[lushmelody]

JCally AP10, a fraction of Link2 Bal price

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNgJos8

 

[r31ya]

JCally AP10, a fraction of Link2 Bal price

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNgJos8

how powerful this thing is?

 

[lushmelody]

how powerful this thing is?

Lmao. Lets cut some zeros. But its tipical JCally.... cheap marketing, but a decent product. It might be enough for IEM, I'm sure.

Pros are great and should not be overlooked. Full metal body, Dual beloved Cirrus, pentaconn BAL, hardware gain buttons and volume slider. I'd risk a try as XDuoo and Moondrop charge way too high for same hardware. If its tuned not too bright, its a steal. That dongle also obliterates Ibasso DC04 and Tempotec E44. Both are non detachatable cable, only BAL output and lack hardware buttons.

 

[Hal Rockwell]

how powerful this thing is?

How powerful do you want it to be?

 

[Tennoh]

JCAlly also has an AP98 that uses dual CS43198 in Moonriver2 clone shell. Would this be better than the AP10 and its CS43131? It's more expensive than AP10 but still cheaper than the Moonriver.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004807227888.html

 

[alvinlok24]

how powerful this thing is?

Voltage is not necessarily equal to output power, if you find the below revised version you will find its power is not that really powerful.
https://ibb.co/YRCDQWR

 

[someyoungguy]

Another one incoming from iBasso

Don’t know any details about it yet, coming out on the 20th. I also saw earlier in the week Audioengine have launched a dongle too: https://audioengine.com/shop/components/dac3-headphone-amplifier/

 

[PhonoPhi]

I am still trying to look for ESS-based USB DAC with a bit more gentler treble (trying to match my old Pioneer X30 that was quite formative to my preferences and, most importantly, IEM selection).

For that I am looking whether Colorfly CDA M1 can work. Another candidate is Dunu DTC 500 (?)
The preferred budget is under $100.

I do have a few of USB DACs.
My main DACs in rotation are Tenpotec E44 and BHD for more analytical and softer CS-based sound, and the Apple dongle
I also have E1DA SG3 for brutal high-power tests and Shanling UA2 (perverse to me but not uninteresting ESS implementation).

So what are your thoughts and suggestions? @baskingshark ? You have an excellent review on Colorfly CDA, so you would be a right person to ask.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Interesting that there is demand for the ESS chips not just resignation. I have a few ESS devices and they all (but one) strike me as a bit treble focused. The only unit that somehow finessed the ESS house sound was my Cayin N5II. That Cayin sounds smooth. I have a Zorloo Ztella with ESS and it is okay but still a tad brighter than optimal.

Now that AKM is back in the game, that is something I actively look for. I picked up a FIIIO Q3-MQA and after getting through a learning curve am happy with the unit. That dongle is worth more discussion here than it gets.

My impression of Cirrus is positive. But I do not think many if any of my current devices use that company. I have yet to hear R2R or the new brand that IBasso picked up.
If I recall my first DAP was a FIIO X3 and it had Wolfson chips (blast from the past there!).

I am hoping that FIIO also creates a new AKM variant of the M11 line FWIW.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Another one incoming from iBasso

Don’t know any details about it yet, coming out on the 20th. I also saw earlier in the week Audioengine have launched a dongle too: https://audioengine.com/shop/components/dac3-headphone-amplifier/

I wonder if this unit will also use CS chips.

 

[PhonoPhi]

Interesting that there is demand for the ESS chips not just resignation. I have a few ESS devices and they all (but one) strike me as a bit treble focused. The only unit that somehow finessed the ESS house sound was my Cayin N5II. That Cayin sounds smooth. I have a Zorloo Ztella with ESS and it is okay but still a tad brighter than optimal.

Now that AKM is back in the game, that is something I actively look for. I picked up a FIIIO Q3-MQA and after getting through a learning curve am happy with the unit. That dongle is worth more discussion here than it gets.

My impression of Cirrus is positive. But I do not think many if any of my current devices use that company. I have yet to hear R2R or the new brand that IBasso picked up.
If I recall my first DAP was a FIIO X3 and it had Wolfson chips (blast from the past there!).

I am hoping that FIIO also creates a new AKM variant of the M11 line FWIW.

I did want to keep my story short, but AK-based devices were not my cup of tea at all, that "velvet" sound and more than often the background noise.
After getting used to ESS, CS felt quite sterile at first, but I learned to appreciate CS, while still liking ESS even in the roughest form.

A fun but not very rational and fairly expensive way (but that is a hobby after all) to keel few different sources, given that the synergy with IEMs can be quite pronounced.

 

[OspreyAndy]

Interesting that there is demand for the ESS chips not just resignation. I have a few ESS devices and they all (but one) strike me as a bit treble focused. The only unit that somehow finessed the ESS house sound was my Cayin N5II. That Cayin sounds smooth. I have a Zorloo Ztella with ESS and it is okay but still a tad brighter than optimal.

Now that AKM is back in the game, that is something I actively look for. I picked up a FIIIO Q3-MQA and after getting through a learning curve am happy with the unit. That dongle is worth more discussion here than it gets.

My impression of Cirrus is positive. But I do not think many if any of my current devices use that company. I have yet to hear R2R or the new brand that IBasso picked up.
If I recall my first DAP was a FIIO X3 and it had Wolfson chips (blast from the past there!).

I am hoping that FIIO also creates a new AKM variant of the M11 line FWIW.

After owning and trying over 80 ESS based dongles, yes I will agree with you that the native tuning for them is Treble focus, or should I say ESS is banking hard on the perceived clean and clear sound with some upper register brightness. I personally find this to normally ended up being digital sounding and less realistic (veering away from analogue/organic timbre). But I also understand a great many like it that way. However among the many, there are some special exceptions with some ESS based dongles sounding a lot more neutral without seemingly consumed with sounding edgy bright or borderline sterile, prime example would be Questyle M15 being the very best ESS Sabre dongle still and then followed by either Colorfly CDA M1 or REIYIN DA-PLUS. MUSE HiFi M3 is the latest addition but it can claim a spot on the upper tier together with the ones I mentioned earlier. Not forgetting Questyle M12 and Audirect BEAM 3 Plus which sounded to my ears like the most "warm" ESS you could ever hope for.

Nonetheless, after over 128 of dongles, funnily I found that my top 5 regulars are comprised of two AKM based units, one R2R (RU6) , one CS (xDuoo Link2 BAL) and only one ESS (M15), with the crown being held by the AKM of CEntrance DACport HD followed closely by RU6

 

[povidlo]

After owning and trying over 80 ESS based dongles, yes I will agree with you that the native tuning for them is Treble focus, or should I say ESS is banking hard on the perceived clean and clear sound with some upper register brightness. I personally find this to normally ended up being digital sounding and less realistic (veering away from analogue/organic timbre). But I also understand a great many like it that way. However among the many, there are some special exceptions with some ESS based dongles sounding a lot more neutral without seemingly consumed with sounding edgy bright or borderline sterile, prime example would be Questyle M15 being the very best ESS Sabre dongle still and then followed by either Colorfly CDA M1 or REIYIN DA-PLUS. MUSE HiFi M3 is the latest addition but it can claim a spot on the upper tier together with the ones I mentioned earlier. Not forgetting Questyle M12 and Audirect BEAM 3 Plus which sounded to my ears like the most "warm" ESS you could ever hope for.

Nonetheless, after over 128 of dongles, funnily I found that my top 5 regulars are comprised of two AKM based units, one R2R (RU6) , one CS (xDuoo Link2 BAL) and only one ESS (M15), with the crown being held by the AKM of CEntrance DACport HD followed closely by RU6

Apogee Groove has smooth ESS implementation that's not edgy either. Would you agree?

 

[OspreyAndy]

Apogee Groove has smooth ESS implementation that's not edgy either. Would you agree?

Yes absolutely. I forgot about that one. It's highly organic and natural sounding

 

[baskingshark]

I am still trying to look for ESS-based USB DAC with a bit more gentler treble (trying to match my old Pioneer X30 that was quite formative to my preferences and, most importantly, IEM selection).

For that I am looking whether Colorfly CDA M1 can work. Another candidate is Dunu DTC 500 (?)
The preferred budget is under $100.

I do have a few of USB DACs.
My main DACs in rotation are Tenpotec E44 and BHD for more analytical and softer CS-based sound, and the Apple dongle
I also have E1DA SG3 for brutal high-power tests and Shanling UA2 (perverse to me but not uninteresting ESS implementation).

So what are your thoughts and suggestions? @baskingshark ? You have an excellent review on Colorfly CDA, so you would be a right person to ask.

The Colorfly CDA M1 is quite neutralish and has good power on tap, it can pair well with low impedance/high sensitivity IEMs all the way to power hungry transducers. But honestly, I think it would be a sidegrade to the E1DA SG3 (that one is probably more analytical and technical).

My 2 cents is that it might be more worth it to upgrade up the line, rather than getting another sidegrade/marginal upgrade, which might end up in the drawer.

If you could top up a bit more, my favourite end game dongle is the Questyle M15. It has better technicalities than the CDA M1, also neutralish and can pair with all kinds of transducers. Though of course diminishing returns abound once you go higher up the ladder.