[Hal Rockwell]

In this specific case it does not "filter" much (battery power is clean anyway) - but it delivers DC current much faster than a battery or a power supply (not as fast as a "normal capacitor") and is a reservoir of quickly available peak power. You will immediately notice it when connecting really demanding headphones (like HE6se) to the U5 (not the best combination but feasible) where a "chemical" battery can not cope with the peak demands from the U5/HE6 and the bass heavily distorts without it (becomes also visible when the U5 LED flickers). The super cap dynamically pumps some charge into the amp in these situations but is quickly re-charged from the constant (!) flow from the battery.
The same is valid for other amps like my Zen Can (there is a thread about its power supply and super caps somewhere here by the designer of the Zen Can).
This may be however less relevant if you only want to drive dynamic IEMs.

Have you ever tried to take this thing apart to see what is inside?

 

[ApaucalyptiK]

Forgot to post here, the FiiO KA13 Review.

I feel like this one from Fiio went under the radar... The Desktop Mode is a cool touch

 

[TheFritz]

Have you ever tried to take this thing apart to see what is inside?

No (not as long as it works), but you may want to have a look at its 12V DC counterpart (which I also own and opened once) on AliExpress https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004816367803.html which looks like this

... there are many variants of these available sold under different "brands" for 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V with different capacitance.
However, I think we are deviating a bit from the topic since these are more useful for amps ... although you can obviously also use the 5Vs as (very bulky) power filters for USB-DAC/amps.

 

[TheFritz]

I feel like this one from Fiio went under the radar... The Desktop Mode is a cool touch

Sounds really interesting. Besides the high gain I am more intrigued by its SPDIF/TOSLINK output from the 3.5mm port which you can enable in the Fiio control/music app. Does anyone know if it works simultaneously with the 4.4mm balanced output?

 

[Ichos]

I feel like this one from Fiio went under the radar... The Desktop Mode is a cool touch

Yes it is, it if it had a power saving mode like disabling the amps and using the DACs for amplification, it would be perfect. Well, maybe this is reserved for the KA15...

 

[Polky74]

...but in the end there are still few dongles that offer a line out such as the excellent RU7... they should push on that in my opinion... but perhaps there are still few who use them upstream of an amplifier...

 

[brjoon1021]

Yes it is, it if it had a power saving mode like disabling the amps and using the DACs for amplification, it would be perfect. Well, maybe this is reserved for the KA15...

I will check out the review. You like it really well ?

 

[originalsnuffy]

I am thinking right now that I have purchased my last DAP. From now, I am likely to only purchase dongles.

Which leads me to a thought that perhaps we should all consider. Perhaps Head-Fi needs a dedicated forum for these devices. Having only one thread for what I bet is the fastest growing category of electronics in these parts seems a bit off.

There should be threads for individual devices, how to threads aimed at streaming services, optimizing playback of DSD on smart phones, discussions by category of device, etc.

By category of device the conversation could go many ways.
I think one cut is by price, another one by chip family, R2R family, etc.

 

[Ichos]

I will check out the review. You like it really well ?

There is nothing not to like. If you favor the kind of sound signature that I describe, then it is great.

 

[lordearl]

What is a usb adapter with the smallest form factor but also includes volume up / down buttons?

There appears to be a lot of $20 USD options which are simple USB->3.5mm dongles then the next step at say $60 USD are the much larger form factor USB dongles with more features.

Is there a happy medium option that allows the user to adjust volume without having to reach for their phone but doesn't take up too much space?

 

[Ichos]

What is a usb adapter with the smallest form factor but also includes volume up / down buttons?

There appears to be a lot of $20 USD options which are simple USB->3.5mm dongles then the next step at say $60 USD are the much larger form factor USB dongles with more features.

Is there a happy medium option that allows the user to adjust volume without having to reach for their phone but doesn't take up too much space?

Shanling UA1 Plus but the one button system needs some mastering...

https://ichos-reviews.com/shanling-ua1-plus-review/

 

[ApaucalyptiK]

Which leads me to a thought that perhaps we should all consider. Perhaps Head-Fi needs a dedicated forum for these devices. Having only one thread for what I bet is the fastest growing category of electronics in these parts seems a bit off.

There should be threads for individual devices, how to threads aimed at streaming services, optimizing playback of DSD on smart phones, discussions by category of device, etc.

By category of device the conversation could go many ways.
I think one cut is by price, another one by chip family, R2R family, etc.

This thread is for every dongles and yet its activity is far from crazy to the point you can't follow it (a few posts a day)
For the moment a dedicated forum would be way overkill and spreading the information wouldn't encourage to participate / would kill the emulation because of the impression of empty / dead threads. My 2 cents.

 

[Comrade Penguin]

What is a usb adapter with the smallest form factor but also includes volume up / down buttons?

There appears to be a lot of $20 USD options which are simple USB->3.5mm dongles then the next step at say $60 USD are the much larger form factor USB dongles with more features.

Is there a happy medium option that allows the user to adjust volume without having to reach for their phone but doesn't take up too much space?

Don't know for sure they are the smallest but the Tempotec Sonata HD, Hiby FC3 and Whizzer DA1 all come to mind if you want 2 volume buttons. I'd guess the Whizzer is probably the smallest of the 3:

There is part of me that would love a dongle that could find a way to replicate the functionality of the old MiniDisc remotes but I suspect it's probably impossible:

 

[TheFritz]

What is a usb adapter with the smallest form factor but also includes volume up / down buttons?

There appears to be a lot of $20 USD options which are simple USB->3.5mm dongles then the next step at say $60 USD are the much larger form factor USB dongles with more features.

Is there a happy medium option that allows the user to adjust volume without having to reach for their phone but doesn't take up too much space?

Is there a reason not to use one of the (very) small-form-factor dongles which have 4pol-3.5mm ports and support inline mics / remotes in your IEM or headphone cable? Like e.g. the Hidizs Sonata HD Mk II or even the Apple Dongles which pass the volume commands from the inline keys to the host/phone. You are looking for unbalanced dongles anyway I guess...

 

[lordearl]

Shanling UA1 Plus but the one button system needs some mastering...

https://ichos-reviews.com/shanling-ua1-plus-review/

Brilliant - I'll check this one out!

Don't know for sure they are the smallest but the Tempotec Sonata HD, Hiby FC3 and Whizzer DA1 all come to mind if you want 2 volume buttons. I'd guess the Whizzer is probably the smallest of the 3:



There is part of me that would love a dongle that could find a way to replicate the functionality of the old MiniDisc remotes but I suspect it's probably impossible:

Cheers - I hadn't seen the Whizzer. Great design.

I'm 100% with you re the old minidisc remotes, they were the best!!