[andjayik]

Damn i just bought XDUOO Link2 Bal, ya at $480 cdn forget it

 

[Hyde00]

Any one lol , wonder how much?

The article says the standard edition is $400 and gold bar edition is $600.

Which I did remember reading a Japanese press conference the price was ¥50,000 JPY which is actually very close to $400 USD.

So I'd like to believe the price listed in the article is correct.

Which basically makes me automatically skip LOL (not paying $400 on dongles).

 

[r31ya]

The article says the standard edition is $400 and gold bar edition is $600.

Which I did remember reading a Japanese press conference the price was ¥50,000 JPY which is actually very close to $400 USD.

So I'd like to believe the price listed in the article is correct.

Which basically makes me automatically skip LOL (not paying $400 on dongles).

So, in $400 you could get ifi xDSD or splurge for that gold bar edition $600 money you could get ifi Gryphon.

Either you get these

Or these,

---

I understand size priority is very much a thing but yeah. these are not "technically portable" like Xduoo XD05 series.
Oh also,

The amp’s design combines sonic purity with exceptional power. In fact, with an output of 550mW (into 64 ohms) and 7.5V (into 600 ohms), no headphone amp of such diminutive size can match its impressive ability to drive even tricky headphone loads – that’s enough current drive for 16-ohm headphones and sufficient voltage drive for 600-ohm headphones

Possibly i misunderstand it or it got mistranslated but 7.5V? through usb-c source?
will it kill my phone after few days of use?

 

[someyoungguy]

Wow, 400 USD is getting up there for a dongle, higher than Colibri and a few eyebrows were raised for that one, but it kind of made sense since Colibri holds a battery. Wonder how it sounds. I presume the 7.5V must be a typo, maybe meaning 7.5mW into 600 since the 64 ohm statistic is also in mW.

That reminds me I also saw this on Shanling’s WeChat the other day:

 

[OspreyAndy]

Wow, 400 USD is getting up there for a dongle, higher than Colibri and a few eyebrows were raised for that one, but it kind of made sense since Colibri holds a battery. Wonder how it sounds. I presume the 7.5V must be a typo, maybe meaning 7.5mW into 600 since the 64 ohm statistic is also in mW.

High powered dongles are not new. Apogee Groove was already running 5 Vrms in 2015, and the most powerful dongle in existence, CEntrance DACport HD is 4.1 Vrms with 775 mW of sheer Class A power. The nearest competitor to reach that figure since 2020, only Ovidius B1 (480 mW). For iFi to churn out 7.5 Vrms, I am not surprised at all since the tech has evolved significantly with miniaturization of DAC/Amp real estate. We just need more manufacturers to do this and even this year we are seeing more and more 4 Vrms dongles released, it is becoming a normality. With these power, quite a few of the dongles are invading the desktop DAC/Amp territory, to a point that I have sold off all of my desktop rig because it is pointless when the likes DACport HD, Cayin RU6, Questyle M15, Ovidius B1, xDuoo Link2 BAL, Tempotec Sonata E44 etc. can fluidly drive my 600 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT880 and Fostex T40RP MK3 magnetic planar effortlessly. That power also serves well for low impedance partners that are offer good scaling ability

 

[r31ya]

High powered dongles are not new. Apogee Groove was already running 5 Vrms in 2015, and the most powerful dongle in existence, CEntrance DACport HD is 4.1 Vrms with 775 mW of sheer Class A power. The nearest competitor to reach that figure since 2020, only Ovidius B1 (480 mW). For iFi to churn out 7.5 Vrms, I am not surprised at all since the tech has evolved significantly with miniaturization of DAC/Amp real estate. We just need more manufacturers to do this and even this year we are seeing more and more 4 Vrms dongles released, it is becoming a normality. With these power, quite a few of the dongles are invading the desktop DAC/Amp territory, to a point that I have sold off all of my desktop rig because it is pointless when the likes DACport HD, Cayin RU6, Questyle M15, Ovidius B1, xDuoo Link2 BAL, Tempotec Sonata E44 etc. can fluidly drive my 600 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT880 and Fostex T40RP MK3 magnetic planar effortlessly. That power also serves well for low impedance partners that are offer good scaling ability

While USB-C could power mid range laptop and uber charger of 120W and above.
My question being how much usb-c power out in my phone actually capable of?
pretty sure, i read somewhere that KA3 and its peers already hit power out limit on lightning port.

And as someone that use dongle for my phone for quite awhile (dragonfly black and later red), at one point my phone just refuse to power it.
I use others phone and my dongle still works. I ask around, tried to replace the usb port and didn't work, and then audioshop points out that my phone power output must have degraded/lowered and now unable to power my dongle. Yes, my phone is mere Redmi Note 5 ai but i take it as precaution.

Now i use battery powered BTR5. other that unstable LDAC connection and battery drain, it work wonders. Not sure how long the battery will last tough.
Even the new high power shanling UA5 dongle actually have mini battery inside to create mini hybrid mode to gain extra power.

And now with even more higher powered usb dongle, adverse effect aside, can my smartphone use its full power? possibly via highly capable amp, i presume.

 

[OspreyAndy]

While USB-C could power mid range laptop and uber charger of 120W and above.
My question being how much usb-c power out in my phone actually capable of?
pretty sure, i read somewhere that KA3 and its peers already hit power out limit on lightning port.

And as someone that use dongle for my phone for quite awhile (dragonfly black and later red), at one point my phone just refuse to power it.
I use others phone and my dongle still works. I ask around, tried to replace the usb port and didn't work, and then audioshop points out that my phone power output must have degraded/lowered and now unable to power my dongle. Yes, my phone is mere Redmi Note 5 ai but i take it as precaution.

Now i use battery powered BTR5. other that unstable LDAC connection and battery drain, it work wonders. Not sure how long the battery will last tough.
Even the new high power shanling UA5 dongle actually have mini battery inside to create mini hybrid mode to gain extra power.

And now with even more higher powered usb dongle, adverse effect aside, can my smartphone use its full power? possibly via highly capable amp, i presume.

KA3 is one of the weakest 2 Vrms dongles, so does Dragonflies, they are just inferior with power delivery.

To unlock the true potential of USB powered DAC/Amps, it need to run on USB Exclusive mode which can be attained using HiBy Music Player App on android, or to some extend, UAPP too (bitperfect USB Access). Run them directly with Android stock SRC and you are getting just 70% of what they truly capable of. It is even worse with iPhones, power delivery via USB seemingly throttled down significantly. I have successfully run my most power hungry dongles of Apogee Groove and DACport HD with the USB Exclusive mode on Android. However the do drain the battery faster - they are purist devices anyway. The good thing is, we have something like Cayin RU6, Questyle M15, Ovidius B1 and xDuoo Link2 BAL which managed to find the sweet spot of balance to keep the power draw sensible - they all are very efficient with power and still provide top notch output that makes me believe I don't need a DAP or desktop rig

 

[r31ya]

KA3 is one of the weakest 2 Vrms dongles, so does Dragonflies, they are just inferior with power delivery.

To unlock the true potential of USB powered DAC/Amps, it need to run on USB Exclusive mode which can be attained using HiBy Music Player App on android, or to some extend, UAPP too (bitperfect USB Access). Run them directly with Android stock SRC and you are getting just 70% of what they truly capable of. It is even worse with iPhones, power delivery via USB seemingly throttled down significantly. I have successfully run my most power hungry dongles of Apogee Groove and DACport HD with the USB Exclusive mode on Android. However the do drain the battery faster - they are purist devices anyway. The good thing is, we have something like Cayin RU6, Questyle M15, Ovidius B1 and xDuoo Link2 BAL which managed to find the sweet spot of balance to keep the power draw sensible - they all are very efficient with power and still provide top notch output that makes me believe I don't need a DAP or desktop rig

Hoo.

Also, yeah in dongle madness Moondrop river2 got 4.5 out of 5 despite sounds as good if not better than xduoo link2 bal, partly because inefficient amp or circuitry that draw fairly more power than xduoo link2 bal and its peers.
I guess moondrop misses that sweetspot. Which i wonder how, considering similar pricing if not pricier price and all

 

[Blueshound24]

Hoo.

Also, yeah in dongle madness Moondrop river2 got 4.5 out of 5 despite sounds as good if not better than xduoo link2 bal, partly because inefficient amp or circuitry that draw fairly more power than xduoo link2 bal and its peers.
I guess moondrop misses that sweetspot. Which i wonder how, considering similar pricing if not pricier price and all

FYI, Andy is the author of Dongle Madness. (in case you didn't know)

 

[Hyde00]

Looks like they lower price of iFi go bar to $329 and $499 for the gold edition.

So same price as Luxury and Precision W2-131 sitting at the most expensive dongle price tier.

 

[r31ya]

FYI, Andy is the author of Dongle Madness. (in case you didn't know)

Oh, i completely missed that.

While people called dongle is god sent for smartphone, portability and all.
One of the main use of my Dongle is for my laptops.
as someone who have semi mobile jobs which unable to carry desktop or bigger desk dac. Audio dongle is god sent for our entertainment on the field.
Gaming is better, movie night is awesome (dragonfly black you'll be missed), and music is far nicer.

 

[sleepdeprecation]

One of the main use of my Dongle is for my laptops.

I don’t get as much use from my laptop, but the few times I’ve had to go back to the office, smaller dac/amps and dongles have been great

 

[Atek2019]

iBasso DC06, detachable usb cable, 3.5 and 4.4 mm jack output

 

[superuser1]

iBasso DC06, detachable usb cable, 3.5 and 4.4 mm jack output

Interesting

 

[Hyde00]

Oh, i completely missed that.

While people called dongle is god sent for smartphone, portability and all.
One of the main use of my Dongle is for my laptops.
as someone who have semi mobile jobs which unable to carry desktop or bigger desk dac. Audio dongle is god sent for our entertainment on the field.
Gaming is better, movie night is awesome (dragonfly black you'll be missed), and music is far nicer.

I don’t get as much use from my laptop, but the few times I’ve had to go back to the office, smaller dac/amps and dongles have been great

For the longest I've been using Dragonfly Red on my home desktop and my work desktop LOL.

Though I recently decide to give actual desktop unit another chance so I'll see how that goes. Only just got it yesterday so I won't give any impression yet, will get back to you guys after 1 week.

EDIT: Sorry you mentioned Dragonfly Black you'll be missed, may I asked what you upgrade to?