[classicjazz]

Thank you for the thorough review. I have had the Yulong DA1 main unit for a couple of months and recently added the external power supply. I only recently sat downt to listen to the combo with my one available set of headphones (Ultrasone Edition 8). So far so good. I'll reserve comments for the future as I don't often listen to headphones, don't have a stable of headphones to use in comparison (yet). I'm intrigued by how the LCD 5, Meze Elite and Final D8000 Pro might compare powered by the DA1. I might try my Shure 846 and UE 18+ Pro customs with the unit just for kicks.

 

[Andykong]

Thank you for the thorough review. I have had the Yulong DA1 main unit for a couple of months and recently added the external power supply. I only recently sat downt to listen to the combo with my one available set of headphones (Ultrasone Edition 8). So far so good. I'll reserve comments for the future as I don't often listen to headphones, don't have a stable of headphones to use in comparison (yet). I'm intrigued by how the LCD 5, Meze Elite and Final D8000 Pro might compare powered by the DA1. I might try my Shure 846 and UE 18+ Pro customs with the unit just for kicks.

That would be very helpful, the Shure 846 is rated at 116 dB/mW / 9 Ω, if DA1 passed the hissing test with SE846, it is pretty much safe for IEM in general.

By the way, will you be able to audition LCD 5, Meze Elite and Final D8000 Pro before you take the plunge? While we know from reports and show demo that DA1 can pair with all three TOTL headphones satisfactory, the sounds very different from each other.

 

[Andykong]

Yea, background noise first and foremost. But overdriven IEM is also a concern. Am I understanding correctly, that there isn't a H/L gain, but DA1 volume increases logarithmically? So theoretically, when using at a lower volume, it's not that loud for something like 120ish Db sensitivity?

It'll varied among IEMs. In my experience, IEM that can scale very well across wide range of DAP or portable amplifier will unlikely be over driven.

Yes, there isn't a Gain setting in DA1, it is a linear control on dB value, so calling it a log-based amplitude (Volume) control is technically correct. For IEM with 120ish dB sensitivity, most likely the massive current output from the desktop amplifier is a bigger problem. But why would you want to buy a beefy DAC/Amp like DA1 for your 120ish Db IEM?

 

[jieranli]

It'll varied among IEMs. In my experience, IEM that can scale very well across wide range of DAP or portable amplifier will unlikely be over driven.

Yes, there isn't a Gain setting in DA1, it is a linear control on dB value, so calling it a log-based amplitude (Volume) control is technically correct. For IEM with 120ish dB sensitivity, most likely the massive current output from the desktop amplifier is a bigger problem. But why would you want to buy a beefy DAC/Amp like DA1 for your 120ish Db IEM?

Just striving for the optimum of my hi-fi fever and lifestyle really, my situation is probably not applicable to most people, hence the weird questions. I'm moving to a smaller place, that can no longer accommodate the large speakers I have (Innuos - Hegel590 - Dynaudio Contour 60 and sub6s), so I want to sell that setup, unlock some funds and return to head-fi. I already have a decent IEM setup, not summit fi yet, but close enough (Ibasso dx300 to UM Mason Fusang, Final a8000). An important curiosity I really want to have my own answer to is - How will these IEMs scale to better desktop source/DAC/amp. I have owned a good headphone system for a few years (Aqua La Scala, Cavali Liquid Gold, Utopia). I have tried to hook up IBasso to my speaker system recently, and they don't sound that good (could be the bad match of voltage or something, I'm not an expert, I think personally there's a 50% chance that DAPS don't typically have very good of digital sections that are causing the difference I hear). I suspect that a TOTL desktop setup can bring TOTL IEMs to perform at a level that's better than or equal TOTL headphones (excluding soundstage of course, and probably still marginal differences to some, I know). I figure I'd go for something good-looking and a relatively small footprint. These days I don't like lots of clutters and wires on my desk, I also have a small child that might pull on them. Then, extremely low noise is required for IEMs, I also want it to be scalable to large headphones for future-proofing, in case the result of my hypothesis is truly disappointing, and I want headphones again. Who knows, maybe I'll want over-ear headphones again regardless, this hobby does things to me. I know my impulses, so I'd like to pre-empt that impulse. From what I've read so far, DA1 looks like a pretty decent candidate for my preference. Just concerned about over-driving and the noise floor really. I'm always open to suggestions from people more experienced than I am. Any other suggestions that do TOTL IEMs and TOTL headphones well in one package, also remaining relatively compact? (I don't like Chord stuff that much)

 

[project86]

I can't speak to your particular IEMs, but my general experience is that many/most top-level IEMs can scale very well with the right gear. When I use the 64 Audio A18t on a really nice rig (like the DA1) the performance is easily on the same level as my best full-size headphones.

Of course, there are certain things I get from Susvara or top Stax etc which I don't get from IEMs. But there are also things that my CIEMs do which are pretty much unmatched in the full-size headphone world. To me it feels a bit like the difference between speakers and headphones - they both have relative strengths, and it's perfectly valid to enjoy one or the other, or both in their own ways.

To tie this back in to the DA1: When I listen with the A18t or AME Radioso (or others, but those are my current favorites) via the Yulong flagship, I hear microdetail, attack, decay, and a sort of sonic purity (for lack of a better word) that is superior to any of my headphones or speaker rigs. And those are all quite a bit more expensive and complex. It really makes for a great way to get killer results from a simple system (almost all-in-one, just need a source).

 

[Andykong]

I can't speak to your particular IEMs, but my general experience is that many/most top-level IEMs can scale very well with the right gear. When I use the 64 Audio A18t on a really nice rig (like the DA1) the performance is easily on the same level as my best full-size headphones.

Of course, there are certain things I get from Susvara or top Stax etc which I don't get from IEMs. But there are also things that my CIEMs do which are pretty much unmatched in the full-size headphone world. To me it feels a bit like the difference between speakers and headphones - they both have relative strengths, and it's perfectly valid to enjoy one or the other, or both in their own ways.

To tie this back in to the DA1: When I listen with the A18t or AME Radioso (or others, but those are my current favorites) via the Yulong flagship, I hear microdetail, attack, decay, and a sort of sonic purity (for lack of a better word) that is superior to any of my headphones or speaker rigs. And those are all quite a bit more expensive and complex. It really makes for a great way to get killer results from a simple system (almost all-in-one, just need a source).

Yeap, just need a source, and Project86 has mentioned many time that JIC based YULONG DAC are very accommodative on the source, even regular mobile device, tablet or unoptimized notebook can be a good source in your music chain.

I agree that IEM with desktop DAC/Amp can work out beautifully, but this is not a blanket statement, we must understand the underlying principle without over generalising it. Project86 named a very important factor here: many/most top-level IEMs can scale very well. Some IEMs and headphones sound fabulous with mobile phone or small power mobile devices , but you won't get a lot of improvement when you drive it with more power. In other word, they don't scale. well. If your intention is to build a desktop based IEM sound system, you probably should skip these options.

 

[Andykong]

Just striving for the optimum of my hi-fi fever and lifestyle really, my situation is probably not applicable to most people, hence the weird questions. I'm moving to a smaller place, that can no longer accommodate the large speakers I have (Innuos - Hegel590 - Dynaudio Contour 60 and sub6s), so I want to sell that setup, unlock some funds and return to head-fi. I already have a decent IEM setup, not summit fi yet, but close enough (Ibasso dx300 to UM Mason Fusang, Final a8000). An important curiosity I really want to have my own answer to is - How will these IEMs scale to better desktop source/DAC/amp. I have owned a good headphone system for a few years (Aqua La Scala, Cavali Liquid Gold, Utopia). I have tried to hook up IBasso to my speaker system recently, and they don't sound that good (could be the bad match of voltage or something, I'm not an expert, I think personally there's a 50% chance that DAPS don't typically have very good of digital sections that are causing the difference I hear). I suspect that a TOTL desktop setup can bring TOTL IEMs to perform at a level that's better than or equal TOTL headphones (excluding soundstage of course, and probably still marginal differences to some, I know). I figure I'd go for something good-looking and a relatively small footprint. These days I don't like lots of clutters and wires on my desk, I also have a small child that might pull on them. Then, extremely low noise is required for IEMs, I also want it to be scalable to large headphones for future-proofing, in case the result of my hypothesis is truly disappointing, and I want headphones again. Who knows, maybe I'll want over-ear headphones again regardless, this hobby does things to me. I know my impulses, so I'd like to pre-empt that impulse. From what I've read so far, DA1 looks like a pretty decent candidate for my preference. Just concerned about over-driving and the noise floor really. I'm always open to suggestions from people more experienced than I am. Any other suggestions that do TOTL IEMs and TOTL headphones well in one package, also remaining relatively compact? (I don't like Chord stuff that much)

This is a very logical approach, I think this will work out very well, but you must understand you have selected a route that is not really "mainstream". You have your own constraint and preference and you want to maximize your return under your scope. with that in mind and on top of the sharing from Project86, my only advice is to avoid the very extreme cases.

Over the year, I have run into many many many many users that keep coming back on similar questions:

• This portable amp. looks great, but can it driver Susvara and Abyss 1266?
• This amplifier is so powerful that it can drive any demanding load, but can I use it with the most sensitive IEM?

At the end of the day, they don't own or plan to use these IEMs or headphones, they just want to have that freedom: "I might want to do that one day". I must say this is a very reasonable consideration but in many cases, they just happen to passing by a lot of perfectly good options in order to accommodate their "potential" need in distant future. Yes, the Susvara and 1266 are very good headphones but you still have a lot of choice for your portable amplifier nowadays even when you give up the 10% most demanding headphones. Likewise, some of the 120ish dB IEM are very good earphones, but if you plan to go for desktop system with IEM, maybe you should skip these most sensitive IEM to start with. They might or might now sounds good, if they do, that's a bonus. If they don't, that's logical.

On the other hand, if you want to have one desktop based setup that works for all IEM options satisfactory, I'll suggest you use a DAP as your source to YULONG DA1. Just in case you run into IEM that don't scale very well with upgraded amplifier (typically the 120ish dB IEM that you have mentioned previously), you can still use your DAP as your fall back.

 

[jieranli]

To tie this back in to the DA1: When I listen with the A18t or AME Radioso (or others, but those are my current favorites) via the Yulong flagship, I hear microdetail, attack, decay, and a sort of sonic purity (for lack of a better word) that is superior to any of my headphones or speaker rigs. And those are all quite a bit more expensive and complex. It really makes for a great way to get killer results from a simple system (almost all-in-one, just need a source).

That's very helpful. From a second look, Fusang actually has the same sensitivity and impedance as your A18T. Even though a single figure doesn't tell the whole story, but I. feel like your reference point does boost my confidence.

Over the year, I have run into many many many many users that keep coming back on similar questions:

• This portable amp. looks great, but can it driver Susvara and Abyss 1266?
• This amplifier is so powerful that it can drive any demanding load, but can I use it with the most sensitive IEM?

At the end of the day, they don't own or plan to use these IEMs or headphones, they just want to have that freedom: "I might want to do that one day". I must say this is a very reasonable consideration but in many cases, they just happen to passing by a lot of perfectly good options in order to accommodate their "potential" need in distant future. Yes, the Susvara and 1266 are very good headphones but you still have a lot of choice for your portable amplifier nowadays even when you give up the 10% most demanding headphones. Likewise, some of the 120ish dB IEM are very good earphones, but if you plan to go for desktop system with IEM, maybe you should skip these most sensitive IEM to start with. They might or might now sounds good, if they do, that's a bonus. If they don't, that's logical.

Thank you Andy for your sincere recommendations. I'll certainly think more about it before making a decision. I don't suppose DA1 is going for the "so powerful it can drive anything" category right? I'm aiming for "adequate power for the majority of headphones", but can drive them gracefully. I honestly don't think I will ever want an 1266 medieval device in my life. no offense to Abyss, I really like their Diana line.

 

[rodionov]

Sorry I didn’t post it in the heading "Head Gear ". I also want to collect impressions about my DA1 with different headphones, including the HD800, Utopia, try to connect it to Aurender. After that I plan to write a general review.

Liked the review with LCD-5. After DA1 listened to the audio system Aqua La Voce S3 + AudioValve RKV3 + Aurender. Of course, a system of individual components is much better than a combine. There is not enough space, depth and you can make a lot of claims to something. Therefore, the fact that DA1 turned out to be worse than Dave+GSX not surprising.

 

[Slim1970]

Sorry I didn’t post it in the heading "Head Gear ". I also want to collect impressions about my DA1 with different headphones, including the HD800, Utopia, try to connect it to Aurender. After that I plan to write a general review.

Liked the review with LCD-5. After DA1 listened to the audio system Aqua La Voce S3 + AudioValve RKV3 + Aurender. Of course, a system of individual components is much better than a combine. There is not enough space, depth and you can make a lot of claims to something. Therefore, the fact that DA1 turned out to be worse than Dave+GSX not surprising.

Yes, I didn’t expect the DA1 to beat out the Dave+GS-X, but it was fun seeing how it would compare. The DA1 does perform like TOTL all-in-one. I would recommend it for someone looking at components in it’s price range.

 

[Andykong]

Sorry I didn’t post it in the heading "Head Gear ". I also want to collect impressions about my DA1 with different headphones, including the HD800, Utopia, try to connect it to Aurender. After that I plan to write a general review.

Liked the review with LCD-5. After DA1 listened to the audio system Aqua La Voce S3 + AudioValve RKV3 + Aurender. Of course, a system of individual components is much better than a combine. There is not enough space, depth and you can make a lot of claims to something. Therefore, the fact that DA1 turned out to be worse than Dave+GSX not surprising.

I think the essence of including a comparison in a DA1 review is to help users to understand and "visualise" the performance of DA1 and set a reasonable anticipation if they are looking for similar product.

 

[llamaluv]

I've just had the Yulong DA1 w/ Power Station in as part of the loaner tour...

Leading up to the time of writing this, I've avoided almost all forum discussion of the DA1 so I could make an evaluation with as few expectations as possible. I'll probably need to catch up on reading this thread right after posting this.

I listened to the DA1 only in its normal DAC+amp configuration, using a basic digital source setup, which is a Macbook Pro (running on batteries) with an AudioQuest Cinnamon USB cable. The headphones I used were the Susvara and LCD5 using the amp's XLR-out. Most of my listening over this period was acoustic European jazz and orchestral/electronic anime soundtracks (Yea, what? ).

Here are my thoughts, in a bulleted form:

• Very well balanced overall presentation.
  
  
• Very well balanced tonality. Nice amount of body; very much not "thin". And not overly warm.
  
  
• Presentation of depth is the aspect that impressed me the most, and the aspect that made listening to the DA1 most enjoyable for me. This was especially noticeable with lower-midrange and bass parts.
  
  
• No detectable "digital glare", even with the basic USB setup I was using. And probably less so than with my previous setup, which was with a Chord DAVE cum various ancillary doo-dads (yes really).
  
  
• Does the Susvara very well. No sense of lacking power. And imaging was very good. Also worth noting is that the DA1 has a lot of gain. For much of my listening with the Susvara, I had the volume set at about -30dB.
  
  
• Impressively musical. And at no point did I get that "Ehh, I wish I was listening to tubes right now" kind of feeling, which can be an all too common reaction with unsatisfying solid state setups.
  
  
• No glaring weaknesses, IMO. I would recommend the DA1 at its price point without reservation.

When comparing the DA1 + Power Station setup to my own system (DCS Bartok + Bakoon AMP-R13, which is of course a decidedly different price class), there were a number of qualities that I preferred in the latter, as you might assume. But these differences taken in isolation (bass extension, treble extension, treatment of microdynamics, smoothness, timbre, "tactility"...) were only identifiable with confidence through volume-matched back-to-back comparisons, for the most part. But regardless, I felt like the DA1 on its own terms has a solid, well-tuned and cohesive sound signature, period.

One other comparison I can make from recent memory is with a CFA3 amp build which I had on loan and hooked up to my Bartok for a few days until right before the DA1 came in. I found the DA1 DAC/amp combo to be much more engaging. The DA1 has a more substantive presentation and more meat on the bone. The CFA3 gets a lot of enthusiasm (at the moment), but compared to the DA1, at least for me there's no contest.

I'll be interested to hear from others if a better digital source setup can get even more out of DA1 than what I was able hear with the basic USB setup I was using...

Thanks to @Andykong for including me as a part of this loaner tour. Much appreciated!

 

[Andykong]

I've just had the Yulong DA1 w/ Power Station in as part of the loaner tour...



Leading up to the time of writing this, I've avoided almost all forum discussion of the DA1 so I could make an evaluation with as few expectations as possible. I'll probably need to catch up on reading this thread right after posting this.

I listened to the DA1 only in its normal DAC+amp configuration, using a basic digital source setup, which is a Macbook Pro (running on batteries) with an AudioQuest Cinnamon USB cable. The headphones I used were the Susvara and LCD5 using the amp's XLR-out. Most of my listening over this period was acoustic European jazz and orchestral/electronic anime soundtracks (Yea, what? ).

Here are my thoughts, in a bulleted form:

• Very well balanced overall presentation.
  
  
• Very well balanced tonality. Nice amount of body; very much not "thin". And not overly warm.
  
  
• Presentation of depth is the aspect that impressed me the most, and the aspect that made listening to the DA1 most enjoyable for me. This was especially noticeable with lower-midrange and bass parts.
  
  
• No detectable "digital glare", even with the basic USB setup I was using. And probably less so than with my previous setup, which was with a Chord DAVE cum various ancillary doo-dads (yes really).
  
  
• Does the Susvara very well. No sense of lacking power. And imaging was very good. Also worth noting is that the DA1 has a lot of gain. For much of my listening with the Susvara, I had the volume set at about -30dB.
  
  
• Impressively musical. And at no point did I get that "Ehh, I wish I was listening to tubes right now" kind of feeling, which can be an all too common reaction with unsatisfying solid state setups.
  
  
• No glaring weaknesses, IMO. I would recommend the DA1 at its price point without reservation.

When comparing the DA1 + Power Station setup to my own system (DCS Bartok + Bakoon AMP-R13, which is of course a decidedly different price class), there were a number of qualities that I preferred in the latter, as you might assume. But these differences taken in isolation (bass extension, treble extension, treatment of microdynamics, smoothness, timbre, "tactility"...) were only identifiable with confidence through volume-matched back-to-back comparisons, for the most part. But regardless, I felt like the DA1 on its own terms has a solid, well-tuned and cohesive sound signature, period.

One other comparison I can make from recent memory is with a CFA3 amp build which I had on loan and hooked up to my Bartok for a few days until right before the DA1 came in. I found the DA1 DAC/amp combo to be much more engaging. The DA1 has a more substantive presentation and more meat on the bone. The CFA3 gets a lot of enthusiasm (at the moment), but compared to the DA1, at least for me there's no contest.

I'll be interested to hear from others if a better digital source setup can get even more out of DA1 than what I was able hear with the basic USB setup I was using...

Thanks to @Andykong for including me as a part of this loaner tour. Much appreciated!

This is exciting. I have F5 the DA1 HeadGear page many times already, did you say this weekend?

The JIC (Jitter and Interface Control) system in YULONG DA1 is a very powerful FPGA solution, it basically re-generated the incoming digital audio bit-stream into a vey low jitter high integrity digital audio signal before feeding into the DAC. One of the biggest advantage of JIC is to make it less source dependent, which mean even basic digital source will perform very well after JIC, and the different between high quality and basic digital audio sources will be narrowed down.

 

[MRHiFiReviews]

Hey friends we have a premier on the Yulong Audio DA1 with Power Station tomorrow on our YouTube Channel at 8:30 am PST, I will discuss the Yulong Audio DA1 with Power Station Headphone Amplifier, Digital Analog Converter, Preamplifier all in one unit, present some of its features, build quality, specs, design, overall quality of sound, and some of my favorite headphone pairings. I primarily listened to the Yulong Audio DA1 with power station vs. my reference Chord TT2, paired with several pairs of headphones such as the Audeze LCD-5, Meze Elite, HEDDphone, HD800s, and Focal Stellia, to give my overall conclusions on the quality of sound.

 

[lordearl]

@Andykong are there any dealers for the Yulong DA1 in Australia?