[Brain Damage]

Yeah I was also looking at it when it hit indiegogo a week ago. Seems decent on paper. I also have the Ztella MQA which has served me very well (still is), but got me thinking if there are any other 3.5+4.4bal options out there that would be a better overall package (see 2 posts above).. or better designed and something a bit more

I have the Cayin RU6, which is my end game at the moment with regards to dongle USB dacs. That's the biggest reason I am not taking a plunge at any other options; however, I do like Zorloo and thought I'd share their latest development. Glad to hear the Ztella MQA has served you well too.

PS: I cannot praise the RU6 enough:
- build quality is top quality
- sq is detailed and expansive, yet without the clinical tonality that most ESS dac/amps
- analogue sounding and terrific in terms of musicality: music is not that sterile way often witnessed during digital processing (from most implementations of ESS dac chips).

 

[TheUnknow]

Shanling UA1S

Shanling UA2 Plus

Spoiler

iBasso DC03 Pro

Quloos QLS MC01 / MC01 SE

Spoiler

 

[Jay Ros]

Guys what's the richest / colored sounding dongle dac around these days? I know most go for "reference/neutral" tuning but my preference is the other way.

I have RU6 on the way to me but us being audiophiles we must look up new gear while waiting for current gear to arrive LOLLLL jk (ok maybe half serious).

Was previously looking at PEE51, is that still good in comparison to RU6 or should I just be patient and wait for RU6 first. Any other choices that would fit in the ball park of RU6 / PEE51?

Did you find that colored sounding dongle dac? I'm looking for the other way too. Everything is very bright/reference/neutral these days. I'm on the $100usd limit and everything in this price seems to be very bright and analytical, acording to reviews.

 

[Hyde00]

Did you find that colored sounding dongle dac? I'm looking for the other way too. Everything is very bright/reference/neutral these days. I'm on the $100usd limit and everything in this price seems to be very bright and analytical, acording to reviews.

Lol I think I tried PEE51, RU6, W2, W2-131, and Mojo 2, then have since steered back to desktop gear LOL.

But for dongles I still find Dragonfly Red is the most "rich" sounding dongle for my taste. Though I've heard some people actually like Dragonfly Black over Red, and Black would be $100.

Otherwise PEE51 is both treble and bassy at the same time. But mostly lots of treble. RU6 is not bad and has the analogue sound, but a bit soft in the bass, and has some treble roll off.

And there's just wayyyyyyyyyy too many dongles now to keep track of them all.

But maybe read into Dragonfly Black or FiiO KA1 or KA3???

 

[freemental]

FiiO KA3 is bright and analytical in my experience. But the Colorfly CDA M1 just sounds natural in an organic way with the correct tonality

 

[povidlo]

For under $100 it's hard to beat CDA M1 or Sonata E44 but neither of them is warm and colored. I would look at Shanling and JCally dongles with new gen AKM4493SEQ chips. AKM is known for warmer profile.

New Tanchjim Space is very interesting as well. It has been measured by prof Wolf to be on par with L&P W2, but will likely have a similar neutral reference profile.

 

[Jay Ros]

Lol I think I tried PEE51, RU6, W2, W2-131, and Mojo 2, then have since steered back to desktop gear LOL.

But for dongles I still find Dragonfly Red is the most "rich" sounding dongle for my taste. Though I've heard some people actually like Dragonfly Black over Red, and Black would be $100.

Otherwise PEE51 is both treble and bassy at the same time. But mostly lots of treble. RU6 is not bad and has the analogue sound, but a bit soft in the bass, and has some treble roll off.

And there's just wayyyyyyyyyy too many dongles now to keep track of them all.

But maybe read into Dragonfly Black or FiiO KA1 or KA3???

I wish the RU6 or those W2 were more on my budget, I've read only good things of those. But, for that price, I might try a btr5 to get use bluetooth sometimes. But I don't know how warm or bright the btr5 might be.

I haven't seen the Dragonfly red and black available in Mexico for a long time, not even on aliexpress. The only one everybody sells is the cobalt.

FiiO KA3 is bright and analytical in my experience. But the Colorfly CDA M1 just sounds natural in an organic way with the correct tonality

I've read that about the KA3, a bright and analytical dac. I'll have a look on that Colorfly, never heard of it before.

For under $100 it's hard to beat CDA M1 or Sonata E44 but neither of them is warm and colored. I would look at Shanling and JCally dongles with new gen AKM4493SEQ chips. AKM is known for warmer profile.

New Tanchjim Space is very interesting as well. It has been measured by prof Wolf to be on par with L&P W2, but will likely have a similar neutral reference profile.

I'm considering the Shanling UA3 for that reason. And it's also sold on AliExpress with the lightning cable for the iPhone, so that's a plus.
That Tanchjim looks very interesting, visually. But I haven't seen many reviews yet. It has two Cirrus Logic 43131, as the Moondrop Dawn that I was also considering, but apparently the Moondrop dawn can be also bright with IEMs like the Dunu Titan S.

Thanks everyone.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

It is important to have a good USB-C cable with excellent isolation if you are using an USB-C dac with detachable cable. My cheap AliExpress cables produce cackling noises from electromagnetic interference while my Anker cables do not. I managed to replicate this with different sources and DACs. Very interesting! There is definitely a use-case for quality USB-C cables.

 

[lushmelody]

It is important to have a good USB-C cable with excellent isolation if you are using an USB-C dac with detachable cable. My cheap AliExpress cables produce cackling noises from electromagnetic interference while my Anker cables do not. I managed to replicate this with different sources and DACs. Very interesting! There is definitely a use-case for quality USB-C cables.

There are some flat and strong plastic cables that resemble the one Moondrop chose for the Dawn. Some are around $5~8 on Ali

By the way, CX Pro CX31993 is too soft and the braids are so thin... Terrible EMI. Not a gym rec

 

[bassct]

Little collection: Qudelix 5K, E1DA 9038D6K, THX Onyx. All 3 are great. Solid specs and performance. Enough power for most gear. Have not really spent much time comparing them since I do not currently own any mid-high/high-end IEMs/HPs.

 

[amanieux]

It is important to have a good USB-C cable with excellent isolation if you are using an USB-C dac with detachable cable. My cheap AliExpress cables produce cackling noises from electromagnetic interference while my Anker cables do not. I managed to replicate this with different sources and DACs. Very interesting! There is definitely a use-case for quality USB-C cables.

very strange because usb protocol has a error detection/correction mechanism resending data when data is corrupted, audio bandwidth is order of magnitude lower than usb bandwidth so it has plenty of time to resend data (otherwise you could not store/read any information on an external drive for example which is clearly not the case). maybe this has to do with the power transmision if the wire is too thin for the usb power transmission but then this cable cannot be branded with "usb" if it did not follow the rules.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

very strange because usb protocol has a error detection/correction mechanism resending data when data is corrupted, audio bandwidth is order of magnitude lower than usb bandwidth so it has plenty of time to resend data (otherwise you could not store/read any information on an external drive for example which is clearly not the case). maybe this has to do with the power transmision if the wire is too thin for the usb power transmission but then this cable cannot be branded with "usb" if it did not follow the rules.

It sounds really strange. In fact I could even replicate constant sound drop-outs with inexpensive Baseus USB-C cables. This again only happens with cables from certain manufactures and the length of the cable seems to increase the effect. This might be the reason such cables are sold as charging cables on Aliexpress.

 

[Hyde00]

It sounds really strange. In fact I could even replicate constant sound drop-outs with inexpensive Baseus USB-C cables. This again only happens with cables from certain manufactures and the length of the cable seems to increase the effect. This might be the reason such cables are sold as charging cables on Aliexpress.

My UGREEN cable was fine but recently 1 side is buggy but if you flip to other side it's fine.

Should buy a new cable soon.

 

[Torq]

very strange because usb protocol has a error detection/correction mechanism resending data when data is corrupted

Not for USB Audio.

USB Audio (UAC2) uses isochronous transfer which has no retry/retransmit capability.

 

[BigZ12]

Fiio KA3, with usb-c to lightning cable, for $89 incl shipping/tax to Norway is decent I guess? Value for money?

Am going to use it mostly with Philips X2HR from my HTPC and some with my iPhone 14 Pro.

Maybe I will try my Ikko OH10 on it as well, but not important since I also have the iKKO ITB03.