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Venture Electronics Megatron DAC/AMP
Sep 17, 2022 at 10:11 PM Post #46 of 80
I've had the Megatron for a few days now and I have to say that if you have the kind of earbuds and headphones this beast was designed to drive, then this may be the best $50 purchase you can make these days. No joke and no exaggeration.

I know some people aren't fans of the ES9018 chip (I actually like it quite a bit) and consider it dated, but in this low cost, low battery consumption application it's a very good pick and the Megatron sounds great with it. Just as VE's/Lee's promotional media has claimed, the Megatron has a nice organic, slightly warm analog sound that is actually much more versatile than I had originally envisioned.

As for power, when I get a chance I want to do some independent measurements on the Megatron and some of my other portable combos because this thing has some real muscle and if it's reported output measurements are correct then the same measurements for at least one other product I own, which shall remain nameless for now, must be exaggerated by quite a bit. Even single ended the Megatron runs my AKG x7xx series headphones without breaking a sweat. Throw stuff on the balanced connections and it drives some not-so-sensitive full size planars with plenty of headroom and control.

For some high impedance earbuds the Megatron is very lovely match that sounds incredible. I have tried it with VE's own Masters, Asura 3.0s, and Sun Dice and it's a warm, detailed match made in earbud heaven. I originally bought the Megatron because of how well it synergized with my Ucotech ES-P1 buds and I have found myself reaching for this combo again and again over the last couple of days since the Megatron arrived. This just might currently be my favorite earbud rig in existence.

For $50, the Megatron is an absolute steal! In a pinch you can add an impedance adapter and make it even more versatile which is something I've started to do a little experimenting with. Basically, this is a can't miss, high value and low risk proposition.

I wish something like the Megatron had existed back when I was a broke college student or starving musician who was always struggling to put together good sounding setups that could run some of the harder to drive vintage headphones that represented the most affordable hifi headphone segment for me. It would have solved a lot of problems and prevented me from owning a few rigs of sub par performing gear that never could quite get the best out of some headphones I acquired that was all I could afford at the time. VE really did the earbud/headphones/head-fi community a solid when they put out the Megatron at such a modest price when they could have easily priced it higher. Two massive thumbs up from me...for whatever that's worth! 👍😉

P.S. The PD bridge charging feature is a perfect inclusion in a device like this. The Megatron doesn't drain smartphone batteries quickly at all compared to other "dongles" that also don't have their own batteries, but with the bridge charging this become a complete non issue and your listening sessions are no longer limited by your phone's battery life. Score!
 
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Oct 8, 2022 at 7:30 PM Post #47 of 80
Some initial thoughts on Megatron:
  • Provide a noticeable bump in sound quality to most head-fi gears that are not too sensitive. For example, if you have talked to me or read my review, you would know that I always complain about “wide but flat soundstage” of Blessing 2. Megatron fixes the depth problem noticeable. In fact, most of my IEMs sound a bit crisper, a bit more separated, a bit deeper. Extra driving power is a wonderful thing.
  • If you have sensitive multi-BA IEMs like Andromeda, don’t bother with Megatron. The noise level is so high that I thought I was hearing rain noise from the outside. My Hidizs MD4 (4BA) becomes muddy, mushy when powered by Megatron.
  • Megatron can drive headphones for sure. I borrowed a HD800 headphone from a local hifi store to try (300ohm), and Megatron makes it sound wonderful with balanced sound and fast but strong bass. When I swapped to my Creative X1 (still quite powerful for a dongle), I asked myself “where is the bass?” The whole sound signature becomes harsh and piercing without the bass to balance out. I also hear a more balanced sound with my HD560s.
5929F474-B08C-4FF9-9AE5-C876274CBDE2.jpeg

I have also compared Megatron against the previous flagship SP2000T of A&K (test track recommended by @JAnonymous5150). Would the underdog win?

Nope. The (shockingly) expensive A&K sounds noticeably crisper with Blessing 2. Still, an old smartphone + $65 dongle vs $3600 DAP? I would pick my cheap combo and buy a new couch to sit and listen instead :beyersmile:

Now if you excuse me, I need to get back to my game “how does it sound with megatron”
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 12:12 AM Post #48 of 80
Hello mates, i have a general question but megatron is what really makes me need the answer much more,
Does the static hiss affect the SQ ?
Does the level of hiss (like the difference between megatron 3.5 and 4.4) affect the sound directly ? Or just it's annoying when it's heared ?
Note: whether the hiss be from 3.5 or much more audible from 4.4 i can't hear it in the music, but in a talking video (like a review or class or meeting or so ...) It's audible to me because that frequency range of the hiss is not occupied but, i can't evaluate whether it's affecting SQ or not from only talking video
Thanks.
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 12:26 AM Post #49 of 80
omarelmeaday said:
Hello mates, i have a general question but megatron is what really makes me need the answer much more,
Does the static hiss affect the SQ ?
Does the level of hiss (like the difference between megatron 3.5 and 4.4) affect the sound directly ? Or just it's annoying when it's heared ?
Note: whether the hiss be from 3.5 or much more audible from 4.4 i can't hear it in the music, but in a talking video (like a review or class or meeting or so ...) It's audible to me because that frequency range of the hiss is not occupied but, i can't evaluate whether it's affecting SQ or not from only talking video
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Noise reduces the dynamic range of your gear. Small details quieter than the noise floor would be masked, so you can say you do lose sound quality. But for some people, it doesn’t matter.
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 12:34 AM Post #50 of 80
omarelmeaday said:
Hello mates, i have a general question but megatron is what really makes me need the answer much more,
Does the static hiss affect the SQ ?
Does the level of hiss (like the difference between megatron 3.5 and 4.4) affect the sound directly ? Or just it's annoying when it's heared ?
Note: whether the hiss be from 3.5 or much more audible from 4.4 i can't hear it in the music, but in a talking video (like a review or class or meeting or so ...) It's audible to me because that frequency range of the hiss is not occupied but, i can't evaluate whether it's affecting SQ or not from only talking video
Thanks.
Click to expand...

@o0genesis0o is absolutely correct in the post above me. Also, depending on what frequencies the hissing effects it can also change/distort sound reproduction by your headphones/IEMs/earbuds at those frequencies. If you'd like to get rid of that hissing and lower the noise floor of the Megatron on your more sensitive transducers you can purchase impedance adapters pretty cheaply from multiple places, including for $5 (packaged with a mic too) from VE itself.

Alternate sources are from FAAEAL (on AliExpress and Amazon), jcally (on AliExpress), DUNU (on AliExpress), and I'm sure there are others. I myself own several impedance adapters in 32, 75, 80, 150, 220, and 300 ohms that I use occasionally with the Megatron and with some other amps I own.
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 3:21 AM Post #51 of 80
Thanks a lot, i have an impedance adapter and 4.4 to 3.5 adapter in the way, so i can give it a try, would i miss a lot in terms of SQ between megatron 4.4 and 3.5 ?
Does anyone have megatron and olina or s12 ..... I have only these two and want to know how would you consider the hiss while using them with megatron, slight, moderate or high
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 3:29 AM Post #52 of 80
omarelmeaday said:
Thanks a lot, i have an impedance adapter and 4.4 to 3.5 adapter in the way, so i can give it a try, would i miss a lot in terms of SQ between megatron 4.4 and 3.5 ?
Does anyone have megatron and olina or s12 ..... I have only these two and want to know how would you consider the hiss while using them with megatron, slight, moderate or high
Click to expand...
From memory, S12 is perfectly normal with Megatron via 3.5. I’ll listen again and let you know.
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 6:58 AM Post #53 of 80
@omarelmeaday there is very very slight noise with S12. By itself, Megatron is perfectly fine with S12. Only when A/B with strong and clean sources like S9 Pro, I can hear the noise issue. It’s not hissing, but kind of slight fizzy fuzzy around the music notes that reduces the clarity slightly. Again, the key word is “slightly”.
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 8:41 AM Post #54 of 80
o0genesis0o said:
@omarelmeaday there is very very slight noise with S12. By itself, Megatron is perfectly fine with S12. Only when A/B with strong and clean sources like S9 Pro, I can hear the noise issue. It’s not hissing, but kind of slight fizzy fuzzy around the music notes that reduces the clarity slightly. Again, the key word is “slightly”.
Click to expand...
I use s12 with megatron from 4.4 and the hiss is quite audible, may be it's affecting the sound quality a bit
How about megatron 3.5 vs 4.4 SQ ?
 
Nov 2, 2022 at 4:37 PM Post #55 of 80
omarelmeaday said:
I use s12 with megatron from 4.4 and the hiss is quite audible, may be it's affecting the sound quality a bit
How about megatron 3.5 vs 4.4 SQ ?
Click to expand...
My S12 is only 3.5. Of course if you use balanced, the noise floor tends to increase. The 4.4 is stronger than 3.5, so it does make a difference in niche cases like Final Audio E5000. Otherwise, it’s just loudness to me, with this particular unit.
 
Nov 3, 2022 at 11:50 AM Post #56 of 80
By the way, if anyone here is bothered by the noise floor issues with sensitive IEMs, now you can get a 75 ohm impedance adapter from VE. Technically, any impedance adapter will work, but if you want to match the VE theme, you can consider it.
 

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