[rarewolf]

Would anyone here be knowledgeable enough to judge the accuracy of the W2’s ability to apply SDF profiles and genre equalizer adjustments in hardware, versus doing the samein 2ndary software? That is, one reviewer surmised that it should be more accurate but only judged it based on listening.

It just seems to me if L&P can justify doing in hardware being truly more accurate, and adding the capability to add our own “fixing what’s wrong relative to tuning” for our own collection of IEMs and suitable headcans, it would establish the W2 as a leader in DAC/Amp versatility. For example, the ability to add to, and remove from, a half-dozen custom SDF profiles… instead of relying on L&P to add them based on whatever criteria they used to add what’s currently available…

… just a thought…

 

[headphones1999]

Hello,

I've been using the L&P W2 for roughly half a year and ever since I got it I have been noticing interference/static crackling every now and then, it gets especially bad when I have very low reception. It stops completely when I turn on airplane mode and I don't have that issue at all on PC. I'm using the Samsung Galaxy S20+ (EU) and had the same issue when I used the Meizu Hifi Pro dongle before. Is there anything else I could try to fix that without losing access to the internet?

 

[Hyde00]

Hello,

I've been using the L&P W2 for roughly half a year and ever since I got it I have been noticing interference/static crackling every now and then, it gets especially bad when I have very low reception. It stops completely when I turn on airplane mode and I don't have that issue at all on PC. I'm using the Samsung Galaxy S20+ (EU) and had the same issue when I used the Meizu Hifi Pro dongle before. Is there anything else I could try to fix that without losing access to the internet?

At low reception your phone would try to output higher antenna power to compensate for the lack of reception, which in turns causes stronger radio signal (more interference) and drain your phone battery faster.

In this case it sounds like it's definitely the phone part causes the interference, which might explain why your PC is ok since it doesn't have phone reception. Sorry I don't have a solution but in the mean time you can still turn on wifi. At least it worked on my phone, turn on airplane mode -> it will shut off wifi -> but you can turn it back on again. Then you'll have access to internet but no phone reception.

Try that first, except you have to hope no one calls you or you don't need to call anyone. I wonder if a different USB cable with stronger shielding helps or the noise come from the USB??? Or is it just your phone? Do have have access to another phone to test this (friend, significant other... etc)?

 

[stacey]

I have an iPhone X. I’ve never experienced that. It’s likely the phone

 

[jsmiller58]

Hello,

I've been using the L&P W2 for roughly half a year and ever since I got it I have been noticing interference/static crackling every now and then, it gets especially bad when I have very low reception. It stops completely when I turn on airplane mode and I don't have that issue at all on PC. I'm using the Samsung Galaxy S20+ (EU) and had the same issue when I used the Meizu Hifi Pro dongle before. Is there anything else I could try to fix that without losing access to the internet?

Virtually every dongle I have picks up interference from my phone (LG v30) when the phone‘s LTE/4G connection is active (phone call, data transfers such as music streaming or internet browsing or accessing email). This does not seem to be a problem when connected only to wifi (with cellular disabled), just when connected to cellular. If you are connected to both cellular and wifi at the same time you may still get the interference, I suppose depends on your phone and how it selects to access data.

Note that you could be connected to LTE/4G, but if you are listening to locally stored music and not actually pulling any data over cellular at that time you may not hear static - the static will only be introduced when the phone is doing “something“ over cellular. As already mentioned, turnIng off cellular is the only certain solution to the noise problem, unfortunately. Another workaround would be to have a long cable separating the dongle and the phone, but this sort of defeats the purpose of the dongle, at least for purely mobile use (might be a solution for stationary use).

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Wondering if anyone had luck suppressing that interference with snap on ferrite chokes on cables. Works great against EMI in other applications.

 

[jsmiller58]

Wondering if anyone had luck suppressing that interference with snap on ferrite chokes on cables. Works great against EMI in other applications.

I haven’t had any luck doing this, I think because the interference is not being picked up by the cable, rather I believe it is being picked up directly by unshielded circuitry in the dongle itself… It would be great if the problem is that the cable is acting as an antenna, but that does not seem to be the case.

To test this for yourself, try to see if you have more, less, or the same interference if the dongle is placed on top of your phone versus as far away as you can place it based on the cable length. Remember to have wifi turned off and do your streaming with cellular only to exacerbate the interference.

 

[stacey]

I wonder if there’s a case that could double as shielding for interference?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

I haven’t had any luck doing this, I think because the interference is not being picked up by the cable, rather I believe it is being picked up directly by unshielded circuitry in the dongle itself… It would be great if the problem is that the cable is acting as an antenna, but that does not seem to be the case.

To test this for yourself, try to see if you have more, less, or the same interference if the dongle is placed on top of your phone versus as far away as you can place it based on the cable length. Remember to have wifi turned off and do your streaming with cellular only to exacerbate the interference.

Do you use L&P case, it has metal internal frame that may act as a shield.

 

[jsmiller58]

Do you use L&P case, it has metal internal frame that may act as a shield.

I don’t use that, but I would be interested in hearing if that makes a difference. Note that to be completely effective the metal would have to completely enclose the dongle, otherwise the shielding is only on the side of the metal. I refer you to “Faraday Cage” for reference.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

This is what Cayin guys said about EMI.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...c-with-head-amp.960113/page-138#post-16829354

 

[jsmiller58]

This is what Cayin guys said about EMI.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...c-with-head-amp.960113/page-138#post-16829354

Interesting! I will try my earlier experiments again and see if I am a victim of faulty memory

 

[ClieOS]

Don't forget that the dongle itself has a full metal case already. Adding extra shielding outside really won't do much, if at all.

 

[Ra97oR]

I have noticed a small amount of EMI interference when the dongle is directly on the phone, but with a longer cable and having the dongle in a different pocket all together have stopped any noticeable interference.

Refer to "power inverse square law" in terms of reducing interference that isn't coming through from the cable

 

[Hyde00]

TL;DR version:

I bought W2-131 and wondering if I should try W2 next. Want a bit closer female vocal, a bit more treble, a bit wider, and bit more splashy cymbal / snare drum. Slightly less mid bass. Overall a tiny bit more aggressive.

Long version:

So I've had my W2-131 for almost a week now. Might need a bit more time but I want to share my first impression. My original plan was to buy PEE51 / RU6 / W2-131 to de-throne my all time favourite Dragonfly Red (most of you will stop reading now LOL, like I can't take this guy seriously).

If you're still with me here this is where I am at. First impression is that PEE51 is impressive, tons of layering and details, probably the most detailed out of all of them (my friend says might just because it's tuned treble heavy). But I can't feel it sounds "dry"? Like I'm impressed by all the detail and layering but somehow it sounds boring? Maybe it's lacking warmth, which is weird because it's regarded as one of the most "euphoric" dongle which I agree (mainly why I bought it) but somehow it still sounds "dry" I can't explain. But anyway that's out now, will sell it later.

Next in line was RU6 which I had high hopes for. It also sounded very good off the bat and here I was thinking maybe this is the one!!! But as I listen to it more and more I start to notice more flaws, uhhh or I guess preference differences. It's missing that "surrounded by violin" type of sound that W2 and W2-131 has. So I guess RU6 has a dip somewhere in the mids? And the bass seems impressive at first but the most I listen to it the more it feels it's "rounded" off and sub bass roll off. Like the hits is soft? Can't explain. Also somewhere in the treble seems to roll off again I wish I'm better at identifying frequencies but oh well this is where I'm at LOL. Low gain I notice everything is much closed in which is good because I like intimate vocal, but then it also lacks sound stage, when I used high gain it improves sound stage but then vocal too distant. After trying every option under the sun (high gain / low gain / no oversample / oversample / set my computer to all kinds of sample rates) at the end I decide to give up. Will list RU6 in the classified later also.

So here is where I'm at, W2-131 actually has the most rounded sound. Initially was a bit boring but it's slowly growing on me. Like it does everything well but nothing really "wow" me yet. It has the least interesting female vocal so far (maybe too far in the background). But surprisingly it actually has the most extended bass out of all the dongles I tried. Just wish female vocal is a bit more pronounced. I think W2-131 has a really "inoffensive" smooth sound. If I were to nitpick I'd say I wish there is a tiny bit more treble, closer female vocal, and a little bit more aggressive snare drum / cymbal, and a little bit wider.

This bring me to the point that........ should I have gotten W2 instead of W2-131? Originally I went with W2-131 because I like intimate vocal and bass, but then maybe it went too far so now I wish there is more treble and a tiny bit less mid bass. As for aggressive sound for rock........ is it just how W2 is? Smooth and relaxing kind of sound? Should I bother with W2 or try something else entirely?

Was looking at Ovidius B1 but the proprietary 2.5 mm to USB C thing bugs me, also apparently it's too powerful so you'll have hiss if used on sensitive IEM / headphone. I have 24 ohm headphone so I strongly suspect this will be an issue.

Oh for those are wondering, no it's not a landslide win over Dragonfly Red LOL. In fact it's still more "different" now than it is "better". Dragonfly Red wins in some regards (intimate vocal) but lose out in resolution slightly (not as big as people might think). Like I'm literally splitting hair over the past week A/B all 4 dongles (though mostly on W2-131). But now I'm thinking to sell PEE51 and RU6 and maybe buy / trade for W2, or something else entirely different.