Came across a 4.4mm balanced + 3.5mm unbalanced dongle based on ES9039Q2M for just $30 (including 23% VAT and shipping) during AliExpress promo, and since I didn't had anything balanced at home I went for it. It was available at this price for 2 sales straight including Choice Days so that should be more or less the attainable price. The model is Aiyima H3, weirdly it is not on Aiyima page, neither is the rather packed with info manual, but I would just assume they aren't updating the page. The "H" designation was used by Aiyima for Headphone Amps prior. Purchased from "Aiyima Audio Store" (1702099)
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005008809388317.html
The USB interface chip is CT7601CR. There is no mention of the usual suspect Ricore RT6863 opamps, the rebrand of SG Micro SGM8261, which are often blamed for limiting SiNAD to 104-108dB on ES9038/9039Q2M chip dongles, as well as for "screeching" clipping behavior when pushed to the clipping point. Below is the link to the topic about those with IVX figuring out it is the same chip made by SG Micro
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-face-in-op-amp-industry.6058/
Specs from the seller's page (I've cleaned it up slightly)
Chipset: CT7601CR + ES9039Q2M
SNR: 126dB
Frequency response: 20-20 kHz (± 0,05 dB)
Distortion: 0.00056%
Load impedance: 16-300Ohm
Max output power: SE 120mW (32Ohm), BAL 240mW (32Ohm)
Sampling rate: 32bit/768kHz DSD512
Operating system: Windows 7/8/10/11, MacOS, Android
Input: USB C
Output: 3.5mm SE, 4.4mm Balanced
Dimensions: 53x20x12.5mm
Net Weight: 15.5g
The 0.00056% (105dB) is within the usual range for older ES9038Q2M dongles, not state of the art, behind CS43131/43198 based dongles, certainly behind what ES9039Q2M is capable of, but considering the price + freedom from Cirrus Logic's shenanigans, it is not bad. Normally for this price the most you would find are ES9270-9281AC Pro based, Single Ended dongles like the discontinued FiiO KA1, which actually have similar performance range. There are also ES9318 based dongles, but those are sub 1Vrms, and at least the ES-Pro ES9318 dongle I have has audible roll off on both ends of frequency response.
The pictures won't be amazing, it is very grey outside, and I don't have my usual setup, and I sure didn't wipe everything properly
Note that it came with USB C to Lightning adapter instead of the listed USB C to A.
Below are pics from the manual, which I have to say contains much more than any DAC's manual I've seen. Unfortunately the manual was printed in too small font for the size of the paper, some of the smallest ones were impossible to read due to low print resolution. The light + shiny paper bouncing flash didn't help either.
Page 1 - cover
Page 2 - specs
Page 3 - I/O
Page 4 - Operating Current, 0dBFS output level, FR, Idle Noise, SNR
Page 5 - Dynamic Range, Crosstalk, THD+N, Max output power, Output wiring
Page 6 - PCB shot and Key functions descriptions
Page 7 - Filters
Page 8 - Circuit Diagram! and... "Forced burn mode"... (firmware flashing)
Impressions:
Volume control appear to be independent, at least it does not change system volume in Android nor in HiBy Music in Exclusive USB access. Did not test under Windows as my desktop doesn't want to recognize any more DACs since I've tried to test JCAlly JM20 on it, probably just a matter of disconnecting of some other DACs and cleaning the USB entries registry. The PCB is moving inside the case towards the either side with the ports (sliding between). The case only gets a bit warm, much less so than say Sevenhertz 71 (AK4377, 1Vrms), which is a bit concerning since this is supposed to gulp current, but works fine. The sound is... well it sounds like a DAC
For headphones which don't care about power like Sennheiser HD598SE and BGVP DX6 (flatheads) there is no difference between unbalanced and balanced sound. For HD600 the power makes the difference, but it is just the power and it is still not enough for my taste - a Single Ended desktop amp makes it even better no matter if the DAC is better (118dB SiNAD SMSL PS200) or worse (102dB SiNAD Creative Sound Blaster Z).
All in all, it does what it is supposed to. I had no portable balanced source, and also nothing that supposedly can output 2Vrms into low impedance load (both my 2Vrms dongles are CS43131 with impedance sensing, and JCAlly JM6 Pro CX31993 + Max97220 also limits the output into such loads), so covering for those use cases for just $30, I think it was a good deal. So now, I can put it on the shelve, and go back to using 3.5mm out in my phone
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005008809388317.html
The USB interface chip is CT7601CR. There is no mention of the usual suspect Ricore RT6863 opamps, the rebrand of SG Micro SGM8261, which are often blamed for limiting SiNAD to 104-108dB on ES9038/9039Q2M chip dongles, as well as for "screeching" clipping behavior when pushed to the clipping point. Below is the link to the topic about those with IVX figuring out it is the same chip made by SG Micro
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-face-in-op-amp-industry.6058/
Specs from the seller's page (I've cleaned it up slightly)
Chipset: CT7601CR + ES9039Q2M
SNR: 126dB
Frequency response: 20-20 kHz (± 0,05 dB)
Distortion: 0.00056%
Load impedance: 16-300Ohm
Max output power: SE 120mW (32Ohm), BAL 240mW (32Ohm)
Sampling rate: 32bit/768kHz DSD512
Operating system: Windows 7/8/10/11, MacOS, Android
Input: USB C
Output: 3.5mm SE, 4.4mm Balanced
Dimensions: 53x20x12.5mm
Net Weight: 15.5g
The 0.00056% (105dB) is within the usual range for older ES9038Q2M dongles, not state of the art, behind CS43131/43198 based dongles, certainly behind what ES9039Q2M is capable of, but considering the price + freedom from Cirrus Logic's shenanigans, it is not bad. Normally for this price the most you would find are ES9270-9281AC Pro based, Single Ended dongles like the discontinued FiiO KA1, which actually have similar performance range. There are also ES9318 based dongles, but those are sub 1Vrms, and at least the ES-Pro ES9318 dongle I have has audible roll off on both ends of frequency response.
The pictures won't be amazing, it is very grey outside, and I don't have my usual setup, and I sure didn't wipe everything properly
Note that it came with USB C to Lightning adapter instead of the listed USB C to A.
Below are pics from the manual, which I have to say contains much more than any DAC's manual I've seen. Unfortunately the manual was printed in too small font for the size of the paper, some of the smallest ones were impossible to read due to low print resolution. The light + shiny paper bouncing flash didn't help either.
Page 1 - cover
Page 2 - specs
Page 3 - I/O
Page 4 - Operating Current, 0dBFS output level, FR, Idle Noise, SNR
Page 5 - Dynamic Range, Crosstalk, THD+N, Max output power, Output wiring
Page 6 - PCB shot and Key functions descriptions
Page 7 - Filters
Page 8 - Circuit Diagram! and... "Forced burn mode"... (firmware flashing)
Impressions:
Volume control appear to be independent, at least it does not change system volume in Android nor in HiBy Music in Exclusive USB access. Did not test under Windows as my desktop doesn't want to recognize any more DACs since I've tried to test JCAlly JM20 on it, probably just a matter of disconnecting of some other DACs and cleaning the USB entries registry. The PCB is moving inside the case towards the either side with the ports (sliding between). The case only gets a bit warm, much less so than say Sevenhertz 71 (AK4377, 1Vrms), which is a bit concerning since this is supposed to gulp current, but works fine. The sound is... well it sounds like a DAC
For headphones which don't care about power like Sennheiser HD598SE and BGVP DX6 (flatheads) there is no difference between unbalanced and balanced sound. For HD600 the power makes the difference, but it is just the power and it is still not enough for my taste - a Single Ended desktop amp makes it even better no matter if the DAC is better (118dB SiNAD SMSL PS200) or worse (102dB SiNAD Creative Sound Blaster Z).All in all, it does what it is supposed to. I had no portable balanced source, and also nothing that supposedly can output 2Vrms into low impedance load (both my 2Vrms dongles are CS43131 with impedance sensing, and JCAlly JM6 Pro CX31993 + Max97220 also limits the output into such loads), so covering for those use cases for just $30, I think it was a good deal. So now, I can put it on the shelve, and go back to using 3.5mm out in my phone
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