This is a review, detailed measurements and listening tests of Fosi Audio DS2 portable DAC and balanced headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $55.
Well, it looks like a dongle.
The LED seems to indicate the sample rates. What I like is inclusion of 4.4mm balanced drive and hard button volume controls:
Let's measure it and see where it stands.
Fosi Audio DS2 Measurements
Let's start with the balanced output:
Wow! I did not expect this level of performance! We are talking good desktop class DAC output here with SINAD that tops the chart of all portable devices I have ever tested:
Unbalanced output is naturally limited to 2 volts:
Even this performance is great with highest level distortion at -120 dB (below threshold of hearing).
Good news doesn't stop there. Check out the dynamic range:
Once again it competes with some of the best desktop headphone amps:
The quietness manifests itself even in the filter test:
Low distortion shows up well in multitone test:
Jitter is in the same class:
Above tests were static so I could drive the unit properly. For sweeps, my analyzer output gets distorted through the driver translation layer so please ignore the noise level in these power tests:
As we see, power output is excellent as well.
I noted on the first graph the idle power consumption being around 0.4 watts (at 5 volts). When playing music, it shoots up to 1.7 watts or so.
Fosi Audio DS2 Listening Tests
I started with the Sennheiser HD650 high impedance headphone. The DS2 drove it with no difficultly, producing excellent fidelity and bass impact. Higher power desktop amps push it a notch higher but what was there was plenty enough with some headroom left to play with. I then plugged in my difficult to drive Dan Clark E3 headphone and was very surprised when the DS2 drove it with no hint of distortion. It was perfectly usable on the DS2 -- something I rarely say for a portable product.
Conclusions
The Fosi DS2 blows away the objective barriers for a portable DAC and headphone amplifier, producing desktop class noise and distortion. Hard to imagine this little device doing that but it clearly is, and doing it at such a reasonable cost! It really redefines the category. Usability is excellent with hard button volume controls. Really, don't know what else to say other than be mindful of power consumption which shoots up to 1.7 watts when playing loud.
If you are short of space, the DS2 can easily play the role of a desktop DAC.
It is my pleasure to recommend the Fosi Audio DS2 portable DAC and headphone amplifier.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Well, it looks like a dongle.
The LED seems to indicate the sample rates. What I like is inclusion of 4.4mm balanced drive and hard button volume controls:Let's measure it and see where it stands.
Fosi Audio DS2 Measurements
Let's start with the balanced output:
Wow! I did not expect this level of performance! We are talking good desktop class DAC output here with SINAD that tops the chart of all portable devices I have ever tested:
Unbalanced output is naturally limited to 2 volts:
Even this performance is great with highest level distortion at -120 dB (below threshold of hearing).
Good news doesn't stop there. Check out the dynamic range:
Once again it competes with some of the best desktop headphone amps:
The quietness manifests itself even in the filter test:
Low distortion shows up well in multitone test:
Jitter is in the same class:
Above tests were static so I could drive the unit properly. For sweeps, my analyzer output gets distorted through the driver translation layer so please ignore the noise level in these power tests:
As we see, power output is excellent as well.
I noted on the first graph the idle power consumption being around 0.4 watts (at 5 volts). When playing music, it shoots up to 1.7 watts or so.
Fosi Audio DS2 Listening Tests
I started with the Sennheiser HD650 high impedance headphone. The DS2 drove it with no difficultly, producing excellent fidelity and bass impact. Higher power desktop amps push it a notch higher but what was there was plenty enough with some headroom left to play with. I then plugged in my difficult to drive Dan Clark E3 headphone and was very surprised when the DS2 drove it with no hint of distortion. It was perfectly usable on the DS2 -- something I rarely say for a portable product.
Conclusions
The Fosi DS2 blows away the objective barriers for a portable DAC and headphone amplifier, producing desktop class noise and distortion. Hard to imagine this little device doing that but it clearly is, and doing it at such a reasonable cost! It really redefines the category. Usability is excellent with hard button volume controls. Really, don't know what else to say other than be mindful of power consumption which shoots up to 1.7 watts when playing loud.
If you are short of space, the DS2 can easily play the role of a desktop DAC.
It is my pleasure to recommend the Fosi Audio DS2 portable DAC and headphone amplifier.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
