YULONG DA1: Flagship All-in-One with AK4499, 5W Class A BAL headphones and Pre-Amp
Jul 22, 2021 at 3:02 AM Post #46 of 104
So it Yulong gonna correct these typo errors? This false advertising no?

Of course we are trying to correct that. I have stated my intention already.

for the record, the content in YULONG website does not have this mistake. I had follow up with the marketing team of our distributor Shenzhen Audio and find out that the mistake was coming from a bad translation of the word "power transistors". The literal translation of Chinese name is "voltage output tube", the web content guy make a mistake when translate the Chinese content to English webpage. Their web designer will correct the mistake and they'll track down all dealers and distributors to correct this mistake concurrently.
 
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Sep 28, 2021 at 2:46 PM Post #51 of 104
Niimbus is better, as should be expected for the added cost/complexity of that beast. That said, I think the DA1 captures the holographic feel of open/wide/unencumbered performance space in much the same way as Niimbus - in a way that a Violectric V550/V590 doesn't quite match.
 
Oct 9, 2021 at 1:11 PM Post #52 of 104
Does DA1 not have a high gain?

Amplification power DA1 as Audio-GD R27 at low gain. But R27 has a High Gain (plus 22dB). But, in DA1 is not High Gain ((((
For my TH900, gain on Yulong is enough and for HD800 I think it is also enough. But will it be enough for isodynamics? In the photo I saw DA1 with Susvara. I do not believe that the amplifier pumps them fully... or fully?
 
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Oct 10, 2021 at 10:44 AM Post #53 of 104
Does DA1 not have a high gain?

Amplification power DA1 as Audio-GD R27 at low gain. But R27 has a High Gain (plus 22dB). But, in DA1 is not High Gain ((((
For my TH900, gain on Yulong is enough and for HD800 I think it is also enough. But will it be enough for isodynamics? In the photo I saw DA1 with Susvara. I do not believe that the amplifier pumps them fully... or fully?

DA1 does not have high/low gain control.

If you are comparing the voltage level output, your observation is right on, but the driving capability of an amplifier is not solely related to voltage output. With DA1, adding the power station does not increase the voltage level output, but the handling power is significantly increased, the review from Project86 has highlighted this point explicitly (as quoted below). Will adding the Power Station supersede gain control? definitely IMHO.
Adding the Power Station brings a whole new level of refinement to the system. I hear better drive and authority, an even larger more holographic soundstage, superior bass depth, improved midrange texture, and a certain effortless feel which is truly intoxicating. At this point I'm comfortable using the DA1 with any headphone, including a Susvara, HE6, etc, without feeling like I need more power from an external headphone amp.

I can offer another example. Formular S + Powerman from XiAudio is one of the best Solid State headphone amplifier I have heard with AB1266. It only output 6W @ 16 ohms / 2.1 watts into 46 ohms and I have tried many headphone amplifier with higher (or even doubled) output power with AB1266, and yet I prefer Formular S + Powerman.

Due to limited space and resource available, we only use HEDDphone as a reference for demanding headphone in CanJam SoCal. Users feedback are very positive so far, with ample headroom to spare. We'll try to provide more headphone choice in our next audio show demo, and we shall let the user impression be the final judgement.
 
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Oct 10, 2021 at 11:48 AM Post #54 of 104
Does DA1 not have a high gain?

Amplification power DA1 as Audio-GD R27 at low gain. But R27 has a High Gain (plus 22dB). But, in DA1 is not High Gain ((((
For my TH900, gain on Yulong is enough and for HD800 I think it is also enough. But will it be enough for isodynamics? In the photo I saw DA1 with Susvara. I do not believe that the amplifier pumps them fully... or fully?

I had no problems driving various Audeze, Kennerton, Meze, and HiFiMAN headphones with the DA1, including Susvara. Some other amps will make Susvara go louder, but I personally can't imagine listening at levels higher than what DA1 has to offer for any sustained period of time. I really don't think the lack of gain adjustment is an issue in this case.
 
Oct 12, 2021 at 8:55 AM Post #55 of 104
Review coming soon! And there will be a battle between Yulong DA1 vs Audio-GD R27 full 2020

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Oct 16, 2021 at 6:35 AM Post #56 of 104
I was honored to become the first "test pilot" in Russia to test this miracle of Chinese engineering. Yulong DA1 came as a kit with an external Power Station supply in one big box. The sound is detailed, high resolution and high transparency, but hard and dense. The first impression is crumpled, and that's okay. It is not worth making hasty conclusions when you turn it on for the first time, because the device is just out of the box and requires warming up. Within two days, the rigidity faded away, and after another two days the residual brightness disappeared and the DA1 played comfortably, airily, as expected.

The first thing that catches your ears is the high resolution and stunning transparency. Each sound is outlined with jewelry, as a facet of an exquisite decoration. The entire frequency range is full of textures and subtle nuances. The music is presented clearly, expressively, like a graphic drawing by the greatest master artist. I would especially like to note the exact and correct localization of musical instruments in the imaginary space of the stage. The division of complex musical compositions into parts is impeccable.

The stage is airy, voluminous, correct: all the musicians are in front of the listener and take their place in space relative to each other as it should be in reality. In scale, the DA1 expands to a large area, more than almost all audio headphone combines I know, with the exception of the Audio-GD R27.

The highs and mids are fairly flat, clear, with a bit of fun, but without the extra warmth. A clear, concrete sound that does not slide into icy analyticity, but also without an emphasis on wadded emotions. The physicality and "thickness" of the sound are palpable. Plus, DA1 pampers the listener with richness and richness of timbres, their depth and beauty. The bass is concrete, collected, percussive and punchy, powerful and deep, yet stunningly textured and varied. With Yulong DA1, you can hear 50 thousand shades of bass. The tonal balance and shifting emphasis in a device of this high end can largely depend on the cabling and, of course, the headphones. In my version, the bass has an accent.

Classical music

In the interpretation of Yulong DA1, strings, large symphony orchestras, concerts for violin and orchestra, string trios and quartets, guitars, and so on sound best, very expressively and fascinatingly. The piano sounds clear, expressive, but cool, for the piano I would like to add a little warmth and smoothness to the sound. Male voices are filled with courage, but female voices are also lacking in warmth, which can be solved by purchasing headphones with a thick rich mids, as opposed to my Fostex TH900. The vocals stand out from the general mass of musical parts and in it you can hear a lot of nuances, the breathing of the performers, the mood swings. Opera vocals deserve special mention. If the original recording is high quality, then listening to the opera brings a disproportionate endless WOW. On classical pieces, at the moment when the orchestra dies down, absolute silence and absolute emptiness reigns - the whole world froze in anticipation. The breaks on Yulong DA1 become an integral part of the compositions and contribute to the emotional perception. For classical music, the Yulong DA1 is an amazing machine.

Death and Black metal

Strong bass has a positive effect on heavy music. Assembled and percussion, it flies like a hurricane with a massive underside. To the new album "Blood Red Throne - 2021 - Imperial Congregation" I felt like shaking my head. Yulong DA1 is rhythmic, fast and bass. On Black Metal, biting cymbals successfully enter, adding to the sound of Norwegian anger.

DA1 Power Station добавляет воздух, масштаб сцены, обеспечивает точную локализацию образов в пространстве, наполняет звук текстурами и в целом выводит Yulong DA1 на новый уровень.

Comparison with competitors

Of those headphone combines that I have dealt with, none in price before the Chord Hugo TT2 can fully compete with the Yulong DA1. I don't see the point in a direct and detailed comparison of any Burson, Senheiser, junior Chord, Mytek Brooklyn - all of them are much inferior in class DA1. Only the Violectric V590 is chosen from the branded devices closer to the DA1. (Unknown Flux Lab Atlas - maybe it's better, maybe not, I don't know). The junior combine Flux Lab FC-10 is tough, loud and not as rich in timbre in comparison with Yulong.

Chord Hugo TT2 and Mytek Manhattan II are devices of a different price and sound quality level. Although, as headphone combines, both devices can be criticized for their price tag. The TT2 and Manhattan II are much more open to being a DAC with an external high-quality amplifier. By the nature of the sound, Chord and Mytek are prone to audiophile refined presentation of musical material and meticulous study of the clarity of each micro-nuance. Yulong DA1 is below HiEnd grade components. But the value of the DA1 lies in its balance between the digital part and the headphone amplifier - the DAC and the amplifier are matched in quality. If you want a superior DAC for a large audio system with the ability to listen to headphones from it, the Chord and Mytek are great choices. Yulong boasts of being an exceptional headphone device for a reasonable price tag and is a self-contained desktop audio component. It makes no sense to buy another amplifier or a separate DAC for it. It is enough to put DA1 and Power Station on the table, connect and the headphone system is ready, and has no obvious drawbacks in its class.

The Audio-GD R27 stands aside. Unlike other combines based on AKM and Sabra chips, R27 is built on R2R and offers the listener a completely different approach to sound philosophy. After Yulong DA1 R27 seems unclear, not so clear and expressive, but compensates for this lack with other strengths - massiveness, fusion, analog sound, soulfulness. The taste difference between Audio-GD R27 and Yulong DA1 is so great that I could not express it briefly in a nutshell and decided to devote a separate review to this topic.

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Oct 16, 2021 at 12:32 PM Post #57 of 104
Good stuff, thanks for the detailed write-up!

I personally would choose DA-1 with Power Station any day over the Manhattan II, even when using both as DAC only. The Hugo TT2 is a tougher battle - I personally prefer the Yulong but can see how TT2 would be superior in certain systems. Again, this only applies when using them as DAC only, as DA-1 completely dominates the comparison when using them as integrated DAC/headphone amp units.

I notice your review unit has those vents in the sides. Looks great and likely serves to cool the internals as well. My review loaner did not have those, so I wonder which style is the final presentation.
 
Oct 16, 2021 at 1:44 PM Post #60 of 104
- Out of the box, as I already wrote, this device produces a sound that causes some bewilderment: hard, very sharp.

- Then, within a couple of days, this pain gradually disappeared. Some unpleasant bright spot remains

- A couple of days later, and this bright spot was gone, the combine began to play comfortably, but with a digital sheen in comparison with the timbre Audio-GD R27.

Throughout this time, I regularly compared the sound of the DA1 to the R27 using the same cable tie. Therefore, it is not necessary to say that my brain was warming up here, since all the changes in the sound as it warmed up were noticed by me in direct comparison with the R27.

- Yulong played more detailed, more transparent, with higher resolution than Audio-GD, but was inferior to him in depth, in tone saturation, and at that time they turned out to be very different in accents in music. The piano and female vocals on the R27 sounded soulfully natural, while on Yulong there was something faded about them. But Yulong was better at strings from the very beginning. When listening to an opera or concerts for piano and orchestra on the Audio-GD R27, the solo instrument (piano) or opera singers stood out better in the foreground, sounded longer, more plastic, more beautiful and natural. And the orchestra in the back also played with more natural timbres, but as in the photo, which shows it is clearly rubbed, and the background is a little blurred, and the background is completely blurred. Yulong gave out everything clearly, all the plans and therefore seemed flatter and not so exciting. And Yulong also had not such a deep bass, albeit more textured, but not bodily enough, without a shaking rumble, as on the Audio-GD. Therefore, at this stage of warming up, I have a fuss about the question: which combine of them to sell, and which one to keep.

- And now, the next stage of Yulong DA1 warm-up has come. The timbres began to be filled with colors and juice. There was depth, amazing dynamics, punch. On rock music and heavy metal, detail and technicality are now served with meat, and there is an assortment of meat delicacies here. I rediscovered an old Cannibal Corps album “Torture” of 2012 vinyl digitization. There was a desire to thank Satan for such a gorgeous sound.

On jazz and music with vocals, female vocals have finally come out ahead and now they are clear, clean, more expressive, there is no fadedness left, praise the Buddha. The piano also played well against the background of the raging orchestra. Electronic music was filled with atmosphere. The bass began to pump deeper and more confidently.

As a result, at the moment Yulong DA1 has taken out all the points of Audio-GD. If a few days ago I heard clear advantages on both harvesters, now the R27 has lost all its chips, and it became obvious why the price tag of Yulong is almost twice as high, that R27 and DA1 combine harvesters of different price categories and levels.

Yulong DA1 in a warm state turned out to be a strong device: technical, dynamic, rich in timbre, with beautiful vocals and insanely addicting.
 

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