This is a review and detailed measurements of the EarMen Donald MQA DAC USB stereo DAC. Yes, that is its real name with a play on Donald Duck. 
It was sent to me by the company and costs US $99 from the company direct. Unlike most DACs out there, the Donald DAC uses Crystal Semiconductor/Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC chip.
The enclosure is quite a departure form typical DAC box:
The little stand can be slid forward or back and provides a few degrees of tilt. You can set it up to point the DAC up or down.
The back panel is minimalistic which is fine by me:
Two USB-C connectors are provided. If you use the bottom one, it both powers the unit and provides data. However, you have the option of providing just power using the upper USB-C connector in which case the front LED nicely changes from blue to red color. I tested it both ways as you see below.
USB DAC Audio Measurements
When I first started testing the DAC, I did not think the external power supply would make a difference so I ran without it and got this:
This is very nice performance and ranks the Donald DAC quite high in our SINAD rankings (measure of noise and distortion):
After I was finished, I tested the unit with feeding it from a Samsung USB phone charger and to my surprise, it improved performance in a number of areas including the dashboard:
This may actually push the DAC in the blue bucket above! Notice how the spectrum above our 1 kHz tone is quieted down with just a few harmonic spikes remaining.
Dynamic range is very good:
I was impressed by IMD+noise vs level test performance:
Above is without external power. I retested it with external power supply but made no difference so I am not showing it.
External power made a big difference in jitter test:
Although audibly there is no difference.
32-tone test follows the same level of distortion we measured in the dashboard:
Linearity was solidly nailed:
There is just a tiny offset from -30 dB and lower which would have been good to not be there.
Filter performance is very good:
Given the above, I expected good THD+N relative to frequency but did not get it:
So I ran a spectrum analysis of a sample tone with the same wide bandwidth of 90 kHz:
The rise in noise floor is called "noise shaping." It is a technique used in DACs to reduce the noise in audible band into ultrasonic region. This is a good practice but does mess up measurements here as the bandwidth includes that accumulated noise.
Conclusion
It is nice to see some variety in DAC implementations once in a while. And deal with a company with a sense of humor! I went into this review thinking the device would not perform but it sure did. MQA decoding capability does not exist in desktop DACs in this price range so for people interested in that, the Donald DAC provides a unique offering.
Overall, I am going to put the EarMen Donald DAC on my recommended list.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
The pink panthers just realized everything I am planting in the garden are for vegetarian animals. They are raising a stink and demanding that I plant some steak trees so they can get some meat! I searched on the Internet and there are some steak plants being sold from Nigeria for free! I just have to come up with $1000 shipping and customs fees. So would please donate a few dollars so I can make the panthers happy using : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
It was sent to me by the company and costs US $99 from the company direct. Unlike most DACs out there, the Donald DAC uses Crystal Semiconductor/Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC chip.The enclosure is quite a departure form typical DAC box:
The little stand can be slid forward or back and provides a few degrees of tilt. You can set it up to point the DAC up or down.
The back panel is minimalistic which is fine by me:
Two USB-C connectors are provided. If you use the bottom one, it both powers the unit and provides data. However, you have the option of providing just power using the upper USB-C connector in which case the front LED nicely changes from blue to red color. I tested it both ways as you see below.
USB DAC Audio Measurements
When I first started testing the DAC, I did not think the external power supply would make a difference so I ran without it and got this:
This is very nice performance and ranks the Donald DAC quite high in our SINAD rankings (measure of noise and distortion):
After I was finished, I tested the unit with feeding it from a Samsung USB phone charger and to my surprise, it improved performance in a number of areas including the dashboard:
This may actually push the DAC in the blue bucket above! Notice how the spectrum above our 1 kHz tone is quieted down with just a few harmonic spikes remaining.
Dynamic range is very good:
I was impressed by IMD+noise vs level test performance:
Above is without external power. I retested it with external power supply but made no difference so I am not showing it.
External power made a big difference in jitter test:
Although audibly there is no difference.
32-tone test follows the same level of distortion we measured in the dashboard:
Linearity was solidly nailed:
There is just a tiny offset from -30 dB and lower which would have been good to not be there.
Filter performance is very good:
Given the above, I expected good THD+N relative to frequency but did not get it:
So I ran a spectrum analysis of a sample tone with the same wide bandwidth of 90 kHz:
The rise in noise floor is called "noise shaping." It is a technique used in DACs to reduce the noise in audible band into ultrasonic region. This is a good practice but does mess up measurements here as the bandwidth includes that accumulated noise.
Conclusion
It is nice to see some variety in DAC implementations once in a while. And deal with a company with a sense of humor! I went into this review thinking the device would not perform but it sure did. MQA decoding capability does not exist in desktop DACs in this price range so for people interested in that, the Donald DAC provides a unique offering.
Overall, I am going to put the EarMen Donald DAC on my recommended list.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
The pink panthers just realized everything I am planting in the garden are for vegetarian animals. They are raising a stink and demanding that I plant some steak trees so they can get some meat! I searched on the Internet and there are some steak plants being sold from Nigeria for free! I just have to come up with $1000 shipping and customs fees. So would please donate a few dollars so I can make the panthers happy using : https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
