[Andykong]

my unit finally arrived yesterday. I had to go on a trip and haven't been able to use it much, but my first impression was very positive. It felt like it has a warm, impactful and smooth sound, maybe a smigde dark. I'll use it more and compare it with my other equipment next week.

I have a few questions though:
1) when I first saw the product, I think it was marketed as having 2 ES9068AS dac chips but now I see only hifigo lists these as 2*es9068as, others don't. which is correct?
2) as we talked earlier, my product don't have bluetooth. Antenna connector is removed and slot is closed with a sticker. It isn't that important but is it possible to enable bluetooth somehow, or bluetooth completely removed from the dac with chip etc.?

Sorry for the confusion.

The Aurora uses ONE piece of ES9068AS. We have posted the photo of Aurora PCB on post #2, it is quite obvious that there is only one DAC chipset on the Aurora PCB.

We have stated in our website that bluetooth is only available at selected countries due to regulatory requirements. The cost of Bluetooth license is fairly high and tedious, so YULONG will only apply for BT license at countries where ther is a local dealer who can participate in the licensing process. For other location, we need to remove the BT related interface before we ship out.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Sorry for the confusion.

The Aurora uses ONE piece of ES9068AS. We have posted the photo of Aurora PCB on post #2, it is quite obvious that there is only one DAC chipset on the Aurora PCB.

We have stated in our website that bluetooth is only available at selected countries due to regulatory requirements. The cost of Bluetooth license is fairly high and tedious, so YULONG will only apply for BT license at countries where ther is a local dealer who can participate in the licensing process. For other location, we need to remove the BT related interface before we ship out.

I understand, thanks for clarifying. Some questions come to my mind later so sorry for taking your time. There is only one filter, is that correct? What is the profile of this filter?

Also with the unit I have, I can only choose 16 bit and 24 bit through USB connection to my windows pc. 32 bit doesn't seem to be available. I downloaded the driver from the website but situation persists. I don't mind it much but wanted to tell you.

 

[Andykong]

So, should i select DAC on the rear switch? I thought the DAC switch was for muting the amp... Sorry for my english.

No problem, input switch is on the front. On the back there are on/off and dac/pre-amp switches. Although I haven't tried, pre-amp and headphone amp sections don't work simultaneously.

Thank you @Jarlaxle for helping out. Yes, the switch on the left corner of the back panel is DAC/pre-amp switch. It will determine whether the RCA and XLR output will function as a DAC line-level output (fixed level, no volume control) or Pre-amp output (variable level, with volume control).

The pre-amp and headphone amp are mutually exclusive because they are literally the same circuit for different purposes, so they can't function as a headphone amplifier and pre-amplifier concurrently. We have stated in the "Analogue Pre-Amp and Versatile interface" section of the opening post that:

One of YULONG’s innovative designs is to convert the discrete Class A Head-Amp circuit to exceptional Class A Pre-amp through optimized switching circuit.

 

[Lu Mazzmarill]

Thank you.
So, what setting is recommended to use it as a DAC/HeadAmp?

 

[rev92]

I just posted my review of the Aurora here : https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/yulong-da-art-aurora.25847/reviews

TLR - A highly functional small all-in-one that packs some serious power and a rich sound. Class-A on a budget at its finest. Would definitely recommend this one to everyone. Yulong has a vastly different approach to making products than SMSL or Topping, so if you're after something more soulful, this is the one to get. Enjoy!

 

[Jarlaxle]

I just posted my review of the Aurora here : https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/yulong-da-art-aurora.25847/reviews

TLR - A highly functional small all-in-one that packs some serious power and a rich sound. Class-A on a budget at its finest. Would definitely recommend this one to everyone. Yulong has a vastly different approach to making products than SMSL or Topping, so if you're after something more soulful, this is the one to get. Enjoy!

Thanks for the review. I have the unit for a week now and I mostly agree what you said. But I wish it had gain settings It is so powerful, I can't even turn the knob in balanced. Channel inbalance is almost no issue but can't make miniscule adjustments with sensitive headphones

 

[Lu Mazzmarill]

Thanks for the review!
One question: volume knob is smooth or with clicks?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Thanks for the review!
One question: volume knob is smooth or with clicks?

Smooth. It means attenuated, not laddered. (I think)

 

[Jarlaxle]

So do you think sound would improve if I upgraded the power supply to a linear one or something? @Andykong Included power supple brick is nothing special.

 

[BlueA]

Seems like an excellent product but only for Chineese citizen.
BT or even access it very difficult in EU. Thx.

 

[Andykong]

So do you think sound would improve if I upgraded the power supply to a linear one or something? @Andykong Included power supple brick is nothing special.

Yes, the retail price has limited our choice of the external power transformer. We can only go for switching power supply transformer at this budget (including logistic consideration). If you replace the external power supply with a linear power supply, it certainly will improve the performance of the Aurora.

 

[crabdog]

I just posted my review of the Yulong Aurora. TLDR: it sounds incredible with almost everything. IEMs, headphones, speakers. But there are a couple of usability shortcomings that prevent it from reaching its full potential.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I just posted my review of the Yulong Aurora. TLDR: it sounds incredible with almost everything. IEMs, headphones, speakers. But there are a couple of usability shortcomings that prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Great review. If you could compare it with some other competitors, that would be lovely. To be honest I blindly bought it instead of my other choice topping dx5. It has some glowing reviews and I still don't know how aurora stacks against that thing

 

[crabdog]

Great review. If you could compare it with some other competitors, that would be lovely. To be honest I blindly bought it instead of my other choice topping dx5. It has some glowing reviews and I still don't know how aurora stacks against that thing

Hard to say since I haven't heard the DX5. The 1 review I looked at (HFN) didn't mention if it's Class A/D, A-B etc

 

[Jarlaxle]

Hard to say since I haven't heard the DX5. The 1 review I looked at (HFN) didn't mention if it's Class A/D, A-B etc

Topping and smsl products are usually the uncommon class g or h or whatever it is. Since class a is highly sought after, if a product is not class a, they decide not to mention it at all. If I'm right, only a30 pro works in class A mode above 250 ohm loads and they pretty much market it like that.