drain/ answering any incoming calls with a button click and use BT amp with mic. Sound quality wise I'm on the same boat with people that can't spot any difference between bluetooth and wired connection. This connection is passing only digital data 01010111 and yes depending on codec it would compress high-res music, but in reality who can really hear a difference between good mp3 and lossless rip ? Even though I loved S1, but with no EQ presets I was not able to guess correctly when wired and when BT connection was used. You should try one of these bluetooth gizmos and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[AlexCBSN]

Forget any wired portable dongles on the go. Get the BT one and you won't look back on S1. By the way you describe things you would be much more happy with BT amp.
These advantages seems like a small details, but makes a massive difference while you are outdoors

I have Shanling UP4, can't comment on other BT amps, but I think they should be fairly similar. BT connection will give you a complete free phone to use / adjusting volume on either amplifier or phone / no more worries about bent cable/ no phone battery drain/ answering any incoming calls with a button click and use BT amp with mic. Sound quality wise I'm on the same boat with people that can't spot any difference between bluetooth and wired connection. This connection is passing only digital data 01010111 and yes depending on codec it would compress high-res music, but in reality who can really hear a difference between good mp3 and lossless rip ? Even though I loved S1, but with no EQ presets I was not able to guess correctly when wired and when BT connection was used. You should try one of these bluetooth gizmos and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Lately I’ve been doing nw45a and today my qudelix 5k is arriving thanks for the heads up. Sorry, waking up, I need coffee

 

[hakunamakaka]

Lately I’ve been doing nw45a and today my qudelix 5k is arriving thanks for the heads up. Sorry, waking up, I need coffee

Let us know your findings when comparing qudelix 5k with S1

 

[wenbinbin2010]

Forget any wired portable dongles on the go. Get the BT one and you won't look back on S1. By the way you describe things you would be much more happy with BT amp.
These advantages seems like a small details, but makes a massive difference while you are outdoors

I agree with you that BT DAC/amps are more convenient. I certainly am looking into the current BT market, but I think tech is progressing so fast that I might just wait it out with the Lotoo S1 for a little.

The biggest benefit I find with the S1 being a USB-C dongle is the lack of charging. I never have to worry that the battery will be dead. I can bring the S1 wherever, and I know I'll be able to use it with any device.

 

[IEManiac]

Can anyone tell me why I would want to pick this over the Fiio BTR5 or Qudelix 5K?

 

[jsmiller58]

Can anyone tell me why I would want to pick this over the Fiio BTR5 or Qudelix 5K?

It is a sign of how far Bluetooth has come that this is even a relevant question...!

In my non-critical listening experience the S1, 5K, and BTR5 all sound excellent (I listen to the 5K and BTR5 with LDAC at highest setting). I can convince myself that the S1 sounds fuller, richer, but for general purpose listening i wouldn’t notice it. The S1 would be my choice for stationary listening if I don’t have access to a desktop set up. When I am on the go the BT devices win out for me as they don’t rely on a sometimes questionable wired connection to the phone, they don’t suffer from the LTE interference the S1 suffers from, and my phone is much easier to use as it is not connected to anything else.

If, as is rumored, the S1 gets MQA support, that will be a feather in its cap.

 

[soas]

Can anyone tell me why I would want to pick this over the Fiio BTR5 or Qudelix 5K?

I wanted a device that I didn't have to worry about charging or battery problems a few years down the line.

My iPhone doesn't support LDAC so that was a concern. At the same time, I have never done a listening test comparing LDAC vs. AAC, so I don't know if I would be able to tell the difference. But for my current use case of plugging into my work laptop or phone, the S1 is perfect.

Very minor and subjective, but I do like the design of the S1 the most. The one thing I wish it had was a volume pot or wheel like their DAPs have, but that would probably make its price less competitive.

 

[musicday]

Can anyone tell me why I would want to pick this over the Fiio BTR5 or Qudelix 5K?

Because this is Lotoo, a very reliable portable audio company. Unique sound for it's price!

 

[hakunamakaka]

I wanted a device that I didn't have to worry about charging or battery problems a few years down the line.

My iPhone doesn't support LDAC so that was a concern. At the same time, I have never done a listening test comparing LDAC vs. AAC, so I don't know if I would be able to tell the difference. But for my current use case of plugging into my work laptop or phone, the S1 is perfect.

Very minor and subjective, but I do like the design of the S1 the most. The one thing I wish it had was a volume pot or wheel like their DAPs have, but that would probably make its price less competitive.

AAC on iphones is really good. I truly believe that in reality barely someone would be able to tell the difference between well implemented AAC and wired connection. Android users report that LDAC is “better”, but that’s because their AAC codec is no match to iphones yet. I’ve read few articles that BT is not up to high res standard(which is true looking at numbers) but I would love to see these experts in the blind test

 

[Devodonaldson]

Hi all, late comer for S1, only two apps Neutron and UAPP (in built Tidal) works from my Galaxy S10 plus. There's only internal phone speaker for Spotify, Hiby Music , Tidal apps.

When I plugin S1 with stocked USB C cable, there's no USB DAC mode shown , only a pop-up messages asking to choose UAPP or Neutron apps.

Kindly advise me how to get most apps work

AAC on iphones is really good. I truly believe that in reality barely someone would be able to tell the difference between well implemented AAC and wired connection. Android users report that LDAC is “better”, but that’s because their AAC codec is no match to iphones yet. I’ve read few articles that BT is not up to high res standard(which is true looking at numbers) but I would love to see these experts in the blind test

I have an iPhone 7 used purely as a FAP with a Chord Mojo and ifi xdsd. I use Android phones. With my BTR5 it's pretty easy to tell the difference. The biggest change is in the upper frequencies. AAC, has a cutoff that LDAC and wired even moreso reach without issue. Rolled off treble is the biggest difference I hear in LDAC vs both AAC and APTX. Now AAC vs APTX is closer. The treble sparkle difference is much less prominent. I've been using both for a couple years with different DACS. Using the xdsd in Bluetooth vs wired I notice the same difference. Some of that extra life is what is missing, the overall freq response. It's far less noticeable with lesser iems and headphones, I Use Solaris and LCDi4 as my primary portables in ears. 99 Classic is my portable headphone. Again different people can hear things more clearly, but it's definitely noticeable with decent gear.

 

[hakunamakaka]

I have an iPhone 7 used purely as a FAP with a Chord Mojo and ifi xdsd. I use Android phones. With my BTR5 it's pretty easy to tell the difference. The biggest change is in the upper frequencies. AAC, has a cutoff that LDAC and wired even moreso reach without issue. Rolled off treble is the biggest difference I hear in LDAC vs both AAC and APTX. Now AAC vs APTX is closer. The treble sparkle difference is much less prominent. I've been using both for a couple years with different DACS. Using the xdsd in Bluetooth vs wired I notice the same difference. Some of that extra life is what is missing, the overall freq response. It's far less noticeable with lesser iems and headphones, I Use Solaris and LCDi4 as my primary portables in ears. 99 Classic is my portable headphone. Again different people can hear things more clearly, but it's definitely noticeable with decent gear.

I have earsonics EM10 flagship and was not able to guess correctly when AAC and wired connection is being used. You need to have trained ears to spot that and listen critically which doesn’t happen on the go. if you are in mid of your 20’s it’s even harder. AAC can push up to 250kbps now and internet is full of sound samples. I’m not trying disregard the quality drop with AAC codec, but you can’t fallow numbers blindly. Best way is to test yourself. In the past it was considered that flac is far superior against mp3 which was disregarded by many sound engineers during blind tests as they guessed things at nearly 50/50 rate. Same will happen with BT, LDAC is already there, AAC is very close

 

[WareZ]

My S1 absolutely sounds better than my BTR5 over Bluetooth, and I think of the S1 as a great device to stream music from my laptop while I am on the road for work trips. Some of my preference for the S1 may stem from using over-the-ear headphones (Focal Stellia), while IEMs seem exceptionally popular on this board. I'm a little curious if people stream hi-rez over bluetooth because there is no bluetooth protocol that reliably handles 96, 192 or MQA files from what I understand.

I concur... To my ears, Bluetooth 5.0 is nowhere near being the same as a wired connection. BTR5 is good for what it is but it does not sound as good as when its wired. I also use over-the-ears more than IEMs.
BTR5's power makes me question why the S1 doesnt have a battery though. If the S1 was twice as wide, it wouldnt make a difference to me. BTR5 has impressive power compared to the S1.
Also, portable, to me means I can walk around my house while doing chores or I can be working at my desk, go to the kitchen for a drink, come back... all without removing my headphones or disrupting the music. If Im doing physical activities or something, I dont want my huge phone on me, at all.

 

[WareZ]

I'm of the opinion that a dongle is a dongle. However, based on your experience, what would you suggest Lotoo do with the design to make it more pocketable?

Even though this was not directed at me, just in case some company sees this... Any company making a portable wired DAC... Just charge an extra $10-15 and include something exactly like the "Woo Audio" USB-C to C cable, except half as long. Also, throw some medium strength velcro strips in there to stick to back of the phone... perfect portable set up.

And yes, I finally broke down the other day and ordered the $25 (What!!) Woo Audio cable.

 

[WareZ]

Can anyone tell me why I would want to pick this over the Fiio BTR5 or Qudelix 5K?

Apparently, a fair bit of people in here think there isnt one. I think the S1 sounds different. Whether it sounds better is personal preference. For ultimate portability, BT is the way to go, but I already carry this huge phone in my pocket. So I'll sacrifice a little ease of use for that extra 10-20% of joy (read; Sound Quality) the S1 gives my music.