Hi EarFool,
Better in what way? In which category? Oriolus has some single selling points and great qualities for sure.
Here's a mini review and some thoughts, hope it helps.
TLDR: Personally I would say yes. The Oriolus stack is a great choice in the transportable category under 2k, period. Very transparent and pleasing. Versatile and upgradeable. The overall package is still very competitive and at the end of the day, everything will have it's compromise. The Oriolus is maybe not perfect, but surely above average in all categories.
If you are looking for "Bass Boost", "3D" and other fancy functionality you need to look elsewhere or get the BA300S and SE02 along. The only other contenders I would see are iFi iDSD Signature at the lower end and maybe a HUGO2 at the upper end? I don't know of any other separated components in this form factor/size.
Sound:
Since a few months now, the BA/BD20 is my daily driver and I am still happy with it. It does everything with ease and confidence. It's small enough to take along if you care about hi-fi during your workday.
Recently I have been comparing a good 12 to 15 headphones (1k to 4k price point - @K55 in Zurich), before settling on a pair of Verité C. I only used the Oriolus (BA20/BD20 + Xduoo X10Tii as transport with FLAC 16-24bit) and I could very much hear all the differences, nuances and headstage of every pair of headphones. The Oriolus made clear which headphones had sibilants, which had recessed mids, which had more soundstage, etc. e.g. I really loved the DCA Aeon II with it, great punch, but unfortunately the vocals were too recessed for my taste. Would have been a great "compact" setup.
I also shortly compared the Oriolus Stack against the HUGO2 (with X10Tii) and the Hugo sounded more dark and "closed"; hack, even the DAVE and TT2/MScaler combo did not really knock me out of my socks right away. The Oriolus sounds fresher.
Maybe a future HUGO3 would be a tempting "upgrade", but until then I believe the Oriolus stack is a great sonic/haptic "high-end baseline"! For me the Oriolus stack is a great starting point into higher audio equipment; not sure if there is much else in the trans-/portable DAC/Amp category that would merit a financial step-up to get a significant sonic ROI.
I used to have an AK120ii before, and the sound of the Oriolus (same FLAC files or Qobuz) is way better and more open and present.
Guitars and bass guitars just sound fantastic on the Oriolus. Any Blues, Calvin Russell, Brian May unplugged... Paul Simon plucking the strings of his bass is just so dynamic, clear and dimensional. Jazz vocals are very clear.
On classic concerts you can hear the breathing of clarinet players, the piano pedals, the floor squeaking, pages being turned. I read somewhere that a good indicator is Al Jarreau's album: L is for Lovers, on "Across The Midnight Sky" at 5:32 you can hear the recording device/mixer announcing the left channel: "...Left". The Oriolus stack clearly let's you hear this on any headphone.
Portability/Functionality/Price:
In the end it all depends on what you are looking for and what you are willing to spend:
I for instances was looking at the most compact, separated components. This gives me the perceived advantage of being able to upgrade single components in the future. And supposedly the quality of single components is better than an all-in-one solution for the same price point: BD20+BA20+BA300S+SE02+X10Tii was about 1600 USD.
I wanted the best quality in a transportable size to take to the office/client assignment etc. On journeys under 1h, I usually don't take the stack out and just use some TWs earbuds. Don't forget, you need to take out 3 components, connect some cables, get your Headphones out...and make sure all components are charged!
Some all-in one would surely be more convenient.
Further I was looking for fully balanced and various inputs: Usb-C, Spdif, Optical. Last year, there were not many fully balanced transportable options.
For a portable ("front pocket") it's a tad too big I would say; unless you are wearing baggy pants. The main problem with pocketting the stack are the cables on the backside. Maybe with some custom rigid U-shape adapters it would be feasible. If size is important, there are smaller portable alternatives.
Output Power:
The BA20 is powerful enough to drive anything I plug into it. Most of the time it is even too powerful: I never use it in high gain, even in low gain it has enough reserve to drive more demanding headphones. Granted, I connect everything via 4.4 pentacon, but with IEMs I can hardly get the volume knob above 7/8 o'clock on low gain. On medium gain with the 300 Ohm Verité Closed, anything above 9 o'clock is simply unbearable for me. The volume turns past 12 to 3 o'clock! That would surely damage any headphone...
For what it's worth: maybe I just don't listen as loud as other people, I don't know. I made a hearing test last year and for my 42 years, I have zero loss and my hearing is above average; I am very sensitive to high tones and sibilants. I would say, my average listening volume is around 50 to 60 dB, with the occasional spike to 70 dB (measured with Sound Meter app on Android, holding the phone inside the Earpad, as close as possible to the driver).
Some Issues Encountered:
I also use the BD/BA20 as a preamp/volume control to my iLoud Micro Monitors on the MAC. The active speakers are set to 1/3rd-1/2 volume and again, on the BA20, the volume hardly ever goes above the 9 o'clock position in low gain.
- Before upgrading to a better C-C OTG cable, I had issues with a cheaper Micro-C and adapter: every time I touched the volume, there was some light interference. It was hearable with sensitive iems too. When I use the iFi iEmatch+ , it completely disappears, but I don't like how the iEmatch+ strangles the sound.
- Everytime I plug the RCA>3.5 or 4.4 cable from the active speakers into the jack of the BA20 (or plug the USB-C into the BD20), my BenQ monitors goes black for a second. BD/BA20 are turned off and the the USB-C of the BD20 is set to "charging" OFF.
Not sure what that indicates (some shortage?), but still wanted to mention it.
(BenQ 4k > Thunderbolt 3 MBP > OTG cable to BD20 > 4.4 interconnect to BA20 > Jack to RCA Speakers; Monitor and speakers on the same wall outlet) - Thunderbolt 3 and OTG cable are connected next to each other on the same side of the MBP).
- With sensitive iems or headphones (Amiron Wireless, B&O H9-3), some times, there is a cracklin around the 6 o'clock position of the volume knob. Not sure why this happens only from time to time. Maybe there is some dirt inside the Alps potentiometer?! ;D
On high-impedance headphones I hear nothing.
! Please note: there is NO initial imbalance on the volume knob as there is with so many other amps !
Sound starts at around 5:30 position.
OpAmps:
I'm planning to roll some MUSES01 in the BA20 later this year, unfortunately space is tight. I would love to try some SparkoS 360x opamps.
One double SparkoS could maybe force-fit the LPF stage of the BD20. In the BA20 no chance (only with extenders and leaving the cover off). The MUSES01 fit easily and should further enhance the sound. But they only output 25mA, so would probably still need something else in the Buffer stage; even when listening to "low" volume levels as I do.
The Verité Closed draw 0.205mA @80dB ; but not sure if that is somehow comparable/matching - Could anyone explain this please?
Anyway, I don't think anything else (small size) would be a significant upgrade over the OP1611/OP1612 implementation.
I started to do some research, but don't want to go down that rabbit hole yet...
To sum up, the Oriolus stack is surely one of the best contenders in that price bracket. The sound signature is just clean, transparent, pleasing.
Combined with the super clean BA300s tube stage the sound on the ZMF headphones is just glorious!
And where else do you find a fully balanced transportable stack with a tube pre-amp and an analog EQ add-on?!
The only thing I miss, is a fully fledged Crossfeed/Angle/Center functionality like on the SPL Phonitor Amps. For X-mas I would wish for an Oriolus component that just give me control over that! Please Oriolus Jaben, if you read this, I need that!
Cheers!
)
I haven't had time to eat DB20
