[Polky74]

I want to share with you my impressions about these dongles, without having the presumption that my personal considerations and tastes can be "the absolute truth".
Some I already have and others are on the way, but I would like to clarify that here I will never say this is better than that, but I will list my impressions and strengths or what particularly amazed and convinced me in their performance. To be as objective as possible in my analysis the dongles will be tested with the UM Mest MKII for two main reasons, the first is that they are very transparent and revealing IEMs with respect to what is sent to them by the dac and the second because, being among the most spread high-level iems, many of you will have a more understandable and close reference. Thanks to those who want to read and comment with their own personal considerations.

 

[Polky74]

W1: A step into the future
I'll start with the W1, as well as the fact that it was the first to make me get closer to dongles, after the famous and first dongle I've owned (Dragonfly Red) also because it's the one I've owned for longer than the ones I've had here I will deal. In the meantime, let's say that for the price I paid for it (167 euros), now 2 years ago, it is still a bestbuy today even if it is now surpassed in value for money by many dongles. Its completeness in the endowment still places it at the top of the category (double cable type C + lightning with usb type A adapter) and even what it has to offer in terms of music is not at all obvious. What amazed me the most (when I first compared it to Dragonfly Red) was its competence in dealing with even the most complex tracks, the rendering of details, the precision and naturalness with which it came out even from the most tangled musical situations and layered. Far from the harshness of the ESS dacs I was used to, it also struck me with the power and ease with which it handled "important" loads. Details, musicality and competence still make it an excellent dongle today, even if it has gone a long way in two years.

 

[Polky74]

RU6: tubes and vinyl in the digital age
I bought this dongle more out of curiosity than anything else... many had been talking for some time now about R2R as an implementation and its implications for sound and so I made up my mind and opted for this dongle which allows you to get a taste (very more than a taste in my opinion) of this type of architecture without spending the sums one might later regret. I begin by saying that I had documented myself well and although I had done so, I was absolutely not prepared for what I would later hear. Never, ever, would I have expected to listen to a dac so different from all the ones I owned until then and instead it was just like that. One word alone can describe what this (for me) new dac has brought to my desk and the word is Music. I can't tell if the vocals are ahead of the bass or if the treble is behind the mids...but what I can say is that the sound is one of the most organic I've ever heard maybe just the most organic. Obviously all this also has a cost... (not even too high to pay in my opinion) and that is that all those technicalities we are now used to with the delta-signa simply don't exist here... and this is not a defect (like many think) but a feature. If you want to buy the RU6 and then be able to listen to highly layered tracks of instruments, where the tempo and speed of execution of the notes are the masters and where the sound is so ethereal as to become extremely revealing, I tell you right away that it is not the dongle that look for. It would be like wanting to get drunk with a 2000 euro cognac... of course it could be done, but it would be better to drink something else if that's the purpose... lol But if instead you want to listen to something that makes voices and instruments first piano the focus of everything is the dongle that suits you, the notes are thick and heavy so they cannot be agile and fast. For example, listening to Musica Nuda (duet made by a voice and a double bass) will make you understand what you have bought, and out of curiosity then listen to it again with another dac... you will immediately understand what is special about an R2R. A piece of advice, take out of the drawer the flattest and most boring iems you have (I did it with the Blessing 2) and listen to them with the RU6 and then tell me if they are still so flat and boring or have they become something magical and unexpected. Then, if anything, take some hot iems out of the drawer ... that have pumped and well-present bass (I did it with the IER-Z1R) and you will see that the result will be anything but enjoyable. The RU6 (for me) is the most demanding and specific dongle/dac that exists... it doesn't love all music and it doesn't love all iems... but what it loves it will make you love it too, rest assured.

 

[Polky74]

DC04PRO: the Swiss Army Knife
This dongle has recently arrived to me, not at all expensive and very small and light... but contrary to what one might think by seeing it and having it in hand, it has very little smallness, indeed. I start from the sound, which is quite different from what you would expect from such a compact and "cheap" dongle, in fact the sound it has is extremely refined, powerful and incredibly three-dimensional. The bass, in addition to going down a lot, has an unexpected punch and a very high definition, the voices are very much in the foreground with high-level textures and the highs are never tiring while maintaining a very good extension. It is a dongle that I can define as "4 seasons" very enjoyable with any type of music and iem (practically the opposite of the RU6) with a power that pilots even important loads with ease. Last night listening to Madonna's album Music I was amazed at how it behaved sonically...everything was in motion...the sound moved in every direction becoming now full now empty, concave and convex, it sounded like i wasn't listening to music but i felt like i was using a virtual reality headset, it was just great. There's no bass sloshing, no treble harshness, no over-definition to distract you from the music but it's not without it either... everything is measured... everything is thought out down to the smallest detail details to make you feel the emotions that you "must" feel at that moment. In addition to this, I must say that for bone conduction lovers of the Unique Melody line it is perhaps the only dongle that highlights it so strongly. The cohesion, the precision, the details, the depth, the musicality... everything is helped by the UM bone conduction which with the DC04PRO rises to a higher level among all the dongles/dacs I own. If you love going out with a smartphone and a donlge and you want to take a bit of everything on your walk, the DC04PRO is the right dongle for you, also thanks to the excellent app designed by iBasso (Ibasso UAC) which will make your dongle the only what you really need to listen to music at excellent levels without worries. The DC04PRO is an all-rounder that will let you do it all.

 

[daijobudes]

Any pics?

 

[Polky74]

As soon as I have them all I will take a picture of them next to each other so as to see the differences in shape and size.

 

[vaporsynthwave]

just got the DC04Pro and have been similarly impressed. wanted a more lively dongle to go with the RU6 and Paw S2 and so far it has delivered. listening last night with the all-BA Penon Legends I was absolutely mesmerized by the vocal presentation

 

[giuca70]

Excellent analysis, I totally agree with the idea. None of the dongles mentioned is superior or inferior to the other, each one has a point of beauty, and each one offers the musical message with something that today was forgetting: listening to music with emotion. Music is emotion, and these dongles each bring a different emotion, well described by you Polky. Good boy! Well done.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

The RU6 (for me) is the most demanding and specific dongle/dac that exists... it doesn't love all music and it doesn't love all iems... but what it loves it will make you love it too, rest assured.

The RU6 feeds my amplifiers. If you have an analog sounding amplifier then this is an ideal DAC. As I am typing this, the RU6 is delivering its output into my tube pre-amp and the output of this amp gets directed into my JDS Labs Atom amp.

Thats how I have achieved my musical sounding desktop setup.

 

[VisalEziomi]

DC04PRO: the Swiss Army Knife
This dongle has recently arrived to me, not at all expensive and very small and light... but contrary to what one might think by seeing it and having it in hand, it has very little smallness, indeed. I start from the sound, which is quite different from what you would expect from such a compact and "cheap" dongle, in fact the sound it has is extremely refined, powerful and incredibly three-dimensional. The bass, in addition to going down a lot, has an unexpected punch and a very high definition, the voices are very much in the foreground with high-level textures and the highs are never tiring while maintaining a very good extension. It is a dongle that I can define as "4 seasons" very enjoyable with any type of music and iem (practically the opposite of the RU6) with a power that pilots even important loads with ease. Last night listening to Madonna's album Music I was amazed at how it behaved sonically...everything was in motion...the sound moved in every direction becoming now full now empty, concave and convex, it sounded like i wasn't listening to music but i felt like i was using a virtual reality headset, it was just great. There's no bass sloshing, no treble harshness, no over-definition to distract you from the music but it's not without it either... everything is measured... everything is thought out down to the smallest detail details to make you feel the emotions that you "must" feel at that moment. In addition to this, I must say that for bone conduction lovers of the Unique Melody line it is perhaps the only dongle that highlights it so strongly. The cohesion, the precision, the details, the depth, the musicality... everything is helped by the UM bone conduction which with the DC04PRO rises to a higher level among all the dongles/dacs I own. If you love going out with a smartphone and a donlge and you want to take a bit of everything on your walk, the DC04PRO is the right dongle for you, also thanks to the excellent app designed by iBasso (Ibasso UAC) which will make your dongle the only what you really need to listen to music at excellent levels without worries. The DC04PRO is an all-rounder that will let you do it all.

How about Questyle M15?

 

[Polky74]

It must have already arrived, it will probably arrive next week. Hopefully, can't wait to try it...

 

[Polky74]

M15: the musician is the instrument
The M15 has arrived and so it's time for me to let you know what I think. When the M15 came out, maybe many like me thought... the usual dongle with the ESS (yet another) with a low power on paper and an "exaggerated" cost. Yet I should have realized something was wrong, after all I have QP2R and it's anything but the usual dap. The M15 looks like a minimal dap, no display, no volume control, no selectable filters, only the gain switch, basically nothing at all... instead it has it all. Some criticize it for the "classic" background noise of the Questyle Current Mode Amp, with my Mest MKII 12.3 Ohm no problem and perhaps it will also have it with iems that approach 0 Ohm but this is at most a problem of the iem and a feature of the CMA Questyle which, among other things, makes this dongle really special. The ESS chip has been completely emptied of all its "normal" characteristics and filled with the musical wisdom of Questyle engineers, we can say that it is the ESS chip with the furthest sound from an ESS chip. There are three characteristics that immediately catch the ear: Refinement, Musicality, Dynamics (it is no coincidence that I wrote them all in capital letters). Precise as a delta-sigma with a musicality that brings it close (but not too much) to a R2R with a simply reference dynamics (that's what the CMA Questyle was for, not to make 0.5 Ohm iems hiss). Defined, powerful and taut bass, reference mids and highs that are never offensive but very extended. It does not have an L, U, V or W sound, all frequencies are of the same level, it does not favor any frequency, it enhances them all. Once listened to and tried with the IEMs, due to the power it has, you will have the impression of having a pocket nuclear power plant... be careful!!! No kidding!!! One reviewer compared it to an iBasso DX300 and couldn't figure out which sounded better...now I know he wasn't kidding. Using an ESS chip doesn't mean playing like an ESS, having a miniaturized amplifier doesn't mean it's not really powerful and above all extremely dynamic, not being a dap doesn't mean you can't play at those levels (in some cases even much better). Costing 250 euros for a dongle doesn't mean it's expensive. If there is one dongle that can truly complement the RU6 it is the M15. Congratulations to Questyle musicians for creating this instrument!

 

[Polky74]

How about Questyle M15?

M15 arrived and tested.

 

[Surdzo]

M15: the musician is the instrument
The M15 has arrived and so it's time for me to let you know what I think. When the M15 came out, maybe many like me thought... the usual dongle with the ESS (yet another) with a low power on paper and an "exaggerated" cost. Yet I should have realized something was wrong, after all I have QP2R and it's anything but the usual dap. The M15 looks like a minimal dap, no display, no volume control, no selectable filters, only the gain switch, basically nothing at all... instead it has it all. Some criticize it for the "classic" background noise of the Questyle Current Mode Amp, with my Mest MKII 12.3 Ohm no problem and perhaps it will also have it with iems that approach 0 Ohm but this is at most a problem of the iem and a feature of the CMA Questyle which, among other things, makes this dongle really special. The ESS chip has been completely emptied of all its "normal" characteristics and filled with the musical wisdom of Questyle engineers, we can say that it is the ESS chip with the furthest sound from an ESS chip. There are three characteristics that immediately catch the ear: Refinement, Musicality, Dynamics (it is no coincidence that I wrote them all in capital letters). Precise as a delta-sigma with a musicality that brings it close (but not too much) to a R2R with a simply reference dynamics (that's what the CMA Questyle was for, not to make 0.5 Ohm iems hiss). Defined, powerful and taut bass, reference mids and highs that are never offensive but very extended. It does not have an L, U, V or W sound, all frequencies are of the same level, it does not favor any frequency, it enhances them all. Once listened to and tried with the IEMs, due to the power it has, you will have the impression of having a pocket nuclear power plant... be careful!!! No kidding!!! One reviewer compared it to an iBasso DX300 and couldn't figure out which sounded better...now I know he wasn't kidding. Using an ESS chip doesn't mean playing like an ESS, having a miniaturized amplifier doesn't mean it's not really powerful and above all extremely dynamic, not being a dap doesn't mean you can't play at those levels (in some cases even much better). Costing 250 euros for a dongle doesn't mean it's expensive. If there is one dongle that can truly complement the RU6 it is the M15. Congratulations to Questyle musicians for creating this instrument!

Absolutely agree

 

[Polky74]

To give you an idea of how powerful the M15 is, I just tell you that in low gain with Foobar2000 and with the Mest MKII you can't go beyond 12-14/100 volume without damaging your hearing. It's a beast!!!