[InvisibleInk]

You know who grinds my gears? The arrogant ones on some forums who have used nothing but Apple dongle, parroting their measurbator gods, and going around bullying people who are just happy to finally be able to save up for a Chord Mojo2 or something of sorts.

Here, here!

 

[ywheng89]

Cool! Have you heard the TANGZU Wan'er S.G?
I just wonder if it beats that?

i have it somewhere, let me look for it in my stash Lol

I gave it to my sister already, can't really A/B it at the moment, but based on my memory, Wan Er is slightly more energetic compared to the Z300, a bit more air on the Wan Er as well.

 

[Zachik]

I got 3 threads this month, AuR, SoundRhyme, Discovery

Maybe I shall change my title to “full time head fier”

When I saw the stats for top posters - I was wondering whether any of them have a FULL TIME job...

 

[gooberbm]

Well why even try to debate this, we all in this together

I'm debating it because there's no functional use in saying you "need" a $3000 dap. Nobody "needs" that. If it brings out the last 1,5,10% of the performance an IEM can produce and you want it because you personally can't unheard the difference, that's a fair statement to make.

Not a single person on this planet NEEDS a $3000 dap. It is a purely luxury item. And that is okay. I just push back against the idea that anything that costs as much as a house mortgage in the US is described as a necessity.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

When I saw the stats for top posters - I was wondering whether any of them have a FULL TIME job...

You won’t believe me that I am more active on twitter than my headfi account…
plus my real life job is in midst of fiscal year end procedures

Need more than 24hours a day…

 

[InvisibleInk]

I'm debating it because there's no functional use in saying you "need" a $3000 dap. Nobody "needs" that. If it brings out the last 1,5,10% of the performance an IEM can produce and you want it because you personally can't unheard the difference, that's a fair statement to make.

Not a single person on this planet NEEDS a $3000 dap. It is a purely luxury item. And that is okay. I just push back against the idea that anything that costs as much as a house mortgage in the US is described as a necessity.

Homo Sapiens need nothing more than food/water, clothing, shelter, safety, health, and company.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I'm debating it because there's no functional use in saying you "need" a $3000 dap. Nobody "needs" that. If it brings out the last 1,5,10% of the performance an IEM can produce and you want it because you personally can't unheard the difference, that's a fair statement to make.

Not a single person on this planet NEEDS a $3000 dap. It is a purely luxury item. And that is okay. I just push back against the idea that anything that costs as much as a house mortgage in the US is described as a necessity.

The issue here, as if you are actually reading this right at this moment, is the fact that we (as a group) are not normal individuals. Our friends and family know this. The Apple Dongle serves a purpose, yet I would be surprised if any individual that said that is all you need truly has had a long experience with an a audiophile DAP.

And that’s precisely what this post is about. The fact that not an Apple Dongle but a $109.00 Dongle is way, way different sounding (from an Apple Dongle) that in many cases the two Dongles could be looked at as performing a night and day difference. Now truly probably many would have to be close to this phenomenon of replayed, recorded music to tunnel in on these differences, yet we all know (those that are reading this) that they are there, the differences are real.

Apart from the $109.00 Dongle........a medium priced used DAP could be $500.00, and do slightly better. After that, yes a $3000 DAP gets another step towards understanding the reality of playback music reproduction, but still it is only adding another small percentage on-top. That isn’t the point, the point is almost 27 times less money gets you 90% of the sound..........and that’s $109.00, what an audiophile Dongle does and costs. It truly is miles in quality different from an Apple Dongle. The sad part is the people who promote the Apple Dongle for audiophile uses often never really spent a time trying to understand audiophile DAPs, and that is how it started. Even people who purchased expensive DAPs will tell you that they really didn’t sound great upon first trying them out. That often we will purchase stuff and learn to understand it as time goes by, the fact that this stuff is delicate and needs brain burn-in as well as physical burn-in before the nuances are found.

 

[ywheng89]

The issue here, as if you are actually reading this right at this moment, is the fact that we (as a group) are not normal individuals. Our friends and family know this. The Apple Dongle serves a purpose, yet I would be surprised if any individual that said that is all you need truly has had a long experience with an a audiophile DAP.

And that’s precisely what this post is about. The fact that not an Apple Dongle but a $109.00 Dongle is way, way different sounding (from an Apple Dongle) that in many cases the two Dongles could be looked at as performing a night and day difference. Now truly probably many would have to be close to this phenomenon of replayed, recorded music to tunnel in on these differences, yet we all know (those that are reading this) that they are there, the differences are real.

Apart from the $109.00 Dongle a medium priced used DAP could be $500.00, and do slightly better. After that, yes a $3000 DAP gets another step towards understanding the reality of playback music reproduction, but still it is only adding another small percentage on-top. That isn’t the point, the point is almost 25 times less money gets you 90% of the sound..........and that’s $109.00, what an audiophile Dongle does and costs. It truly is miles in quality different from an Apple Dongle. The sad part is the people who promote the Apple Dongle for audiophile uses often never really spent a time trying to understand audiophile DAPs, and that is how it started. Even people who purchased expensive DAPs will tell you that they really didn’t sound great upon first trying them out. That often we will purchase stuff and learn to understand it as time goes by, the fact that this stuff is delicate and needs brain burn-in as well as physical burn-in before the nuances are found.

Gotta agree on this, i used to think low end source is good enough, until i got my hands on some mid range and even some top tier model, thats when i start to understand why they are priced the way they are, and also the performance gain from it, but then again, i still use my apple dongle occasionally for the sake of convenience and "good enough" on the go setup.

 

[FranQL]

Well, for me personally, the apple dongle seems like crap stuck on a stick... at least when listening to my games with it.

On the other hand, I love this one, talking about the same price range.

 

[Redcarmoose]

The issue is not talked about as much as when the Apple Dongle statement was first made, like when the Apple Dongle were introduced a few years ago. They are truly great. But this actually caused me to do all kinds of tests. The tests were only subjective listening tests, but a side thing I did was use the Apple Dongle to go to a Schiit Asgard then to a full-size headphone. Then compared that to an actual desk-top DAC going to the Schiit Asgard amp to full-size headphones. Once amplified the quality of the signal is greatly changed, it is like looking at it through a microscope. The stage, the grain the noise floor. All these things still exist when you simply plug your IEM into an Apple Dongle into your phone. It’s just they are minimized. Surprisingly there are also a number of IEMs which demand more power than an Apple Dongle puts out. The results are a style of blurred bass pace that is the result of bad amping. Now for many the issue is convenience. I get that, they can get 90% of the IEM experience from a device which doesn’t drain the battery on their phone. Also the Apple Dongle is small and inconspicuous. So it many ways they are great.

Gotta agree on this, i used to think low end source is good enough, until i got my hands on some mid range and even some top tier model, thats when i start to understand why they are priced the way they are, and also the performance gain from it, but then again, i still use my apple dongle occasionally for the sake of convenience and "good enough" on the go setup.

 

[Tzennn]

I'm debating it because there's no functional use in saying you "need" a $3000 dap. Nobody "needs" that. If it brings out the last 1,5,10% of the performance an IEM can produce and you want it because you personally can't unheard the difference, that's a fair statement to make.

Not a single person on this planet NEEDS a $3000 dap. It is a purely luxury item. And that is okay. I just push back against the idea that anything that costs as much as a house mortgage in the US is described as a necessity.

Oh yeah then that's absolutely true haha, why would anyone need a 3000$ dap anyway. Do you have a high-end dap? Did you tried high-end dap? You never know you need them until you tried them, they're not there for you to pick, they're there because someone might need them. Why the hell anyone would buy a 5000$ Trailii because they're from Japan? No one! They're not even that high up in the ranking list! Yet, you can see many, many clone of them now, trying to replicate them, Why? Because they do something good, something truly good. You can comfortably say Iphone 7 - 8 already good with home button, who on earth would think removing home button is a good idea? Probally no one! You can see the pattern here aren't you
Yeah well as a "touching grass" person, i don't think anyone should cheap out their joy and happiness. I mean you can save 3000$ to buy a car or something, saving for taxes, fund, whatever, but like you can use that money to go travel, probally don't need one, but you'll remember that journey.

 

[Tzennn]

I'm debating it because there's no functional use in saying you "need" a $3000 dap. Nobody "needs" that. If it brings out the last 1,5,10% of the performance an IEM can produce and you want it because you personally can't unheard the difference, that's a fair statement to make.

Not a single person on this planet NEEDS a $3000 dap. It is a purely luxury item. And that is okay. I just push back against the idea that anything that costs as much as a house mortgage in the US is described as a necessity.

Oh yeah i have Apple dongle aswell, i think they sound alright, until you give that same iem some amping they sound out of this world. 80% fine most of the time, but when it come to the actual music session (probally like 2 hours before sleep) you will miss that 20% and that feeling will eventually bigger and bigger then reach like 40-50%, you will grab expensive amp. Yeah luxury hobby need luxury items
Audiophile can fit in a combo of Truthear Hola + Apple Dongle, if you think it's good enough then congrat, you graduate audiophile. Hooray

Well, for me personally, the apple dongle seems like crap stuck on a stick... at least when listening to my games with it.

On the other hand, I love this one, talking about the same price range.

Have them for a while. Did you buy it for your earbud?

 

[FranQL]

Have them for a while. Did you buy it for your earbud?

This one was given to me, but it's great, it's 4.4 mm !!!!

 

[Surf Monkey]

Apple Dongle = lowest common. It doesn’t suck but it isn’t great either. Basically it’s just the hardware Apple would have put inside the phone if they still used the 3.5mm audio jack. Nothing special.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Apple Dongle = lowest common. It doesn’t suck but it isn’t great either. Basically it’s just the hardware Apple would have put inside the phone if they still used the 3.5mm audio jack. Nothing special.

Exactly!