[brjoon1021]

I bet it does. It probably competes with or even exceeds most DAPs or desktop amps? It tempts me

 

[ozz007]

Really need a stand for this thing...plenty of scratches on the cheap plastic...Woo is just lucky this thing sounds great.

Try this I used it and it works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-E...lk&packageid+1&asin+b08r2y53qk,aps,307&sr=8-1

 

[ozz007]

Really need a stand for this thing...plenty of scratches on the cheap plastic...Woo is just lucky this thing sounds great.

Try this I used it and it works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-Extension-Pedestal-Vertical-Wireless/dp/B08R2Y53QK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=EE0C7PDUATYT&keywords=https://www.amazon.com/your-orders/pop?ref=ppx_yo2dv_mob_b_pop__np_2_pp&orderId=111-6200602-4358615&lineItemId=rgoirumutirvwny&shipmentId=XkwXfQLlK&packageId=1&asin=B08R2Y53QK&qid=1704750036&sprefix=https+//www.amazon.com/your-orders/pop+ref+ppx_yo2dv_mob_b_pop__np_2_pp&orderid+111-6200602-4358615&lineitemid+rgoirumutirvwny&shipmentid+xkwxfqllk&packageid+1&asin+b08r2y53qk,aps,307&sr=8-1

 

[texx2818]

Try this I used it and it works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-Extension-Pedestal-Vertical-Wireless/dp/B08R2Y53QK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=EE0C7PDUATYT&keywords=https://www.amazon.com/your-orders/pop?ref=ppx_yo2dv_mob_b_pop__np_2_pp&orderId=111-6200602-4358615&lineItemId=rgoirumutirvwny&shipmentId=XkwXfQLlK&packageId=1&asin=B08R2Y53QK&qid=1704750036&sprefix=https+//www.amazon.com/your-orders/pop+ref+ppx_yo2dv_mob_b_pop__np_2_pp&orderid+111-6200602-4358615&lineitemid+rgoirumutirvwny&shipmentid+xkwxfqllk&packageid+1&asin+b08r2y53qk,aps,307&sr=8-1

thank you thank you thank you!

 

[texx2818]

Bored at the office today, used it with my iPhone 14 Pro with the Lightning-to-USB cable direct from Woo, and, I don't notice really any noise or interference. Kinda makes me wonder if I COULD use this portable with maybe a case to help with the ringing.

 

[Promee]

How is the result with an iPhone, I heard it is not so great and do not sound better than other good quality dongles like Dragonfly etc...anyone could compare, it seems to work well mainly with iPad, portable PC, Mc Book but not with iPhone.

I know this question was asked a long time ago, but I just got the TUBE mini a couple of days ago, and I’ve tested it out on the iPhone 15 pro max. There is noticeable interference that is really bothersome if you are using cellular data. I would not advise streaming or browsing the internet on cellular while using. Of note, I had the same issue with the Questyle M15, which was my biggest gripe with it, but it feels different in this situation because it was acknowledged up from by the manufacturer, and I expected it when I ordered the thing.

I can’t hear any interference with WiFi, however. For the most part it is well behaved even if you have cellular on but are streaming from WiFi, unless you’re getting hit with a ton of texts, you should be good to go. Airplane mode will fix all interference in my experience. Also, you can carry it around without any issue with sound quality, but actually setting it down on a hard surface, if the impact is a little too hard, it will ring for a couple of seconds. Hope this is helpful!

 

[Promee]

Getting an iPhone 15 pro max soon. I wonder if the usb-c implementation will be a better match than lightning, based on feedback that usb-c from iPads sound better.

I think I may have failed to answer the question in my last post, but I can also report that the iPhone and iPad Pro sound the same to my ears from USB-C. They are also basically equal volume at same device volume level on Roon. I know that‘s not a perfect indicator of adequacy of power, but hopefully it helps. I also don’t have particularly difficult to drive headphones to test it with, but I don’t see any issue with using it with the iPhone or iPad.

 

[Promee]

great review. It mentions that the mini suits some headphones more the other. Anyone have any input on how it fairs with focal clear OG? I am very interested in the mini but would have to buy it without testing it so feedback on the clears would be great. I also have iem Shure 846 but taking from the reviews iems is a no go on the mini, right?

I see this question was from a few months ago, but if you’re still curious, I’m using it with the Clear OG. It works, but I have run into a small issue with it with balanced connection. It works perfectly on single ended connection, and there is plenty of power to drive them, and they sound good - for me it is uncomfortable above 80/100 on iPhone in Roon with pop recordings, but I can see how you could get close to the top of the range with classical, so it would be nice to use balanced.

For balanced with the Clear, I have 2 pentaconn cables (an Apos Flow and a ddHiFi BC150B 4.4 to standard 3.5) that I have used with these headphones, both aftermarket as the headphones came with 2 single ended cables and the XLR balanced, but no 4.4 pentaconn balanced cable. Those cables both work fine with my Topping A90 Discrete and Luxury and Precision W4, but for some reason neither of them work with the Tube Mini - they play only in one ear and very faintly. I have an Apos Flow 4.4 cable for my HD600 and a Null Audio Epsilon 4.4 for my LCD-X 2021, and they both work perfectly with the Tube Mini as well as the other aforementioned devices, so I know that the 4.4 connector on my Tube Mini is functional. My only hypothesis about why this is happening is that the balanced XLR to 3.5 cable that comes with the Clear has mono connectors on the 3.5 mm ends that connect to the ear cups (I guess you would call that TS instead of TRS), while both the Apos and ddHiFi 4.4 pentaconn cables have stereo style plugs on the 3.5 mm ear cup side (TRS). I don’t know exactly why that would cause an issue, but it sounds like they are shorting out when I use those cables with the Clear and this one specific device only, so I don’t know if the pentaconn implementation on the Mini is different from my other devices, maybe it connects the ground or hot to different rings that are connected to a portion of the stereo connector that is not contacting the ear cup connector on the Clear, but maybe the arrangement / ordering of the rings is different in the other devices? In any case, I have an email in to Null Audio to see if they can make an Epsilon with mono 3.5 connectors and pentaconn and to see if they think this has the potential to solve the issue, and I will report back here if I hear back from them. I absolutely love the Null Audio Epsilon cable for portable use anyway, and I regret the purchase of the ddHiFi one - I was just impatient for fast delivery, but it is stiff and doesn’t look as good in real life as the marketing photos (it has a weird blue-green tint and doesn’t really match the silver of the Clear at all, though it really appears that it was meant to, even the connectors look like they were going for Focal’s design language). I like the Apos Flows for my other headphones and for other amps for this headphone, but it is a little long and bulky for portable use, while the Epsilon is light and just the right length for use with a dongle.

Long-winded answer, I know, but hopefully that gives you enough info to make a decision!

TL;DR - With single-ended connection, it works just fine with the Clear and sounds great. With balanced, I have had major issues, but YMMV.

 

[brjoon1021]

This device is actually a MOSFET output, right? The tube is somewhere in the gain stage but not the output I believe. Maybe it's a buffer? What I'm getting at is does it sound tubey ? Compared to other dongles with a similar chipset or a so-called analog sound is there something distinctive about this one? It's expensive. But, I would be using it as a home stereo DAC.
I wonder how it competes at the price point with smsl, topping or schiit offerings ? The schiit multi-bit is cheaper and is made for home stereo. I've been using dongles in my home stereo now for several months and actually they sound great

 

[texx2818]

This device is actually a MOSFET output, right? The tube is somewhere in the gain stage but not the output I believe. Maybe it's a buffer? What I'm getting at is does it sound tubey ? Compared to other dongles with a similar chipset or a so-called analog sound is there something distinctive about this one? It's expensive. But, I would be using it as a home stereo DAC.
I wonder how it competes at the price point with smsl, topping or schiit offerings ? The schiit multi-bit is cheaper and is made for home stereo. I've been using dongles in my home stereo now for several months and actually they sound great

Sounds like a typical Woo Tube, for sure.

 

[Promee]

This device is actually a MOSFET output, right? The tube is somewhere in the gain stage but not the output I believe. Maybe it's a buffer? What I'm getting at is does it sound tubey ? Compared to other dongles with a similar chipset or a so-called analog sound is there something distinctive about this one? It's expensive. But, I would be using it as a home stereo DAC.
I wonder how it competes at the price point with smsl, topping or schiit offerings ? The schiit multi-bit is cheaper and is made for home stereo. I've been using dongles in my home stereo now for several months and actually they sound great

I do think it sounds reasonably tubey. I generally don't love Sabre DACs, and I think there is a bit of that character here, though if you do like them, then this would be a plus. I don't think the tubes are just for show, because I do find the sound more engaging and euphonic than I have with other Sabre DACs in the past, and I assume the tubes deserve the credit for that. Normally I hear Sabre 9028 and 9038 DACs I have tried as extremely resolving, but with the penalty of some graininess / harshness on the top end, and I think the tubes really mitigate that in this implementation. It could be expectation bias, but I think I catch that a little with the Tube Mini, but so far I have found myself getting carried away by the music on multiple occasions, which has not been my experience with other Sabres (not just picking on Sabre, other chips / DACs have had that issue for me as well, but Sabre just happens to be what is in this one, so comparing to my past experience with those). I was also worried that with such tiny tubes it might roll off in the top or bottom end, but I can happily report that it has good extension in both directions, at least to my ears!

I would generally compare this to using a tube preamp with a solid state power amp. The tube harmonics are picked up significantly, but some of the aspects of tubes that are apparent when running the main amplification, like how they respond to big swings in power, may not be present because the power amplification happens through solid state - they call the solid state portion of the dongle "mighty drive".

 

[Promee]

Question for other Tube Mini owners out there. As I have been using this device more, I've noticed that if I bump or touch the SE <-> BAL switch at all while playing, particularly when using the balanced output the sound crackles and drops out in one ear. If I press on the switch a little, it comes back. It sounds like a short to me. As long as I don't touch it, it doesn't seem to be an issue, but I'm surprised how often I brush that switch when changing volume. I wonder if that's just the nature of such a small switch / device / something to do with tube implementation, or if I potentially have a defective or excessively fragile device that should be sent for service. I'm also wondering if this may have something to do with the issue in my earlier post about the balanced cable and the Focal Clear. It might be that the cable is fine and my device has a loose connection that is barely connecting with some cables and not others... Can anyone else weigh in on switch wonkiness or lack thereof?

 

[brjoon1021]

Thanks for your response. The only sabre dac I've ever heard is the M12 that I just bought and I'm actually really impressed by this little guy that sound is great there's no glare lots of dynamics it's absolutely transparent as hell but what bugs me about it is it's finicky.
Really finicky
I have many dongles most of them work with no problem running off of a hub straight off the phone using UAPP or HIBY player and everything else.
The M12 will only work straight from my phone. If I put a hub in between to run it off of a power brick I get stuttering with you a PP I tried several cables. It will not work in any shapewear form with HIBY player. It seems to be very cable finicky too. I have a few cables that it will not even register on the phone as being attached.

 

[wj18]

great review. It mentions that the mini suits some headphones more the other. Anyone have any input on how it fairs with focal clear OG? I am very interested in the mini but would have to buy it without testing it so feedback on the clears would be great. I also have iem Shure 846 but taking from the reviews iems is a no go on the mini, right?

I used it with the Clears and was so pleased with the sonic performance that I upgraded to the U22s + the Forza Audio Works balanced Noir Hybrid HPC cable which is an excellent upgrade cable that will leave your wallet smiling.

 

[wj18]

Question for other Tube Mini owners out there. As I have been using this device more, I've noticed that if I bump or touch the SE <-> BAL switch at all while playing, particularly when using the balanced output the sound crackles and drops out in one ear. If I press on the switch a little, it comes back. It sounds like a short to me. As long as I don't touch it, it doesn't seem to be an issue, but I'm surprised how often I brush that switch when changing volume. I wonder if that's just the nature of such a small switch / device / something to do with tube implementation, or if I potentially have a defective or excessively fragile device that should be sent for service. I'm also wondering if this may have something to do with the issue in my earlier post about the balanced cable and the Focal Clear. It might be that the cable is fine and my device has a loose connection that is barely connecting with some cables and not others... Can anyone else weigh in on switch wonkiness or lack thereof?

Regarding instead your issue with the SE/BL switch on the Tube Mini I've touched/tested/switched it while playing through the BAL output and have had none of the issues you're experiencing, no drops or crackles or channel interruptions so you probably have a defect on your cable or your unit would need to be seen by Woo Audio, it's definitely an inconsistent behaviour for the Tube Mini given its exceptionally high manufacturing quality, sturdy build and brilliant engineering design implementation. I would first try an upgrade cable like the Forza Audio Works Noir HPC before sending it back to Woo Audio although you could reach out to Mike at Wood Audio who has always been very responsive and he might advise better.