Fosi Audio DS2 Portable DAC & Amp Review

[skcheng]

You could always spend your money in better ways. And you could also try not having "fun" at the expense of others.

Sorry about my poor attempt at humor. Zero intent to offend. And we all spend our money as we see fit. YMMV.

 

[Somafunk]

If that's a joke then I don't share your sense of humour or understand the point of it.

Perhaps you don’t find it funny but I had a wee smirk at the idea of $13k iem’s

 

[Emlin]

Perhaps you don’t find it funny but I had a wee smirk at the idea of $13k iem’s

I find it tragic.

 

[Somafunk]

I find it tragic.

True, the idea of spending $13k on an iem with perhaps $500 at best of drivers inside is kinda tragic, a $10k increase in price over the model it’s based on purely for the ornate design.

 

[jasonhanjk]

Thank you for that info Jason (still waiting on mine).

If I understand correctly, does this mean it will provide a properly balanced common noise rejection output for input into something like a miniDSP Flex balanced (with the right cable)?

As the review mentioned, it's a balance output. A good dac for 32 ohm load, acceptable for 16 ohm and unknown for 12 ohm.

There are many cables out there, read the review (like below) to find the correct one.
Amazon keyword: CESS-257 Black 4.4mm to Dual XLR Male Balanced Audio Headphone Adapter Cable

 

[Psinet]

As the review mentioned, it's a balance output. A good dac for 32 ohm load, acceptable for 16 ohm and unknown for 12 ohm.

There are many cables out there, read the review (like below) to find the correct one.
Amazon keyword: CESS-257 Black 4.4mm to Dual XLR Male Balanced Audio Headphone Adapter Cable

Thanks Jason. I believe I have the right cable for the job to go from the Fosi DS2 to the miniDSP Flex balanced as Amir reviewed here:

Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

This is a review and detailed measurement of the Minidsp Flex audio signal processor. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $475 for unbalanced and $550 for balanced that I tested. Flex borrows the interface from SHD and puts it in a compact package. Seeing how I really liked that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I just hope the gain levels/impedance/balanced all works out ok.

 

[jasonhanjk]

16 Ohm: 1.2 V, +3.9 dBu, 105 dB THD+N, 92 mW

Hi. At 1Vrms output, 300 ohm load I'm seeing thd+n of -106dB. Once i change the load to 16 ohm, it increases about 6dB.

Are you seeing the same thing on your side?

 

[amanieux]

measures well for $55, do you plan to measure fiio ka17 any time soon ?

 

[AndiGee]

Just bought one of these but not having much joy with it, at least with my Windows 11 Lenovo laptop. It's extremely susceptible to dropouts and pops every time the computer does anything, to the point that it's virtually unusable. The computer works fine with my ancient Arcam rPAC so there's obviously some compatibility issue going on here with the DS2. Anyone having the same issue or have any suggestions to rectify? The problem persists regardless of which app is playing music or whether it's in exclusive mode.

Thanks

Alex

Same here. Maybe its the mute process mentioned here in this thread. My dropouts are similar to the described delay when starting a new track.

Sadly there is no help from Fosi on this issue. Its basically useless on my Windows 11 laptops - the main usage scenario I bought it for. On my Windows 10 PCs it works, also no such problems on OSX, iOS and Android.

Since I bought it directly from Fosi, they wrote me a follow up mail to rate the DS2 on their site. Which I did - mentioning the Windows 11 issue. Well, my post there was deleted. Most certainly not because of offensive language.

 

[Hammeredklavier]

Same here. Maybe its the mute process mentioned here in this thread. My dropouts are similar to the described delay when starting a new track.

Sadly there is no help from Fosi on this issue. Its basically useless on my Windows 11 laptops - the main usage scenario I bought it for. On my Windows 10 PCs it works, also no such problems on OSX, iOS and Android.

Since I bought it directly from Fosi, they wrote me a follow up mail to rate the DS2 on their site. Which I did - mentioning the Windows 11 issue. Well, my post there was deleted. Most certainly not because of offensive language.

I've had to go back to my old Arcam rPAC. I suppose when you sell a product like that so cheaply, something has to give. In this case, the fly in the ointment is it doesn't work with the latest version of Windows!

I'll probably give it away and get a Neutron HiFi DAC V1 or something.

 

[Labjr]

FLAC and PCM files play fine on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers, with both Foobar2000 and JRiver. However, with anything DSD, DSF, DSDIFF etc., it will briefly cut out every 30-60 seconds or so. If DSD files are first transcoded to PCM, it's fine. I've never had this problem with my other DAC/Headphone amps.

 

[Hammeredklavier]

FLAC and PCM files play fine on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers, with both Foobar2000 and JRiver. However, with anything DSD, DSF, DSDIFF etc., it will briefly cut out every 30-60 seconds or so. If DSD files are first transcoded to PCM, it's fine. I've never had this problem with my other DAC/Headphone amps.

File format makes no difference on my ThinkPad P1.

It's a terrible shame but this DAC seems to have serious issues. I wonder if they tried to save money on testing or software development? It obviously went to market without anyone making sure it worked on Windows 11!

 

[roladyzator]

I'm not sure if this is a Windows 11 issue.
I'm getting the dropouts on my work laptop Thinkpad L14 Gen2, but no dropouts on my personal Thinkpad T460S.
They are both running Windows 10.

LatencyMon shows no big latencies on the T460S, but I lack the admin access in the L14 to check there.
Possibly, a driver there is causing latency spikes.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was the Cynet security suite driver.

Perhaps the USB receiver's hardware buffer is too small in the DS2.
I recall having a similar issue with my Shanling M0 in USB DAC mode.
It did drop out every now and then, but the company released a firmware update, which stated that they "increased USB audio buffer length for more stability".
After that, no issues during playback, though the interruptions were still heard in the basic audio test in the Windows Sound control panel. But never outside of that.

 

[Hammeredklavier]

It's a dud isn't it. I'd send it back - I bought it from Amazon - but I think I threw the box away!

 

[roladyzator]

I though of returning mine, but once I confirmed it worked OK with my older laptop and my phone, I decided to keep it.

It's just difficult to recommend this, even given the price, unless you know someone who has it and can lend it to you so you can test for the dropouts.
What Amir's dashboard shows is amazing, but not everyone has the same experience.

I wonder if Fiio KA13 is any better (connection-stability-wise) - similar power specs (which DS2 doesn't deliver power-wise, though what's actually delivered is still pretty good), ability to switch to USB Audio Class 1 (so it can be used with a PS5).
Or the KA11, if you just need 2V from unbalanced output, a bit less expensive than Fosi but lacks volume buttons.
Too bad I can't find any proper review of those.

 

[Hammeredklavier]

I though of returning mine, but once I confirmed it worked OK with my older laptop and my phone, I decided to keep it.

It's just difficult to recommend this, even given the price, unless you know someone who has it and can lend it to you so you can test for the dropouts.
What Amir's dashboard shows is amazing, but not everyone has the same experience.

I wonder if Fiio KA13 is any better (connection-stability-wise) - similar power specs (which DS2 doesn't deliver power-wise, though what's actually delivered is still pretty good), ability to switch to USB Audio Class 1 (so it can be used with a PS5).
Or the KA11, if you just need 2V from unbalanced output, a bit less expensive than Fosi but lacks volume buttons.
Too bad I can't find any proper review of those.

I just don't understand how these companies blunder like this. These problems aren't hard to find, they obviously do very little testing. To be fair, this (expensive, high-end) Lenovo laptop I'm using has some weird flaws that even a relatively small amount of testing would have revealed. It's got a super high resolution display, obviously a state-of-the-art panel, ruined by a clearly visible touch screen grid. Obviously it went into production without once being tested by a photographer (the kind of buyer who'd likely want a computer like this!).

I don't know how a DAC like this finds its way onto Amazon when it's got readily discoverable flaws that'll render it pretty much useless for vast swathes of buyers!

 

[Berwhale]

My DS2 is working fine with PlexAmp Headless (running on Raspberry Pi OS), although it has been a bit of a fiddle to get the DS2 set reliably as the default sound card in Linux.

This is now my bedside setup (it's a 4GB Pi4 in a Flirc case with the DS2 stuck to the top with polyester tape)

 

[Labjr]

I wish someone from Fosi Audio would comment here? They posted comments earlier in the thread so they must be aware of technical issues. I emailed them too but have heard nothing.

 

[Tommy-Geenexus]

I though of returning mine, but once I confirmed it worked OK with my older laptop and my phone, I decided to keep it.

It's just difficult to recommend this, even given the price, unless you know someone who has it and can lend it to you so you can test for the dropouts.
What Amir's dashboard shows is amazing, but not everyone has the same experience.

I wonder if Fiio KA13 is any better (connection-stability-wise) - similar power specs (which DS2 doesn't deliver power-wise, though what's actually delivered is still pretty good), ability to switch to USB Audio Class 1 (so it can be used with a PS5).
Or the KA11, if you just need 2V from unbalanced output, a bit less expensive than Fosi but lacks volume buttons.
Too bad I can't find any proper review of those.

KA15 is the only FiiO dongle i'd consider right now, its marginally more expensive but a much better package overall.
Edit: (I own KA5/13/15/17)

 

[roladyzator]

KA15 is the only FiiO dongle i'd consider right now, its marginally more expensive but a much better package overall.
Edit: (I own KA5/13/15/17)

I wasn't aware of this one, looks interesting and has high power output, on-board PEQ and UAC1 support, which nobody else seems to be doing. Nice!