NymPHONOmaniac
Headphoneus Supremus
Ok Headfiers, this thread was sleeping and I decide to wake it up....since I have way too much dongles and DAC-AMPS that i didn't share impressions about (thanks to this 1 year pause due to pandemic).
I want to make a kind of Best DAC-AMP quest here, for everything under 500$, it will take price value in account, above it it's a bit harder but I will try to comment about overall sound and features benefit too.
Since 2 years, dongles market war have gone berzerk, their so much offering and this is beneficial for the consumers since price value is more and more competitive. Gone is the day where you need to pay 1K for a Chord to get great sound on the go, now, for 20$ you can have reference crisp neutral sound with Jcally Jm20 for example. This couldn't exist years ago so let's dig into this sound benefit bargain pool more! (and update this whole reference list too!)
10-100$:
JCALLY JM6 (CX31993-10$)
-Euphonic bright, weighty dynamic heft, open holographic spatiality, average resolution-imaging, 2vrms (65mw)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003093384809.html
JCALLY JM20 (Cirrus CS43131-20$)
-Crisp airy neutral, vivid dynamic, slight focus on treble brilliance, ultra clean background, 2vrms (65mw)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002272265385.html
TEMPOTEC HD PRO (CS43131-40$)
-Crisp neutral, same sound as JM20 but pricier. Volume control and changeable cables, 2vrms (65mw)
(don't worth it anymore)
Good guy Miguel ESS9280C (ESS9280C-35$)
-Open well layered natural tonality, hint of extra mid bass, excellent imaging, fowards mids, full yet smooth treble, 2vrms (simply put, an Audirect Atom2 for less than half the price)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000620903733.html
-TEMPOTEC HD V (dual ES9219-50 to 60$)
-Smooth W shape to neutral, effortless resolution, excellent layering-imaging, high technical performance, MQA compatible, DSD256, 145mw (incredible sound value)
https://nobsaudiophile.com/2022/04/08/tempotec-hd-v-review-the-perfect-hd-pro-upgrade/
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005003754735791.html
-FIIO KA1 (ES9281C-45mw@32ohm SE)-
-Energic lush, natural and dense timbre, great layering presentation, slight mid bass and mids focus and crunchy not airy-sparkly treble.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004125819243.html
-TEMPOTEC E44 (dual CS43131-175mw@32ohm-70$to90$)-
-Crisp wide open sound presentation with holographic imaging, transparent yet dense timbre, no tonal or timbral unbalance, smooth yet highly resolved, great vocal present hint warm bass. Insane value since it's very powerfull.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002723420122.html
100-200$
-XDUOO LINK2 BAL (dual CS43131+LM27762 amp-150$)-
-Wide and tall holographic presentation, with hint of extra bass, euphonic analog timbre, dense sound layers, extremely musical and powerfull. (270mw@32ohm)
https://nobsaudiophile.com/2022/04/04/xduoo-link2-bal-the-musical-beauty-and-the-amping-beast/
https://keephifi.com/products/xduoo-link2-bal
-
I want to make a kind of Best DAC-AMP quest here, for everything under 500$, it will take price value in account, above it it's a bit harder but I will try to comment about overall sound and features benefit too.
Since 2 years, dongles market war have gone berzerk, their so much offering and this is beneficial for the consumers since price value is more and more competitive. Gone is the day where you need to pay 1K for a Chord to get great sound on the go, now, for 20$ you can have reference crisp neutral sound with Jcally Jm20 for example. This couldn't exist years ago so let's dig into this sound benefit bargain pool more! (and update this whole reference list too!)
10-100$:
JCALLY JM6 (CX31993-10$)
-Euphonic bright, weighty dynamic heft, open holographic spatiality, average resolution-imaging, 2vrms (65mw)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003093384809.html
JCALLY JM20 (Cirrus CS43131-20$)
-Crisp airy neutral, vivid dynamic, slight focus on treble brilliance, ultra clean background, 2vrms (65mw)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002272265385.html
TEMPOTEC HD PRO (CS43131-40$)
-Crisp neutral, same sound as JM20 but pricier. Volume control and changeable cables, 2vrms (65mw)
(don't worth it anymore)
Good guy Miguel ESS9280C (ESS9280C-35$)
-Open well layered natural tonality, hint of extra mid bass, excellent imaging, fowards mids, full yet smooth treble, 2vrms (simply put, an Audirect Atom2 for less than half the price)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000620903733.html
-TEMPOTEC HD V (dual ES9219-50 to 60$)
-Smooth W shape to neutral, effortless resolution, excellent layering-imaging, high technical performance, MQA compatible, DSD256, 145mw (incredible sound value)
https://nobsaudiophile.com/2022/04/08/tempotec-hd-v-review-the-perfect-hd-pro-upgrade/
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005003754735791.html
-FIIO KA1 (ES9281C-45mw@32ohm SE)-
-Energic lush, natural and dense timbre, great layering presentation, slight mid bass and mids focus and crunchy not airy-sparkly treble.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004125819243.html
-TEMPOTEC E44 (dual CS43131-175mw@32ohm-70$to90$)-
-Crisp wide open sound presentation with holographic imaging, transparent yet dense timbre, no tonal or timbral unbalance, smooth yet highly resolved, great vocal present hint warm bass. Insane value since it's very powerfull.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002723420122.html
100-200$
-XDUOO LINK2 BAL (dual CS43131+LM27762 amp-150$)-
-Wide and tall holographic presentation, with hint of extra bass, euphonic analog timbre, dense sound layers, extremely musical and powerfull. (270mw@32ohm)
https://nobsaudiophile.com/2022/04/04/xduoo-link2-bal-the-musical-beauty-and-the-amping-beast/
https://keephifi.com/products/xduoo-link2-bal
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