Fosi Audio DS2 Portable DAC & Amp Review

[oleg87]

A kind of CS "Dieselgate" of the DAC world.

Amps generally have higher distortion driving low impedance loads, and naturally, lower SNR at lower volumes. Not really news.
Amir's 50mV SNR metric shows noise is pretty much as good as it gets among dongles so not sure why the scaremongering.

 

[amirm]

In the world of portable headphones, which is what this device is intended for, an impedance of 600 Ohms is more of a unicorn than a mainstream value. 16-82 Ohms is more of a norm.

Most popular headphone is the Sennheiser HD6XXX which are 300 ohm. That aside, as I explained, DACs are tested at much higher impedance than 600 (100K and 200K). So 600 is a stressful situation, not an easy corner case.

 

[Hatto]

A big thank you to Amir for the review.

The DS2 is one of our products as we make our entry into the high-performance DAC market. The DAC market is filled with many outstanding companies with which everyone is familiar. We will humbly learn from these companies as we continue to grow, and we hope to follow in their footsteps by bringing Fosi Audio’s unique touch to DACs for audiophiles worldwide. In addition to portable DACs, we’ll soon be introducing a desktop DAC as well.

To show our appreciation for the support from ASR members, we’re offering a special discount code for the DS2. You can use this code to get 20% off your DS2 purchase!
ASRDS220

link:
https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-ds2-2024-dac-headphone-amplifier
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHN2QB3
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BJ66KJ2B
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BJ66KJ2B
https://www.ebay.com/itm/296311456320

The code doesn't seem to work on Amazon... And a 10% automatic price increase on all outlets upon review... Good product, not so customer friendly practices.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Yes, it’s so unfair we don’t have peq in a £40 dongle,

Are you aware that there is PEQ in the FiiO JA11 dongle which costs ~$10-15 USD? (Doesn't sound like it).

 

[MC_RME]

Only for Android. And the rest of its tech specs, especially output power, clearly match the price.

 

[jayapple]

The best mobile phone companion, now many apps can automatically identify these external DACs.

It is a pity that the price of smart phones is becoming more and more expensive,
but the ability to process audio has not been greatly improved, or even degraded.

 

[Zwepp]

This is probably an awesome and affordable way to give a device like the Eversolo DMP-A6 with USB audio output a great quality headphone out. Well done Fosi!

 

[TonyJZX]

the JA11 will not drive as hard as this

also the PEQ also works in windows but it runs thru a website... which doesnt seem to work in firefox... or chrome...

but Edge is fine

 

[PlasticDoc]

@amirm Nice review, thanks. This is what ASR is all about.

For the price this Fosi DS2 Portable DAC/Amp is a winner.

 

[Sokel]

How would that work with 27 Ohm,40 year old orthodynamics for desktop use?
Low noise is my only demand,distortion not so much.

(or with LCD-X,but that's rare,they are in another room)

Also,how it would do with 1.5 kOhm?

Thanks Amir!

 

[Jeromeof]

Oh you know, just what is very likely the largest market and use case for headphones by an overwhelming majority. 120 million Playstation 4's, 70 million PS5's, 140 million Switches, 100 million Xbox's, 30+ million Oculus/Meta Quest VR headsets. Just a tiny niche market with no access to source device EQ.

Not to mind probably 1 Billion iPhones !

 

[MC_RME]

How would that work with 27 Ohm,40 year old orthodynamics for desktop use?
Low noise is my only demand,distortion not so much.

(or with LCD-X,but that's rare,they are in another room)

Also,how it would do with 1.5 kOhm?

Thanks Amir!

I will measure it next week with my AP to see how much of that purported THD+N loss quoted in a former post is actually present. I suspect nearly none, based on Amir's measurements. Fosi might use an additional driver to keep the DAC chips more clean at lower impedances...

 

[DSJR]

A big thank you to Amir for the review.

The DS2 is one of our products as we make our entry into the high-performance DAC market. The DAC market is filled with many outstanding companies with which everyone is familiar. We will humbly learn from these companies as we continue to grow, and we hope to follow in their footsteps by bringing Fosi Audio’s unique touch to DACs for audiophiles worldwide. In addition to portable DACs, we’ll soon be introducing a desktop DAC as well.

To show our appreciation for the support from ASR members, we’re offering a special discount code for the DS2. You can use this code to get 20% off your DS2 purchase!
ASRDS220

link:
https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-ds2-2024-dac-headphone-amplifier
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTHN2QB3
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BJ66KJ2B
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BJ66KJ2B
https://www.ebay.com/itm/296311456320

Amazon UK want £69 for this unit and no recognition of the code either. Nothing to do with Fosi but seriously mean it costs so much more here I'll try the German site next, to see if I can get it to apply.

edit - Bought from Fosi using the code. That'll hopefully free up the SU1 for use in the main rig, which'll be interesting use case will be as a hidden line-level dac fed from USB3 from the 'office' PC into a 47k or so load, so hopefully output won't drop as the Apple dongle I tried (US spec), although 'sounding' okay, needed the volume control almost to max to get meaningful playback 'volume' which is not a good thing here

 

[adamd]

Looks pretty solid. Would be good to know the output impedance too.

+1

 

[Koeitje]

That is an insane level of performance for it's form factor and price. I am very impressed.

 

[Zek]

Can this dongle work as a desktop DAC, i.e. can it be connected to a speaker amplifier or active speakers and what would the result be?

 

[Drengur]

Wow! Value + performance is extraordinary. I wish I needed it!

 

[Tio]

Is it safe to connect this from source -> fosi audio DS2 -> fosi V3 stereo?

 

[Mulder]

Apart from output power and some other things, it would be interesting to have a blind test to compare this type of high-performance dongle with, for example, an Apple dongle to see if the difference in sound quality can really be perceived. The disadvantage of these dongles is that they drain the battery too much when used with mobile phones.

 

[Koeitje]

Apart from output power and some other things, it would be interesting to have a blind test to compare this type of high-performance dongle with, for example, an Apple dongle to see if the difference in sound quality can really be perceived. The disadvantage of these dongles is that they drain the battery too much when used with mobile phones.

Sure, but they are perfect for use with a laptop at work.