[musicday]

W2 arrived this afternoon, really quick delivery from Musicteck.

Let the battle commence

What battle? The winner is on the right !!

 

[McCol]

What battle? The winner is on the right !!

I think I kind of know however still have to a face off!

Going to compare to DX300. Not using DAP's as much as I used too.

@musicday Just a wee query, did you find you had to drive the W2 to higher volumes than the S1? example being that on balanced I need to use the W2 at around 40/45 compared to 30/33 on the S1.

 

[sanakimpro]

I think I kind of know however still have to a face off!

Going to compare to DX300. Not using DAP's as much as I used too.

@musicday Just a wee query, did you find you had to drive the W2 to higher volumes than the S1? example being that on balanced I need to use the W2 at around 40/45 compared to 30/33 on the S1.

Yay! Look forward to this comparison. After many days of research, the consensus seems to be W2 is a details monster with better extension while S1 is "sweeter and warmer". IMO, both will be end-game dongles and preference for sound signature will determine the winner. Of course value wise S1 wins by being half price and offers both unbal and bal, similar decoding capabilities at the trade off of max power (shouldn't matter for most IEMs though) and fewer preset filters.

I prefer warmer sound as long as there's just enough treble detail to fill the depth so I went with the S1 for now as local sellers in my country don't have W2 as ready stock. Fingers crossed I don't have to end up buying W2 in a few weeks!

It's weird that you mention W2 needs higher volume on balanced as per spec W2 max power was 230mW @ 32 Ohm comapred to 120 mW for S1 at 32 Ohm. Theoretically W2 needs lower volume.. but again, the volume level may be non-linear?

Will be checking back for your thoughts, McCol! Specially interested inn Etys and HD660s pairings as I know those sound sig.

 

[milkdudd]

Let the battle commence

Maybe you could slip a Sparrow in between?

 

[quodjo105]

Mine arrived today . 48hrs from Musictek.
Unpacked, installed windows 10 via bootcamp on my MacBook , updated w2 to latest firmware , all under 30 mins .
The sound is very good , obviously not on dx300 level but I’m happy with what I’m hearing from the w2. Saves me loads of money .

 

[HarveyLowis]

Just got my W2 too from Musicteck ordered from Jaben Indonesia.

But it came with 2 lightning otg cable.

 

[McCol]

Yay! Look forward to this comparison. After many days of research, the consensus seems to be W2 is a details monster with better extension while S1 is "sweeter and warmer". IMO, both will be end-game dongles and preference for sound signature will determine the winner. Of course value wise S1 wins by being half price and offers both unbal and bal, similar decoding capabilities at the trade off of max power (shouldn't matter for most IEMs though) and fewer preset filters.

I prefer warmer sound as long as there's just enough treble detail to fill the depth so I went with the S1 for now as local sellers in my country don't have W2 as ready stock. Fingers crossed I don't have to end up buying W2 in a few weeks!

It's weird that you mention W2 needs higher volume on balanced as per spec W2 max power was 230mW @ 32 Ohm comapred to 120 mW for S1 at 32 Ohm. Theoretically W2 needs lower volume.. but again, the volume level may be non-linear?

Will be checking back for your thoughts, McCol! Specially interested inn Etys and HD660s pairings as I know those sound sig.

Yep volume thing is a bit strange however when using my 660s this afternoon both S1 and W2 volume levels are similar at 70/100. At lower levels the W2 needs higher levels up until around 55 to 60 when they start to even out. I'm assuming that the extra power might be more noticeable as it dials higher up the numbers

Sound wise with the 660s the W2 has a little more clarity that the S1, a little more depth however there isn't much between them although I have only been using the W2 for a couple of hours.

W2 compared to DX300? DX300 has more depth and bigger soundstage, detail is very similar but the ibasso has a bigger overall staging to the music

 

[Giangi]

Luxury and Precision W2 and Lotoo Paw S1 could be used in dac preamp mode connected via usb to a win10 PC using Roon? Maybe in 3.5mm for speakers?

 

[CharlyBrown]

Mine arrived today . 48hrs from Musictek.
Unpacked, installed windows 10 via bootcamp on my MacBook , updated w2 to latest firmware , all under 30 mins .
The sound is very good , obviously not on dx300 level but I’m happy with what I’m hearing from the w2. Saves me loads of money .

Why do you think it is below DX300 level? I ask because I am coming from the A&K SE200 and I could not hear any difference between this and the W2 so I sold the A&K…

 

[McCol]

Why do you think it is below DX300 level? I ask because I am coming from the A&K SE200 and I could not hear any difference between this and the W2 so I sold the A&K…

For me and this is only based on some brief listening this afternoon. The DX300 has more body and depth to the sound, the detail is similar especially when using my Ety er4 however there is just a wider, deeper and more fuller presentation to the DX300.

I might still move the DX on though. I have my desktop setup for headphones, for bedroom use and any portable use then the W2 should suffice, especially for convivence

 

[twister6]

Just got my W2 too from Musicteck ordered from Jaben Indonesia.

But it came with 2 lightning otg cable.

But Musicteck is in US, Jaben in Indonesia is a different store across the globe?

 

[musicday]

I think I kind of know however still have to a face off!

Going to compare to DX300. Not using DAP's as much as I used too.

@musicday Just a wee query, did you find you had to drive the W2 to higher volumes than the S1? example being that on balanced I need to use the W2 at around 40/45 compared to 30/33 on the S1.

Was not the case for me. W2 is more powerful than S1. Even when you use the W2 in 3.5 mm mode seems to be more powerful and detailed then S1 in 4.4 mm mode.

 

[Giangi]

Did you try in preamp mode?

 

[McCol]

Was not the case for me. W2 is more powerful than S1. Even when you use the W2 in 3.5 mm mode seems to be more powerful and detailed then S1 in 4.4 mm mode.

Wonder if I have a faulty unit

 

[darkunknown88]

Wonder if I have a faulty unit

Cycle through the menu to check if your gain setting on the W2 is set to High. The S1 also has a similar setting where you can set your gain to Low or High