[Polky74]

So Colorfly M1P or DC04 PRO for hd600 and k701 over ear? Still confused what to choose..!or something else? Or again a more stable dac/amp solution.

I need your personal and only personal opinion or anyone else that has both!

I do not want to exceed the price limit of 100 euro.

Thank you and very mice collection really!

Honestly, I'm not sure that a dongle can have the right amplification for headphones, also because I now use dongles especially with external amplification (RA2BFE) also for IEMs. But if you ask me which dongle I recommend for the amount you want to spend, I think that the iBasso DC04PRO is still one of the most valid choices, even if I have recently tried the Shanling UA4 with great satisfaction.

 

[vandung2510]

I will obviously answer you in a completely personal way. The Colorfly, from what I have read, is certainly part of the type of dongle that pertains to the FC6 as well as the RU6/RU7 and the PAW S2. With these it shares the type of sound that is therefore analogue, musical, smooth and free of harshness especially in the highs. How it compares to all these I can't tell you but certainly costing a third of the others its ratio between cost and audio quality will certainly be superior, but I don't think in an absolute sense (obviously). As for the comparison between dongle and Mojo/Mojo 2 (again from what I've read because I don't own it) it's a completely personal thing, many love the sound of the Mojo, while many others don't like its tone and for this reason they sold it. What makes me desist from purchasing it is the presence of the internal battery and its poor lifespan. Since I've been using dongles I don't particularly like DAPs anymore, precisely because of the battery which inevitably tends to deteriorate. Instead, in the comparison between high-level dongles and DAPs, obviously a dongle alone cannot compete with the amplifiers present in DAPs, but if helped (power supply side and amplification side) I don't think it is very far from them... and in some ways I think that they have no problem overtaking them and I'm not talking about 800/900 dollar DAPs but also 3/4/5 K dollar DAPs. Then if you are lucky enough to find "your" sound with a dongle the distances with the DAPs become sidereal. I have been using my dongles for some time now with a step-down switching power supply and recently with an excellent portable amplifier with an unbeatable cost/quality ratio. With these two simple accessories I am not afraid of comparison with any dap. I repeat (personal opinion)

Step-down switching power supply:

https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005...t_main.33.77763696vEwuF4&gatewayAdapt=glo2ita

Amplifier:

https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=75

If i were to use the FC6 mainly with my always-plugged-in laptop, do i need to use that switch power supply?

 

[Polky74]

If i were to use the FC6 mainly with my always-plugged-in laptop, do i need to use that switch power supply?

If you want to get the most out of the FC6 you would have no reason not to. For 30 euros it's a test you can do... but then you won't try it again without it.

 

[Polky74]

Meanwhile the new ESS ES9069Q DAC of the Shanling UA4, with the help of the RA2BFE is literally wringing out the bass of the Thieaudio Monarch OG... absolute spectacle.

 

[Polky74]

The more I listen to the UA4, the more I am convinced that the Shanling engineers know perfectly well what they are doing when they get their hands on a DAC, even if it has recently been released and has capabilities yet to be discovered. If the UA3 convinced me for its general balance and the naturalness of the sound expressed without exaggeration of any kind, this new UA4 raises the performance bar even further. The new ESS ES9069Q immediately demonstrates its technical capabilities as well as its very low power consumption. The higher the expectations and qualities of the DAC, the more the skill of a company's technical department must be at a high level to get the most out of the material they have available and with the new ES9069Q ESS has taken advantage of the many criticisms received in his previous creations. The road becomes narrow and not easily passable but not for those who have a clear idea of the result to be achieved and how to achieve it. This UA4 will truly leave you with a wonderful feeling listening to it and you will immediately realize the level now reached by these little music machines that we call dongles. Then, when such performance is achieved by taking a little of everything into account, construction quality, consumption, usability, price, solidity, it becomes really difficult not to be surprised. Looking at it for the first time and reading the price I thought... the usual dongle with an aggressive price that we didn't miss... instead I have to say that never before was I wrong like this time... don't consider the price, the shape, the display, the aesthetics in general... it's not "the usual dongle" and you'll notice it immediately, upon first listening. The only real flaw I found is that the too low price doesn't really make us understand what it is... certainly not the "usual dongle". Well done Shanling!!!

 

[Brain Damage]

The more I listen to the UA4, the more I am convinced that the Shanling engineers know perfectly well what they are doing when they get their hands on a DAC, even if it has recently been released and has capabilities yet to be discovered. If the UA3 convinced me for its general balance and the naturalness of the sound expressed without exaggeration of any kind, this new UA4 raises the performance bar even further. The new ESS ES9069Q immediately demonstrates its technical capabilities as well as its very low power consumption. The higher the expectations and qualities of the DAC, the more the skill of a company's technical department must be at a high level to get the most out of the material they have available and with the new ES9069Q ESS has taken advantage of the many criticisms received in his previous creations. The road becomes narrow and not easily passable but not for those who have a clear idea of the result to be achieved and how to achieve it. This UA4 will truly leave you with a wonderful feeling listening to it and you will immediately realize the level now reached by these little music machines that we call dongles. Then, when such performance is achieved by taking a little of everything into account, construction quality, consumption, usability, price, solidity, it becomes really difficult not to be surprised. Looking at it for the first time and reading the price I thought... the usual dongle with an aggressive price that we didn't miss... instead I have to say that never before was I wrong like this time... don't consider the price, the shape, the display, the aesthetics in general... it's not "the usual dongle" and you'll notice it immediately, upon first listening. The only real flaw I found is that the too low price doesn't really make us understand what it is... certainly not the "usual dongle". Well done Shanling!!!

May I ask how good is the amplification of the UA4 (without external amp)? I know you usually use your dongles with an external amp, but wonder if you could rate (by comparison to other dongles) its amplification ability when used with full sized cans?

 

[Polky74]

May I ask how good is the amplification of the UA4 (without external amp)? I know you usually use your dongles with an external amp, but wonder if you could rate (by comparison to other dongles) its amplification ability when used with full sized cans?

Obviously a lot depends on the efficiency of the headphones as you can easily imagine. I read in your signature that you own RU6 and RU7 so I can tell you that although it is not at the levels of what RU7 provides, it is certainly superior to that provided by RU6. So keep in mind that everything you can hear with RU6 (211 mw) you can hear even better with UA4 (224 mw). If, however, you are looking for a dongle that is stellar in terms of amplification, I think the Aune Yuki could be much superior, this is what can be seen from Andy's review (Donglemadness) but also from the direct testimony of a friend of mine who owns it... and today I purchased it together with the iBasso DC06PRO, another dongle that offers tons of power on its own (320 mw).

 

[Takeda`1537]

I think I know the answer already, but are dongle dacs with a 3.5mm input instead of usb C a thing?
Never saw one, and I guess the usb C port is required data wise?
Something like that but with a dac integrated

This would appear not to be a DAC but simply an 90 degrees adapter.
https://ddhifi.com/product/3-5mm-female-to-3-5mm-male-adapter-dj30c/

 

[BX700]

Anyway I cannot afford a new dongle, it turns out, so my task is to work out how to use the E1DA Powerdac I already bought OTG. Does sound off the hook though: sounds like clean power.

More or less on topic in this thread.

 

[Brain Damage]

Obviously a lot depends on the efficiency of the headphones as you can easily imagine. I read in your signature that you own RU6 and RU7 so I can tell you that although it is not at the levels of what RU7 provides, it is certainly superior to that provided by RU6. So keep in mind that everything you can hear with RU6 (211 mw) you can hear even better with UA4 (224 mw). If, however, you are looking for a dongle that is stellar in terms of amplification, I think the Aune Yuki could be much superior, this is what can be seen from Andy's review (Donglemadness) but also from the direct testimony of a friend of mine who owns it... and today I purchased it together with the iBasso DC06PRO, another dongle that offers tons of power on its own (320 mw).

Do you know if the Aune Yuki is much more power hungry (compared to the RU7) as a result of the 4VRMS output?

 

[darmanastartes]

My long-delayed review of the Colorfly CDA-M1P is up in my Head-Fi thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rev...om-darmanastartes.963101/page-5#post-17925005

 

[Polky74]

Do you know if the Aune Yuki is much more power hungry (compared to the RU7) as a result of the 4VRMS output?

I honestly don't think the Yuki consumes more than the RU7 and just take a look at Andy's review on Youtube. Obviously, if headphones that require a lot of current to work are connected to it, this will certainly affect its consumption. But I think what you should think about is more about the type of sound you want to obtain... if you are looking for a sound similar to that of the RU6/RU7 the Yuki is for you, but if instead you want to obtain a different, more defined and "hifi" as Andy defines it you can easily opt for the UA4 or DC06PRO. With the Yuki you go in the direction of the RU6/RU7, while with the UA4/DC06PRO you go in the direction of an M15/W4... it all depends on whether you want to try something different or stay in the groove of the blunt, analog sound.

 

[ducnsh]

Just received Colorfly CDA-M2 today, after listening A/B for 2 hours with DC04 Pro, I have some reviews:

• Build quality: the Colorfly easily beats iBasso, it has top-notch build quality, even better than W2 and S2 that I owned before, and it is built like a tank with a solid and premium feel. Especially the 4.4mm socket is smooth like butter, really good user experience when plugging and unplugging. Aesthetically, I think it is more attractive than the rendered image.
• Sound quality: these 2 dongles are tuned in 2 different ways, the iBasso towards the neutral, and the Colorfly goes into fun, and energetic. Colorfly has a much punchier in the low end, I can feel the thump with my A12t, and the high is airier with a little quantity added to the low treble, and low mids are pushed slightly back. Consequently, I feel the stage is deeper than the iBasso.
• Hiss: since my main earphone is A12t, which is relatively sensitive, so I really care about this. Luckily, both dongles are perfectly black even with the high gain in Colorfly.
• Feature: DC04 pro requires the iBasso application (which only exists on Android) to configure the dongle, and it cannot store the configuration itself. Assume that you only use your iBasso with an Android phone, the features it offers are almost the same as the Colorfly such as filter, L/R balance, gain, and volume. In contrast, Colorfly has a screen like LP W2, and you can access the configuration without any applications, it also offers some extra features like UAC mode, SPDIF, screen rotation, and a feature named H-DEPOP that is not recommended to turn on (!?).

So is the Colorfly worth it? I think it depends, on your favorite tuning, and use-case scenarios.

 

[ext23]

Any point in me retiring my cheap CX31993 dongle in favour of a CS43131 one? Just to run IEMs from my phone when on the go. I've heard that the CS "sounds better" and that it can go louder. Worth the $20?

 

[HifiFrog]

@ext23 If a different DAC "sounds better" is impossible to say by just looking at the DAC chip. The implementation is what matters.

For 20$ you could just try it, or spend more to get in the $50 category to get a real "sound upgrade".

E.g. I have the Moondrop Dawn Pro (Dual CS43131) which is 40-50 $ and it has superb sound for this price. Some people think it's the king of the 50$ range.
You can read some reviews here: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/moondrop-dawn-pro.26937/

There are (of course) other options in this price range, so research is important (and fun).