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E1DA 9038D Review (portable DAC & Amp)

Jorj

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I had an email exchange with Susan at Linsoul, and she tells me the E1DA 9038D is discontinued. I had reached out to be notified when it was back in stock, and this does not seem like happy news.

@IVX , is this correct? Last we heard you were about to order production of 1,000 units, and now I hear that the line is discontinued.
 

bd_heart

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Jorj, the new 9038D6K is in production, I think next week-two you can see that in our Aliexpress. I even modified the product page for that, but the final specs are subject to refinement. https://e1dashz.wixsite.com/index/9038d
Hello Ivan,

I am going to buy your product and use it for the planned headphone (either Sennheiser HD 560S or HiFiMan Edition XS), can you please clarify if the 9038D6K will be powerful enough for those headphones?
Another question is: does it matter in terms of sound quality (not loudness) if you have balanced connection or just a simple minijack? Particularly with your products.

P.S. I would be glad if you also give your advice concerning desktop device (or pair DAC+AMP). What would you recommend as the next level in terms of sound quality vs 9038D6K? I mean something that you can definitely say is sensibly better than 9038D6K using an under 500$ headphone.

Thank you.
 

mugbot

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Hello Ivan,

I am going to buy your product and use it for the planned headphone (either Sennheiser HD 560S or HiFiMan Edition XS), can you please clarify if the 9038D6K will be powerful enough for those headphones?
Another question is: does it matter in terms of sound quality (not loudness) if you have balanced connection or just a simple minijack? Particularly with your products.

P.S. I would be glad if you also give your advice concerning desktop device (or pair DAC+AMP). What would you recommend as the next level in terms of sound quality vs 9038D6K? I mean something that you can definitely say is sensibly better than 9038D6K using an under 500$ headphone.

Thank you.
Neither of those headphones are particularly demanding, many smartphones would be able to provide sufficient power for either. The 9038D will have HEAPS of power for these.
Rather than investing in an amp which will have negligible impact on sound quality provided it's powerful enough - have you considered budgeting for a higher end set of headphones that don't need as much power from the amp?
 

bd_heart

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have you considered budgeting for a higher end set of headphones that don't need as much power from the amp?
Hi,

I was told by many people, that HiFiMan Edition XS is probably the best choice for now in the below 500$ budget.

Concerning the source, I was thinking about so many options, that got headache: Questyle M15 or e1da 9038D, Topping G5 or TOPPING DX3 Pro+, FiiO K9Pro or Topping DX7 Pro+ or SMSL M500 MKIII... o_O
It's for listening at home, preferably also while walking to get a cup of tea :), but that's not mandatory, can be stationary only too if quality and\or price difference is serious here.

I want to pay the maximum amount of money for a device or set, which will provide sensible difference in sound quality between that one and the one one step below it (on under 500$ headphones). I.e. I would like to stop on the last option which still provides sensible improvement over the step below.
What is it in your opinion?
 

bd_heart

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Neither of those headphones are particularly demanding, many smartphones would be able to provide sufficient power for either. The 9038D will have HEAPS of power for these.
I must say, I want to get sound quality, not power itself. I don't listen at very high volume levels.
My currently used Superlux 668B provides enough volume working with my smartphone. What I want is to seriously improve sound quality level to enjoy music even more, that's the target. :)
 

Jorj

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AudioJester

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Ah, just saw the warning about noise with 4G/5G for the 90386DK. For a phone dongle dac and streaming this seems a big deal. I mean why have such a high SINAD if it makes other noise with intended use?
I never had any noise with 9038D and I predominantly use IEMs.
 

AudioJester

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@AudioJester the D6K makes about 30% less cellular data related noise than the original 9038D.

Wow. I must be lucky then. Or maybe its minimised because i use a longish (75cm) usb cable?

Edit: doh! Its because i predominantly use it at home with wifi and not cellular data
Cable lengths :facepalm:
 
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Jorj

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Wow. I must be lucky then. Or maybe its minimised because i use a longish (75cm) usb cable?

Edit: doh! Its because i predominantly use it at home with wifi and not cellular data
Cable lengths :facepalm:
I have a lot of cellular noise from my Mojo (original) also. Fortunately, my use case is not streaming, typically, so it's not an actual problem.

I still buy CD and rip the tracks (or buy FLAC direct) and keep them on my phone, since I often am out in the sticks with no reliable cell service. This means a good dongle is going to be a pretty solid solution to the no-headphone-jack assholery that Apple and Samsung have perpetrated on us. Now that we're seeing flagship phones with 1TB of storage on-board, the 9038D6K is going to keep me head bangin'.
 

Rottmannash

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@AudioJester the D6K makes about 30% less cellular data related noise than the original 9038D.
I have never experienced any "noise" when using the 9038D, using 4G, 5G or wifi. Great device.
 

Veri

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I have a lot of cellular noise from my Mojo (original) also. Fortunately, my use case is not streaming, typically, so it's not an actual problem.
I believe Mojo is muuuuch worse in this regard than the E1Da products though.
 

bd_heart

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Did anyone try the device with planar headphones? Particularly HiFiMan Edition XS. Or it's useless even to try?
 

Jimbob54

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Did anyone try the device with planar headphones? Particularly HiFiMan Edition XS. Or it's useless even to try?

You'll get plenty of volume out of it. Whether it's enough for you depends on how much eq you use and how loud you like. The xs goes plenty loud enough for me with the 9038D.
 

bd_heart

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I was told for the headphones you need desktop amp or at least an amp with a battery.
The xs goes plenty loud enough for me with the 9038D.
Great news, thank you!
And what about the sound quality for the set? I read many times, that even if you get high volume in headphones, that does not necessarily mean the amp can fully realize the headphones potential (still due to power deficit, not quality related parameters).
 

Jimbob54

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I was told for the headphones you need desktop amp or at least an amp with a battery.

Great news, thank you!
And what about the sound quality for the set? I read many times, that even if you get high volume in headphones, that does not necessarily mean the amp can fully realize the headphones potential (still due to power deficit, not quality related parameters).
That sounds like the kind of thing you read on Head-fi.

I will caveat all this. My chain is Android phone using USB Audio Player Pro streaming qobuz. Replay gain is enabled. I know UAPP can bypass any volume restrictions Android might impose.

I also have the 9038D capped at -10db as I use with IEMs mostly and dont want to chance getting hit with 0db when pressing play. I can imagine if in the mood I might want to play the XS louder than -10db on the 9038D. But thats fine, I have 10db headroom or at least until it clips. But if youre adding 5 to 10 db of EQ especially in the bass, there is always the chance that the 9038D might not be loud enough.
 
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bd_heart

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But if youre adding 5 to 10 db of EQ especially in the bass, there is always the chance that the 9038D might not be loud enough.
I don't like much bass, I would rather decrease it. :)
Thank you, I'll definitely give a try now.
 

Rottmannash

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That sounds like the kind of thing you read on Head-fi.

I will caveat all this. My chain is Android phone using USB Audio Player Pro streaming qobuz. Replay gain is enabled. I know UAPP can bypass any volume restrictions Android might impose.

I also have the 9038D capped at -10db as I use with IEMs mostly and dont want to chance getting hit with 0db when pressing play. I can imagine if in the mood I might want to play the XS louder than -10db on the 9038D. But thats fine, I have 10db headroom or at least until it clips. But if youre adding 5 to 10 db of EQ especially in the bass, there is always the chance that the 9038D might not be loud enough.
I have the same exact chain and can confirm it sounds sublime, as it should. I typically use it for line out in the car but also w/ IEM's and occasionally headphones. But when using it for HPs noticed it will reach a point w/ planars where the 9038D might run out of steam but it still plenty loud-just not head-banging concert loud. The most impressive thing about this dongle is its Tweak app. If u buy the 9038D (or its successor) indulge and pay for the Tweak app-you won't regret it.
 
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