[Promee]

How is the build quality of the W4, specifically the 4.4mm female plug?

Cayins RU7 uses a gold casing that unfortunately is very brittle when used with Pentaconn plugs. I have been through now two that have failed in this piece. I am curious if L&P is built similar or better here. Has anyone had long term experience with it using primarily Pentaconn 4.4mm plugs?

Thank you. I am hoping to try one out based on feedback.

I can second that opinion from @musicday - build quality is superb, no issues with 4.4 jack. I have carried it plugged into IEMs through that jack with no case in my bag daily for about a year. No issues at all there!

 

[CactusPete23]

How is the build quality of the W4, specifically the 4.4mm female plug?

Cayins RU7 uses a gold casing that unfortunately is very brittle when used with Pentaconn plugs. I have been through now two that have failed in this piece. I am curious if L&P is built similar or better here. Has anyone had long term experience with it using primarily Pentaconn 4.4mm plugs?

Thank you. I am hoping to try one out based on feedback.

Is there a history of 4.4mm jack failures on the RU7 with others? Aside from your experience, This is the first I've heard of it. Just wondering how extensive a problem this is.

 

[FRank liu d]

Let's talk about the L&P W4 and its setup with various cables and devices .w4 is
my favorite dongle recently. I chose the W4 for two reasons. The first reason is its various tuining modes. With its two sound modes, plus five filters, along with several popular iem DSP tunings, the combination of sound adjustments it can produce is quite numerous.

The second reason is that the W4 probably has the best transparency among dongles, faithfully reflecting the sound features of USB cables.

Using just the basic cable, the sound of the W4 is somewhat rough and dull; Among the budget HiFi USB cables, I recommend the QLS's L03, L&P WY1, and DDHiFi's TC07.

The QLS L03 cable has a slightly warmth sound, is loose and pleasant to listen to, with a richness to the vocals. The DDHiFi TC07, on the other hand, has a smooth style for the mid and treble, while the bass is sufficiently bouncy, making the vocals clear and beautiful. These two cables provide a stable connection，though the soundstage positioning and imaging have some slight blurriness.

The WY1, being a separately powered Y-cable, has a specific sound style, which I will detail further in combination with other setups.

 

[FRank liu d]

part 2

Moving on to the high-end cables, I recommend the L&P WP2. With the WP2, the blurriness of the low-end cables is swept away. What is precious is that it is able to integrate details within a natural and expansive soundstage, creating a realism of vocals and instruments live on stage. It is neither the warmth of copper cable nor the slickness of silver cable sound, but a neutral in-between, delicate and natural, with a transparent sound signature, providing the W4 with a very pleasant treble timbre. Therefore, the WP2 has been permanently paired with the W4.

With the wp2 paired with the w4, the sound is as follows:
The default mode of the w4 itself is fast filtering + tune2. Paired with the wp2, the overall sound structure is very exquisite, with punchy bass, and the mid-highs sound very smooth. Another feature is a very wide and three-dimensional soundstage.

Another mode I like is ll fast + tune1. Paired with the wp2, it is a full-bodied sound, bringing vocals closer and increasing the reverb in the bass area but sacrificing a bit of clarity. In terms of the sound field, the soundstage becomes more focused, and the depth is extended. It's more suitable for vocals and live performances.

I originally thought that the wp2 combined with the w4 had already a best match among others, allowing me to listen to music comfortably for several years.Then, soundaware released the pa1, and L&P released their own "advanced plan" for the dongle and USB DACs，the wy1 cable.

 

[FRank liu d]

Part3

The pa1 is a USB interface for mobile devices, designed to filter and reduce noise for USB signals and USB power supply. However, I was initially disappointed because the pa1 could not power on the digital source hiby digital m300. Although my phone could power on the pa1, it sounded more muffled than directly from the m300, so I set the pa1 aside.

It was not until L&P released the wy1 that, luckly , the pa1 was given new life on the m300.

After getting the wy1, I eagerly connected it to the hiby m300 and a power bank. With the support of independent power supply, the sound of the w4 became more dynamic, greatly extending both tre and bass and further enhancing what I thought was already a large soundstage. I also noticed that the wy1 itself is a very neutral, high-resolution sound. superior to qls and dd in quality, but lacking the natural smoothness of the wp2.

The significant improvement of the w4 with enhancements in dynamics, density, soundstage, and bass, truly indulging my ears. Of course, I still miss the natural and smooth sound of the wp2.

How to combine the grand, dynamic sound of the wy1 with the natural tone of the wp2, I thought of the soundaware pa1. I decide to tryout the pa1. I plugged the
Pa1 into the wy1, then connected the other end to the wp2, and anxiously connected the power bank:it just works!

At that moment, I realized that the so-called incompatibility of the pa1 with the m300 might be because the otg USB port of the m300 couldn't drive the pa1.

When the wy1+pa1+wp2+w4 are combined, the sound of this setup is incredible, instruments and vocalist surrounded me seems like true to life. It changes the stereotype of me on dongle sound.

Currently, I am extremely satisfied with this setup.

 

[makbrown]

Part3

The pa1 is a USB interface for mobile devices, designed to filter and reduce noise for USB signals and USB power supply. However, I was initially disappointed because the pa1 could not power on the digital source hiby digital m300. Although my phone could power on the pa1, it sounded more muffled than directly from the m300, so I set the pa1 aside.

It was not until L&P released the wy1 that, luckly , the pa1 was given new life on the m300.

After getting the wy1, I eagerly connected it to the hiby m300 and a power bank. With the support of independent power supply, the sound of the w4 became more dynamic, greatly extending both tre and bass and further enhancing what I thought was already a large soundstage. I also noticed that the wy1 itself is a very neutral, high-resolution sound. superior to qls and dd in quality, but lacking the natural smoothness of the wp2.

The significant improvement of the w4 with enhancements in dynamics, density, soundstage, and bass, truly indulging my ears. Of course, I still miss the natural and smooth sound of the wp2.

How to combine the grand, dynamic sound of the wy1 with the natural tone of the wp2, I thought of the soundaware pa1. I decide to tryout the pa1. I plugged the
Pa1 into the wy1, then connected the other end to the wp2, and anxiously connected the power bank:it just works!

At that moment, I realized that the so-called incompatibility of the pa1 with the m300 might be because the otg USB port of the m300 couldn't drive the pa1.

When the wy1+pa1+wp2+w4 are combined, the sound of this setup is incredible, instruments and vocalist surrounded me seems like true to life. It changes the stereotype of me on dongle sound.

Currently, I am extremely satisfied with this setup.

Have you tried it in a blind test?
I don’t want to start a holivar about the sound of digital cable, and I respect your opinion. Just wondering if you have tried to distinguish the sound blindly.
I have tried this many times and the differences between type c and type c cables lies in its strength of connections and robust design.

Edit: I am compared TC07s, l&p, cayin and fiio cables.

 

[FRank liu d]

Have you tried it in a blind test?
I don’t want to start a holivar about the sound of digital cable, and I respect your opinion. Just wondering if you have tried to distinguish the sound blindly.
I have tried this many times and the differences between type c and type c cables lies in its strength of connections and robust design.

Edit: I am compared TC07s, l&p, cayin and fiio cables.

if you are not sensitive with the sound of USB cable. I recommend you try out the l&p wy1 cable, which can provide clean and independent power souce to dongle. that will makes significant differences between stock cable and wy1. also saves a bunch of battery life on your phone.

 

[musicday]

I've got my W4 the day it was released in the US. Still use it all the time and I am very happy with it's sound signature, both when listening to music or watching movies on my laptop.
The sound is very transparent. Hopefully they will still support it in the future and release new features.

 

[Polky74]

if you are not sensitive with the sound of USB cable. I recommend you try out the l&p wy1 cable, which can provide clean and independent power souce to dongle. that will makes significant differences between stock cable and wy1. also saves a bunch of battery life on your phone.

Do you have any idea where I can buy the L&P WY1 cable with shipping to Europe? Aliexpress or similar stores? Thank you.

 

[povidlo]

@FRank liu d , thanks for sharing your observations. Although your left field opinion is controversial, it is interesting to read. I personally think for digital signal, source and cable both matter but source matters much more. Interference (e.g, phone vs dap) and usb output level (e.g., tablet vs iphone) play a part in final outcome. Cables like tc09 are less prone to interference and cables like wy1 and cb19 allow to overcome deficient usb output levels. I've had mixed results with filters like isilencer+, which appears similar to pa1. These filters impact tonality, sometimes for better sometimes for worse, depending on the dongle. I'm interested in trying wy1 but it's puzzling how long it is at 30cm. Hopefully LP releases a short 10 cm version that would be more suited for portable use on the go.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

the blurriness of the low-end cables is swept away

Oh that pesky blurriness of low-end digital cables.

 

[bebop7]

Search lebi wy1 on aliexpress and the cable should appear

 

[Aeonyx]

Has anyone compared W4 with Questyle's new CMA18 Portable? Wanting a top shelf portable and trying to decide between the two.

Thanks

 

[Polky74]

Playback chain:

1) PulWtop (switching step-down power supply for dongle)
2) Luxury&Precision W4
3) Venture Electronics RA2BFE
4) Myer Audio SLIIVO SL-41

This chain offers an incredible amount of detail and simply stellar performance... to listen to for hours and hours.

 

[Aeonyx]

Just got my W4 and love it, but had a couple of questions.

Does anyone notice a popping noise when pressing play/pause with Tidal? It's not a big deal but a little annoying.

Also I noticed there's a NOS filter. Is this a delta sigma DAC? A bit confused since NOS is usually an R2R thing.

And finally, is it worth updating firmware? Any new features?

Thanks