That's the challenge here. The hp output level is not in the same class as desktop products (from Topping or otherwise). It will get audibly distorted when pushed.I would like to see if anyone could actually hear the difference between this unit and something which tests better like the Topping gear, if a double blind test were performed at levels within this unit's abilities.
These will certainly be limiting factors, also the noise level in the room will affect the results.To what degree are such at-home tests affected by the YT's audio compression algorithm and the headphone FR at a given volume, I wonder? Pretty much all of @amirm 's headphone measurements show several significant (i.e. 10-20dB or more) dips, albeit narrow ones, in the mids and treble, said to be caused by various resonances, mechanical fitting to the test fixture, etc., and superimposed on the roughly Harman curve that is far from being flat.
It depends.Lower power is never an advantage. If you don't need all the power just use a device with gain switches like the Topping NX7
For portable use the price is a deciding factor when you have to toss the thing in a bag. But the lack of a battery in it makes it much less desirable and more "portable" than portable for me. Granted its easier to find than a dongle and has actual controls for your fingers, but it will empty out the battery of the laptop that much faster if you are running current-hungry headphones of some sort. If it had a 3,000 mAh battery for a few hours of runtime with a cellphone as the source I would be all for it. Bring it along with something cheap but good like some 560S' and it would be a nice accessory for travel. Probably ok for a desktop PC, but at that point, it has loads of competition.Seems a little pointless to me. Other devices have better features/performance. Price is low enough I guess.
The headphones will be the deciding factor. They will exhibit rather deep nulls at certain frequencies, not to mention you will indeed see their response impressed on any tests you do. I don't know of all the limitations of the current compression they use on YT, but it seems quite reasonable. When tinkering with such things its a good idea to set the volume to something reasonable at around 1-2 kHz, say 70-75 dB, and leave it there. Don't want to try and use it as a hearing aid as you cannot hear above a certain frequency. Found that out when testing an amp and I left a 20 kHz test tone in the background going at full volume. Kept wondering why the speakers sounded terrible and the amp kept going into protect after a second or so.To what degree are such at-home tests affected by the YT's audio compression algorithm and the headphone FR at a given volume, I wonder? Pretty much all of @amirm 's headphone measurements show several significant (i.e. 10-20dB or more) dips, albeit narrow ones, in the mids and treble, said to be caused by various resonances, mechanical fitting to the test fixture, etc., and superimposed on the roughly Harman curve that is far from being flat.
yup, the 9038S G1 was measured at [email protected]Ω, so almost double, but be careful, I got the Xduoo Link2 Bal was advertised at [email protected]Ω but when measured got only [email protected]Some small usb dongles have more power than this!
This is why it's not worth listening to subjective reviewers when it comes to comments regarding higher frequencies. If you don't know their hearing acuity it is almost meaningless.For "technical elegance", yes, for real listening anything above 15-16 kHz hardly matters, because only very young persons can hear anything above, at normal listening levels.
https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/mti9lr The scale ends at 8 kHz, because medical audiometry only goes this far - but the curves leave no hope for the range beyond it anyway...
Post iucundam iuventutem, post molestam senectutem, nos habebit humus...
From the research done it seems older listeners prefer more treble-centric sound with reduced bass, presumably to offset the loss in acuity. Ironically there is a valid market for speakers that can provide a flatter or even upward sloped frequency response for older audiophiles, but the notion that the speakers are "perfect" and any form of tone controls are "blasphemous" makes any sort of rational implementation a hopeless endeavor.This is why it's not worth listening to subjective reviewers when it comes to comments regarding higher frequencies. If you don't know their hearing acuity it is almost meaningless.
Confirmed - is exactly my case @age 55.From the research done it seems older listeners prefer more treble-centric sound with reduced bass, presumably to offset the loss in acuity.
Please explain. Thanks.Lower power is never an advantage. If you don't need all the power just use a device with gain switches like the Topping NX7
I think most would want a digital connection to avoid noise and degradation etc...Can anyone confirm the spdif is actually an output and not an input?
Maybe they mean digital line out? Is there a definition limiting it to analog?
It is, but only for the HPMaybe but then it's not a DAC right?