Fosi DS3 Portable DAC & HP Amp

[Blimple]

Hey Amirm, have you measured 20..20k THD? Show both outputs PLS

 

[RedCometZero]

Would love some insight into the balanced THD glitch. Strongly considering this.

 

[amirm]

Am I the only one surprised that the Fosi DS3 received a golfing Panther despite the rather absurd amount of distortion on the balanced output?

You don't have to use balanced output. In unbalanced mode, it produces this:

Has that great functionality as well. The combination is well above average for this category.

On balanced mode, the issue seems to be high impedance loads. In low impedance, it performed well subjectively.

 

[amirm]

Would love some insight into the balanced THD glitch. Strongly considering this.

As I just responded, it seems to be an issue with high impedance loads/headphones. So if you have a planar like I do, you won't hit.

Otherwise, I have not seen this impairment before so don't have any insight into it.

 

[martin900]

No one should be recommended a broken design if that graph is correct.

 

[Nabooh]

You don't have to use balanced output. In unbalanced mode, it produces this:

Has that great functionality as well. The combination is well above average for this category.

On balanced mode, the issue seems to be high impedance loads. In low impedance, it performed well subjectively.

Even though I agree on the substance, in this case... Fosi simply shouldn't have included a balanced output. While very few people will be affected by this issue — since rare are the headphones demanding so much power that they absolutely require a balanced output to reach their full potential. in practice, it remains a major flaw of the product. It's there even if it takes a specific combination of factors to manifest, and it clearly contradicts the manufacturer's specs advertised on their website.

By that logic, the review of the Focal Clear, which had a rattling/crackling issue caused by driver over-excursion at very high volumes, could have been brushed off with a simple "just don't turn the volume up too high and it'll be fine." Granted, the Clear and the Fosi DS3 aren't in the same price bracket, but I prefer to base my judgment on pure performance rather than value for money; one doesn't excuse the other.

At the end of the day, that’s just my personal take and opinion, and I totally understand other people's perspectives as well. From a strictly personal standpoint, if I didn't already own a very good DAC/Amp with PEQ, this Fosi DS3 would have definitely caught my eye despite its flaw on the balanced output, given its price tag. But I'll admit that objectively speaking, I find it hard to excuse this kind of defect.

I want this product to succeed as well, and I hope Fosi will be able to correct it!

 

[cubanmetalguy]

Would like to know why someone would rate this thing "poor".

 

[Endibol]

Would like to know why someone would rate this thing "poor".

Don’t worry about it. There are always people with a troubled mind doing this. The same people vote “Excellent” when the device was proven to be rubbish by Amir.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Am I the only one surprised that the Fosi DS3 received a golfing Panther despite the rather absurd amount of distortion on the balanced output?

I hope not.

Don’t worry about it. There are always people with a troubled mind doing this. The same people vote “Excellent” when the device was proven to be rubbish by Amir.

Would like to know why someone would rate this thing "poor".

Maybe you should have an extended look at the review and discover that the DUT has serious issues ? Having excellent unbalanced performance is no excuse for some broken balanced output (whatever the price and features, these are not measured). Therefore, either the specs from Fosi are wrong, or this particular unit is flawed. Knowing the later would be helpful for Fosi to fix it...

You don't have to use balanced output

Please.

Otherwise, I have not seen this impairment before so don't have any insight into it.

Which is indeed what your measurements are for : showing issues (then that's the manufacturer's job to investigate). I don't see anything good just ignoring them.

Needless to say, I'm sorry but I don't get you on this one @amirm. Or at least could we have the SINAD for balanced 4Vrms to get the full picture ? Thanks.

 

[Toin]

You don't have to use balanced output. In unbalanced mode, it produces this:

Has that great functionality as well. The combination is well above average for this category.

On balanced mode, the issue seems to be high impedance loads. In low impedance, it performed well subjectively.

Hi, long time lurker, this is my first post.
Thanks for the great job over the years but, should I understand that from now on « performing well subjectively » is more important that objectively for getting a golfing pink panther?!

 

[Niconoclaste]

No worries guys, it must be a faulty unit. Amir might expect to receive a new one for another session of measurements and send this one back to Fosi for an inspection.

 

[Nabooh]

No worries guys, it must be a faulty unit. Amir might expect to receive a new one for another session of measurements and send this one back to Fosi for an inspection.

Thanks for the update, I really hope it was a defective unit.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

As I just responded, it seems to be an issue with high impedance loads/headphones. So if you have a planar like I do, you won't hit.

Otherwise, I have not seen this impairment before so don't have any insight into it.

I think this product is made to be used OTG with IEMs more so than anything else. So if the IEM isn't presenting a low impedance load, it should be just fine to run this Dongle DAC with them even in balanced mode. At $99, it's a great price, especially with the rich feature set.

Thank you for the nice review, Amir.

 

[amirm]

No one should be recommended a broken design if that graph is correct.

It is not broken. It has increased distortion with high impedance with balanced output. There is a ton of other functionality that is working superbly.

 

[tccalvin]

I think the unit is defective:

EDIT: or maybe the distortion has something to do with volume settings, I don't really know.

 

[amirm]

Hi, long time lurker, this is my first post.
Thanks for the great job over the years but, should I understand that from now on « performing well subjectively » is more important that objectively for getting a golfing pink panther?!

The recommend and panther ratings are mine and subjective. You can disagree in the poll.

 

[Yevhen]

The recommend and panther ratings are mine and subjective. You can disagree in the poll.

I disagreed in the poll. But it feels like the majority is simply following the panther rating when casting their vote.

Ok, the single-ended is very good, and we don't have to use the balanced output. But for me, a feature that is present but performs poorly should count against the product rather than simply be ignored when rating it. If the balanced output is kind of dysfunctional for audiophile use, then why include it at all in such a great piece of engineering? The enclosure could have been made smaller, the price could have been lower, etc.

My recent experience: I bought a Topping G5 based on its excellent measurements, panther rating and high voting score. G5 worked well as a desktop DAC, but was almost unusable as a portable device. So, I ended up selling it as used for 50% of the price. BTW, I'm not blaming Amir or the community here. The issue with G5 was known and well documented. I was just too lazy to check outside of ASR.

 

[Georgrig]

Thank Amir for the great, detailed review

An exclusive 15% promo code is ready for members: ASRDS3 (applicable to fosiaudio.com)

What happened to the "Desperate Dealers Forum"?

No, thanks, pal. Go fix the bugs first.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Sadly quite a few people still think that the panthers somehow represent the objective performance of the product.

 

[Jazigo]

Received mine yesterday. Superhappy with it, but for now, hangoutaudio can not support the 32 bands peq. It will only do 10. Probably a tiny software update and it will work.

I went from a Moondrop FreeDSP Mini to this one and the battery differences are huge! The FreeDSP drew a little extra power, but this one is super power hungry. I suspect I can last 5-6 hours on a full mobile battery with this one connected just playing music and nothing else.