[HiFyAK2020]

Thanks for the impressions from those who have received theirs already (although my order shipped a little earlier than many, I'll be waiting till Monday here in New Zealand for mine).

The side by side shots with the S1 were informative, for some reason I had thought it was quite a bit larger than it actually is. Very nice looking unit.

The comparisons with the S1, were they carefully volume matched?

well - the plane may need a bit longer for your destination than the short hop from US to Frankfurt or Paris...

 

[Strifeff7]

Alright, very quick first impressions using Gaudio's Clariden which are my latest IEMs and the ones which are the most source-sensitive and scale well.

This is using the beginning of four songs:

• I Don't Care Anymore - Phil Collins
• What You Don't Know - Caroline Spence
• Diamond And Rust + Babe, I'm going to Leave You - Joan Baez

Files are the same, either played via Vox on an iPhone XR or Astell & Kern's A&norma SR25.

Cable is OEAudio Digital Audio Cable Type-C to Lightning -- me no likey the bundled whitey cables.

Quick one on L&P's W2 settings:

• Tuning 01: gentle, I confirm it's gentler
• Tuning 02: refine, I confirm it's more refined

These have a clear difference in-between them.
Unless I'll listen to classical music, I'll use Tuning 01 and the following is written with this tuning (Tuning 01 - Gentle) set on the W2.

I've set the W2 to low gain in order to fine tune as much as possible the volume (volume steps are directly on the W2 and is marvelously precise running off an iPhone XR compared to other dongle-type DAC/Amps).

Now, compared to the SR25, the W2 set in "Slow Roll-Off" or "Low-latency Slow Roll-Off" are is the closest to the SR25, as in very close. The W2 seems a tad more precise with a more controlled low-end but not by a huge margin.

Soundstage and amount of air are honestly very close with no night and day difference, perhaps it's the SR25 which has more, no perhaps it's the W2, actually, perhaps, it is... you get it, it's that close.

At this price point, one can't ignore the W2 compared to a DAP such as Astell & Kern A&norma's SR25, and while I won't touch the EQ (don't like EQs), I'm happy with the two tunings together with the filters which allow to get what ones want.

comparison with the H1 & ITM03 ?
thank you,

 

[twister6]

I got my W2 at lunch time and only had time to listen 5 minutes so far to it and compare to the W1 that i own for a while now.
It looks prettier - but that is not the point i know. For musical differences - I think - it is a tiny little clearer and smoother than the W1 and a bit more powerful (maybe 10% as to my guessing?).
Besides this - more listening and comparing needs to be done. I don't understand why my silver W1 came with a black cable and the black W2 came with a white cable but they are surely exchangeable. I use anyway another cable altogether that is around 30 cm long - to avoid ANY interference from the Smartphone.

ONe last point on the MQA discussion - L&P does NOT produce the DAC itself (which is the heart of those devices). So unless Cirrus is offering a DAC with such features - L&P won't be able to provide MQA. They are very good in making the most out of this DAC from Cirrus and my respect for that - but they depend on this US manufacturer's decision what protocols they support on their DAC's and which not.

It's not as much about hardware support, a ton of devices support it, most of today's DACs do, like the ones used in all of these products: https://www.mqa.co.uk/playback-devices. It's all about licensing to get money. Lotoo was ready a year ago when they released S1, yet it took them almost a year waiting to get licensed. Someone found a clever way to make money with their own compression algorithm which you have to pay for in order to be compatible with Tidal masters. Amazon Music HD and Qobuz play hi-res without any licensing

 

[HiFyAK2020]

It's not as much about hardware support, a ton of devices support it, most of today's DACs do, like the ones used in all of these products: https://www.mqa.co.uk/playback-devices. It's all about licensing to get money. Lotoo was ready a year ago when they released S1, yet it took them almost a year waiting to get licensed. Someone found a clever way to make money with their own compression algorithm which you have to pay for in order to be compatible with Tidal masters. Amazon Music HD and Qobuz play hi-res without any licensing

O.K. - so do you think that Cirrus will be willing to do MQA ? then i think L&P will implement the chip into their models as well.

 

[FooFighter]

Some impressions running Amazon Music HD on my IPad

 

[NewEve]

comparison with the H1 & ITM03 ?
thank you,

ITM03 is less precise and obviously way cheaper.

The SR25 is more precise while retaining musicality/warmth.

The W2 is even more precise than the SR25 while also maintaining the musicality/warmth if you set it up this way — it is the most versatile item of the list.

Compared to the H1, the H1 is, from memory (no direct comparison as it's getting late) the king of balance in-between details and musicality with an analogue, liquid yet not too smooth sound.

I hate to say it and might come back on this statement but it seems that if I have to keep a single DAC/Amp or DAP, it'll be the W2 (but I'll likely cry thinking about the H1 the next morning).

Best sound for the money clearly is the W2 so far.

 

[twister6]

O.K. - so do you think that Cirrus will be willing to do MQA ? then i think L&P will implement the chip into their models as well.

These Cirrus dacs already used on iBasso and A&K DAPs where MQA is supported/licensed to. They need to support high bit depth and sampling rate, which they all do. Then, you apply to MQA "committee" for them to certify your audio product, pay money, and join the club, or something like that

 

[FooFighter]

Greta Van Fleet, Heat Above
That's an example of a upper mid forward woman voice, together with Hi-hats getting more striking in comparison than S1 where all tones are more lushly melted together, no particular instruments or voices striking out not as much.

 

[FooFighter]

Switching always back and forth S1 and W2 I find S1 has a bit more quality feel because of its polished metal case instead of W2 hard plastic or is that aluminium, don't really know, it just doesn't feel as solid imho.
I also find the small round shaped buttons haptically a bit nicer on the S1.
W2 display is definitely much brighter than S1

 

[F700]

Rumble in the dongle/dongle in the jungle

 

[jburks725]

Just got mine. No background hiss with Andro Golds (SE). I'll try balanced cables after work. With default settings, this sounds quite good. Based on the first few minutes listening, this is likely to replace my S1 in my travel kit.

Doing some testing with Audirvana on my Mac. Forced upsampling (Power of 2) works as expected up to 384, but I'm only able to play DSD64, whether via PCM 1.0 or 1.1. If I try DSD128, I get lots of stuttering. Has anyone else tried this?

 

[FooFighter]

Just got mine. No background hiss with Andro Golds (SE). I'll try balanced cables after work. With default settings, this sounds quite good. Based on the first few minutes listening, this is likely to replace my S1 in my travel kit.

Doing some testing with Audirvana on my Mac. Forced upsampling (Power of 2) works as expected up to 384, but I'm only able to play DSD64, whether via PCM 1.0 or 1.1. If I try DSD128, I get lots of stuttering. Has anyone else tried this?

If you point me to some DSD128 demo songs I can test tomorrow.
Don't have any right now

 

[FooFighter]

Listening to W2 on my Full sized Denons there is plenty of stage and transparent upper mids and high notes but body and sub bass too lean.

Anyway my use case is IEM on the go, respectively vacation gear.

For my Full Size Cans I have my DX220 Max which I also still prefer for listening my Andros cause it is revealing and clear with even wider and deeper stage with dry deep base but not as much into the face as W2
But W2 is nevertheless yet very good

 

[musicday]

Switching always back and forth S1 and W2 I find S1 has a bit more quality feel because of its polished metal case instead of W2 hard plastic or is that aluminium, don't really know, it just doesn't feel as solid imho.
I also find the small round shaped buttons haptically a bit nicer on the S1.
W2 display is definitely much brighter than S1

They both made of high quality aluminium.
Probably you feel the W2 construction to be inferior because of the smaller footprint and sharp edges? Also is lighter then S1: 22 gr vs 26 gr.

 

[musicday]

If you point me to some DSD128 demo songs I can test tomorrow.
Don't have any right now

Take your pick, all free and legal :
https://hifiduino.wordpress.com/free-hi-res-music/