TL;DR:
Recently sold RU6 to get W2, so now I get to compare DFR vs W2-131 vs W2. Single ended for my preference DFR beats W2-131 and W2. Balanced everything so far has just been "different". Different trade off, you gain some you lose some. No real winner yet (or everyone's winner?).
Side Rant:
Why is 4.4 mm balanced SO FREAKING TIGHT. Every time I put it in/pull it out I feel like I'm going to break the unit. Is this normal? Also Meze 4.4 balanced cable is not bad but why is the cable so springy, I wish it would retain the shape a bit less but otherwise not bad so far.
Long Version:
Okay so to recap, I've had Dragonfly Red (here on will be referred as DFR) for a long while now and I've been trying to "upgrade" from it for a long time now, tried many desktop gear and now I'm back to focusing on dongles. I've since got W2-131, RU6, then sold the RU6 to get a W2 which arrived on Wednesday (2 days ago). I've also bought the Meze 4.4 mm balanced wire this week. Though slightly regret that I didn't have the balanced wire before I sold off RU6 (had to test it off 3.5 mm connection). Oh well it's what it is.
Anyway........ again as I've mentioned I only got the W2 2 days ago so this is more or less just first impression. But I really don't think the choice as clear as people make it out to be. Off the bat I know people will think like oh W2-131 and W2 will beat DFR easy because it's newer and more expensive (also because we're talking in the W2 thread.
). But I'll be honest I've been splitting hair trying to figure which one I like better, even between W2 and W2-131 I'm splitting hair too. I know the consensus here is that everyone here like W2 more, but it's really just "different" same as DFR is also "different".
Off bat I'll say this, if you're thinking 3.5 mm single ended, DFR basically beats W2 and W2-131. Not by a huge margin but enough that I think I'm ok with selling the other 2 off and won't look back.
Where things get interesting is when I got the Meze 4.4 mm balanced wire now that's where the splitting hair begins. Keep in mind DFR doesn't have balanced output so I'm comparing single ended to balanced output on W2 and W2-131. You might think "that's not a fair comparison". Well..... if I tell you DFR single ended is as powerful as balanced from W2 and W2-131, you might think I'm crazy. But it's true, also if you're talking strictly about power. I was expecting going from single ended to balanced should be like double the power, should be twice as loud. But I think decibels work logarithmically so it's not as simple as that. But in any case I find it just gets "a little bit" louder when I switched to balanced. But where balanced really gets its benefit I find is from the separation, things just cleared up and less congested. Funny enough maybe because of this I always thought W2-131 vocal a bit recessed, somehow after switching to balanced then vocal is about just right now LOL. Maybe other instruments got pushed away and now there's room for vocal to breathe. So anyway.... power wise.... about equal, OH and W2-131 is a little bit powerful than W2 matching what we read in the spec (suppose to be 10%).
Resolution....... ok this is where W2-131 and W2 definitely wins LOL. DFR has is UAC1 only while W2-131 and W2 can switch to UAC2 which allow you to go into higher data rate. Also yes in this case the newer chip is showing more finesse to the sound. But oddly enough separation / sound stage I actually find it pretty close. Like DFR is actually pretty wide and pretty separated, but it might also because its tuning where it's a bit treble heavy which give the perception of wider? Oh though imaging......... RU6 hands down is the best. After that W2-131 and W2 is better than DFR. DFR has crap imaging LOL.
Anyway so where I'm splitting hair is tonal balance. W2 is clearer and airier but also at time can be thin sounding (including both female and male voices). Though sub bass actually hits deep. W2-131 is a little bit narrower but it goes into the direction of warmth and rich. Voices both female and male sounds better, more texture. Guitar / Piano both sounds richer, though Violin might be the same compare to W2. But everything is a little bit more in your face now so less separated vs W2. Though definitely richer texture and warmer sounding. Now DFR is where things get interesting where it maintains W2's separation but also is richer and warmer sounding than W2-131. DFR's tuning is basically similar to W2 where you add a bit more treble and add a bit more sub bass, but in the case of DFR you just ADD A LOT MORE treble and ADD A LOT MORE bass and ADD A LOT MORE vocal presence LOL (most forward vocal). Then you'll be like that's just v shaped, no the weird thing is DFR has more pronounced mid too, it's really bizarre. Though it's not as refined sounding as the other 2, but it's definitely more fun sounding than the other 2. I imagine DFR is like the Grado of the dongle world where if you love it, you love it. Otherwise you hate it LOL.
So did I reach a conclusion? Not yet...... there are some songs DFR do better and some songs W2 and W2-131 do better. Need more time to process, though to be honest even though I'm nitpicking here but they're actually more alike than they are different. W2-131 and W2 are actually the closest sounding to DFR that I've come across so far LOL (hence splitting hair). Oh this is done with Denon D5200 (24 ohm, 103 sensitivity), I know most people use iem here so your mileage might be different.
Cheers!
EDIT: Oh feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding W2-131 vs W2, I might take some pictures later.
