Articles, Reviews and Measurements of Audio Products
Topping M62 Portable Audio Interface Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping M62 Portable (battery operated) Audio Interface (ADC/DAC) and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $ 249.
There is a ton of functionality for which, I am not qualified to fully describe. But we are talking about a bunch of inputs and outputs including no less than three USB-C!
Inclusion of such features as OTG and company description implies portable, in-field recording. To that end, a number of signal processing features such as programmable reverb, noise reduction, and limiter are provided. Accompanied software makes operation of the unit much easier. As shipped, it is in "mobile" or should I say, novice mode. It limits sample rate...
There is a ton of functionality for which, I am not qualified to fully describe. But we are talking about a bunch of inputs and outputs including no less than three USB-C!
Inclusion of such features as OTG and company description implies portable, in-field recording. To that end, a number of signal processing features such as programmable reverb, noise reduction, and limiter are provided. Accompanied software makes operation of the unit much easier. As shipped, it is in "mobile" or should I say, novice mode. It limits sample rate...
SMSL H200 Preamplifier & HP Amp Review (NTTY)
Hello Everyone.
This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL H200 Preamplifier and HP Amplifier.
It was kindly sent to me by SMSL, on my request, and I received a very early production sample.
Presentation
The SMSL H200 is a pure analogue preamplifier, some sort of dinosaur in our digital world, and now addressing a niche market(?). It offers only two inputs (Balanced and Single Ended), with two rear outputs (XLR and RCA) as well as two front balanced and unbalanced outputs too for headphones.
Looking at it from far away, it looks like you get only a volume knob, especially if you think about it as a preamplifier. But it is a little more than that.
Price is less than $400 and this device integrates well in the "200" series from SMSL where we find notably the...
This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL H200 Preamplifier and HP Amplifier.
It was kindly sent to me by SMSL, on my request, and I received a very early production sample.
Presentation
The SMSL H200 is a pure analogue preamplifier, some sort of dinosaur in our digital world, and now addressing a niche market(?). It offers only two inputs (Balanced and Single Ended), with two rear outputs (XLR and RCA) as well as two front balanced and unbalanced outputs too for headphones.
Looking at it from far away, it looks like you get only a volume knob, especially if you think about it as a preamplifier. But it is a little more than that.
Price is less than $400 and this device integrates well in the "200" series from SMSL where we find notably the...
Fosi DS3 Portable DAC & HP Amp
This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of DS3 balanced smart DAC and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $99.99.
No, that is not a control. Everything you see on the front is for aesthetics. The controls are on top which are heavily overloaded. As is, they are the up/down volume control. Push both briefly and you switch gain. Press longer and other effects are activated. Fortunately you don't have to remember all this if you are on a computer (and phone?) as you can point your browser at it and get a very rich interface:
Yes, you have full parametric EQ! What's more, being on the device, they take effect almost instantly with a fast and slight volume reduction (much less than a second). This makes it ideal for turning headphones and performing AB comparisons. In sharp contrast, my Roon player takes many seconds to make...
No, that is not a control. Everything you see on the front is for aesthetics. The controls are on top which are heavily overloaded. As is, they are the up/down volume control. Push both briefly and you switch gain. Press longer and other effects are activated. Fortunately you don't have to remember all this if you are on a computer (and phone?) as you can point your browser at it and get a very rich interface:
Yes, you have full parametric EQ! What's more, being on the device, they take effect almost instantly with a fast and slight volume reduction (much less than a second). This makes it ideal for turning headphones and performing AB comparisons. In sharp contrast, my Roon player takes many seconds to make...
D&A Alpha DAC & HP Amp Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of the D&A Alpha balanced DAC and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by Shenzhen Audio and costs US $399.
No, you are not seeing double. What I tested before was the Alpha Pro. The non-pro version has the same distinct white LED and clear front panel with labels that are kind of hard to read. Otherwise, it is a very simple unit to use. I especially like the brightness of LED ring around the volume control changing proportionally to its setting.
I upgraded it before testing it. In the interest of digging my way our of mountain of gear...
No, you are not seeing double. What I tested before was the Alpha Pro. The non-pro version has the same distinct white LED and clear front panel with labels that are kind of hard to read. Otherwise, it is a very simple unit to use. I especially like the brightness of LED ring around the volume control changing proportionally to its setting.
I upgraded it before testing it. In the interest of digging my way our of mountain of gear...
Fosi CA30 Four Channel Car Audio Amp Review
This is a review and detailed measurements of Fosi CA30 four (4) channel car audio amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and sells for US $140.
Construction is very solid with the unit feeling much heavier and denser than it should at this price. The usual options are provided for gain and crossover. Power and speaker connectors are good quality but lack in usuability:
As you can probably tell, the screws go in at an angle. This makes it easier to see them if you are looking from the back. The problem is the screw engagement. Only the edge of it makes contact and worse yet, at the far end of the hole. With finer speaker wires, I had a heck of a time getting the screws to engage them. I must have spend 15 minutes messing with them. The edge of the screw can also saw off some the wire strands. Power connectors were not as bad but still have the same issue...
Construction is very solid with the unit feeling much heavier and denser than it should at this price. The usual options are provided for gain and crossover. Power and speaker connectors are good quality but lack in usuability:
As you can probably tell, the screws go in at an angle. This makes it easier to see them if you are looking from the back. The problem is the screw engagement. Only the edge of it makes contact and worse yet, at the far end of the hole. With finer speaker wires, I had a heck of a time getting the screws to engage them. I must have spend 15 minutes messing with them. The edge of the screw can also saw off some the wire strands. Power connectors were not as bad but still have the same issue...
Interspace PCBB3 Hum Eliminator/Converter
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Interspace/Hive PCBB3 3.5mm unbalanced to XLR balanced converter/"hum eliminator." It was kindly drop shipped to me. This model is superseded by PCBB4 which costs US $151.
I was impressed by the very nice feel of the silicone cable bringing out the 3.5mm jack, ready to plug into a computer in live scenarios. Usually we see RCA jacks. There are options to lower level (pad), convert to mono and lift ground.
Interspace PCBB3 Converter Measurements
I start with my usual 1 kHz tone at 2 Volts:
The unit is passive which I assume it means it has a transformer. As such, the worst performance is at lower frequencies, not 1 kHz:
It saturates at just 0.15 volt and logarithmically gets worse as frequencies get lower. But need not be this bad as we see from measurements of the...
I was impressed by the very nice feel of the silicone cable bringing out the 3.5mm jack, ready to plug into a computer in live scenarios. Usually we see RCA jacks. There are options to lower level (pad), convert to mono and lift ground.
Interspace PCBB3 Converter Measurements
I start with my usual 1 kHz tone at 2 Volts:
The unit is passive which I assume it means it has a transformer. As such, the worst performance is at lower frequencies, not 1 kHz:
It saturates at just 0.15 volt and logarithmically gets worse as frequencies get lower. But need not be this bad as we see from measurements of the...
Interspace USB to Balanced Box (DAC)
This is a review and measurements of the Hive Interspace USB Balbox adapter. It is built in UK and was kindly drop shipped to me by a member. The version I have is no longer on their site but they do have a version 3. No specs are provided to know if there are improvements in issues I have found.
The version 3 costs US $183. If mine is anything like it, it only exposed 16 bits at sampling rates of 44.1/48 KHz. It must be one obsolete, old PC targeted DAC silicon.
Measurements, after setting Windows Volume to max, was super disappointing on multiple fronts:
For a professional product, I expect minimum of 4 volts output. Here, we don't even have 1 volt! And yes, this is with the pad disabled. Enabling the pad gives you candle light levels of output!
Moving on, we see massive distortion as one would expect from super vintage DAC IC. I realize this is a "solution box" but...
The version 3 costs US $183. If mine is anything like it, it only exposed 16 bits at sampling rates of 44.1/48 KHz. It must be one obsolete, old PC targeted DAC silicon.
Measurements, after setting Windows Volume to max, was super disappointing on multiple fronts:
For a professional product, I expect minimum of 4 volts output. Here, we don't even have 1 volt! And yes, this is with the pad disabled. Enabling the pad gives you candle light levels of output!
Moving on, we see massive distortion as one would expect from super vintage DAC IC. I realize this is a "solution box" but...
German Maestro GMP 8.35 D Headphone Review
This is a review, listening test, EQ and detailed measurements of the German Maestro GMP 8.35 D Headphone. It was sent to me by the company and sells for US $245.
As you see the headphone looks somewhat industrial and seems to be built to be durable. It came with another set of pads but I chose to test the defaults as you see. The cups are a bit small for me so the fit was not very comfortable. A detachable 3.5mm connector/cable carries the signal to it and two different lengths are provided.
I had not heard for the company before when they reached out to me. But they explained their long history including at some point being MB Quart.
German Maestro GMP 8.35 D Headphone Measurements
The ribbed section of the headphone covers an adjustment for the headphone band. Alas, no matter what I did, I could not improve the bass frequency response:
I checked and found one other...
As you see the headphone looks somewhat industrial and seems to be built to be durable. It came with another set of pads but I chose to test the defaults as you see. The cups are a bit small for me so the fit was not very comfortable. A detachable 3.5mm connector/cable carries the signal to it and two different lengths are provided.
I had not heard for the company before when they reached out to me. But they explained their long history including at some point being MB Quart.
German Maestro GMP 8.35 D Headphone Measurements
The ribbed section of the headphone covers an adjustment for the headphone band. Alas, no matter what I did, I could not improve the bass frequency response:
I checked and found one other...
SMSL SU-2 DAC Review (NTTY)
Hello Everyone, this is a revie and measurements of the SMSL SU-2 DAC
I bought it from the Ali store, and paid roughly $120 shipping included.
SMSL SU-2 – Presentation
The SU-2 replaces the SU-1, drops the USB input and adds an AES SPDIF (Balanced) connector. It hosts the ESS ES9039Q2M, just like the SMSL PS200 Pro that I recently reviewed.
As you can see from the photo, there’s only one button to power it on/off and switch between the three digital inputs. It can’t be simpler. The chassis is full aluminium and the device is heavy enough not to be dragged by standard XLR cables.
This is the back of the device:
As opposed to the SMSL PS200 Pro, we get XLR outputs with this one, which should allow us to chase few more dBs of SINAD and/or DR here...
I bought it from the Ali store, and paid roughly $120 shipping included.
SMSL SU-2 – Presentation
The SU-2 replaces the SU-1, drops the USB input and adds an AES SPDIF (Balanced) connector. It hosts the ESS ES9039Q2M, just like the SMSL PS200 Pro that I recently reviewed.
As you can see from the photo, there’s only one button to power it on/off and switch between the three digital inputs. It can’t be simpler. The chassis is full aluminium and the device is heavy enough not to be dragged by standard XLR cables.
This is the back of the device:
As opposed to the SMSL PS200 Pro, we get XLR outputs with this one, which should allow us to chase few more dBs of SINAD and/or DR here...
Ascilab C6B Speaker Review
This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Ascilab C6B bookshelf speaker. It costs USD $1,357 per pair inclusive of import fees. Pricing varies in other parts of the world:
Important note: my other company, TestedAudio, is the sole distributor for all of Ascilab products. Indeed, C6B is by far our most popular speaker. So feel free to read my subjective comments with extreme skepticism.
The C6B shares the same everything with F6B but with an upgraded woofer. I like the white look which reminds of the iconic Yamaha studio monitors (there is a grill if you want to hide it).
This is surprisingly compact speaker yet feels quite heavy and dense. You can better see its compact dimensions from this side profile:
[ATTACH type="full" alt="Ascilab...
Important note: my other company, TestedAudio, is the sole distributor for all of Ascilab products. Indeed, C6B is by far our most popular speaker. So feel free to read my subjective comments with extreme skepticism.
The C6B shares the same everything with F6B but with an upgraded woofer. I like the white look which reminds of the iconic Yamaha studio monitors (there is a grill if you want to hide it).
This is surprisingly compact speaker yet feels quite heavy and dense. You can better see its compact dimensions from this side profile:
[ATTACH type="full" alt="Ascilab...