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High measuring dongle DAC?

Silgalias

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Heya Folks,
I have now tried a selection of dongle DAC's.
Ifi Hip DAC, Great power but constant hissing even on low sensitivity.
EarMen Eagle, Plenty of power but some distortion at higher output levels.
HiBy FC3, Limited power though DAC seems clear.
Non quite live up to expectations, or hype.
I have been looking at others like the Dragonfly Red or Cobalt that according to reviewers are SO much better.
Yet when I look at the reviews on this website they measure terribly.
Is there a decent measuring dongle DAC out there?
I am particularly looking for a dongle DAC for portability.
Funny thing about the EarMen Eagle. I noticed it glowed purple when I was listening to MQA on Tidal.... Yes I know please don't start... And the Eagle isn't ment to do MQA, as is the more expensive Sparrow. So I contacted EarMen and asked why this was and got back an email saying congratulations I was a lucky winner as the first 500 had the Pro chip from the EarMen Sparrow and I had one of them.
Still not sure if I'm having my chain yanked! How can I test this?
Thanks.
 

AdamG

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Silgalias

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Thanks.
The Hidizs S9 Pro seems to be the best of the bunch overall and at a reasonable price when compared to the likes of the Dragonflys and Mojos. I might well give it a go.
 

mrbungle

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The new Topping NX7 might be worth a look too unless it is too big for your use case. I have the S9Pro, originally planned for mobile use, but drained phone battery too quickly. Now use it as DAC for my iPad and quite happy with the Qudelix 5K for the iPhone.
 

brandall10

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Thanks.
The Hidizs S9 Pro seems to be the best of the bunch overall and at a reasonable price when compared to the likes of the Dragonflys and Mojos. I might well give it a go.
The S9 really is most likely it if you want to optimize for portability, power, and measurements. The s8 measures somewhat better if you don't need as much power (which also improves battery drain, so if you *just* need it for a DAC or to drive IEMs or whatnot).

The one saving grace of the Mojo is it is rather a powerful and compact single-ended solution at 400 mw per channel, measures decently enough. It's unfortunate that it has that warm tilt filter though.
 

Matthewhoult

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Silgalis

I’m currently using the Hidizs S9 Pro this sounds very good it also has two outputs one on a 3.5mm stereo jack which outputs 2.1 volts the other connector is a 2mm stereo balanced jack providing 4.2volts output so a nice strong line level . I’m currently trying this is my main audio rig I’ve plugged it into the USB out on my Aurender W20 streamer and using the balanced output I purchased a short 2mm stereo jack to stereo XLR cable in OCC silver from China £30 I’ve plugged this into my Gryphon Mirage preamp this is driving a Gryphon stereo colosseum power amp which in turn are driving a pair of Rockport Ankka speakers it sounds bloody amazing It always makes me smile when I hook up a really cheap (£75) DAC to my main rig and get great sound I would love to showcase this at a high end audio show to prove how accurate some of these cheap dongle DACs are simply amazing
 

M.a.e

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Thx onyx performs reasonably well. If you can snag it on sale ($150) - it might suit your needs

 
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Silgalias

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I very nearly bought both the Onyx and the S9 Pro, both were very high on my list. I have heard nothing but good things about the S9 Pro, but I use Tidal as a streaming service so its not having MQA was an issue. I noted the price drop on the Onyx, it makes that a real bargain.
I have since tried a few more dongles, my son`s Dragonfly Red has huge amplification but I found it to be too warm a sound signature, almost muddy.
I then got hold of a Questyle M12. This thing is tiny, smaller even than the FC3. Whilst this didn`t have a huge amount of amplification for big cans it had more than enough for all my IEM`s.
I did not like it`s auto impedance detection for the gain as this meant that with my Sundara`s it did not switch up to high gain and therefore had no where near enough power to drive them properly.
Musically it was one of the best sounding I have tried. A neutral sound signature, nothing stands forward but all is well controlled.
I did however come across a problem with the firmware. With my BQEYZ Spring 2`s and Tri I3`s it sounded really great getting more out of those IEM`s than ever before. But when I tried them with my Mangird Tea`s, which are a 1DD/6BA hybrid and my favourite IEM`s, it presented a constant clicking. It only happened with Xiaomi`s MIUI and my Tea`s. On my sons Motorola with my Tea`s no problems. I got on to Questyle and they fixed the problem by rolling the device back to an older firmware and have promised that a new firmware is due out in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime they asked if I wanted to review their new M15 Dongle DAC.
It arrived just the other day and I will do a full review of it though it will have to be my subjective opinion as I don`t have any testing gear.
First impressions though are very positive. By far the best dongle I have ever used, it has a manual gain switch this time and on high gain drives my Sundara`s with no problems at all too loud to listen to at max volume on my phone. It has non of the firmware problems of the M12 it makes my Tea`s really shine especially with the 4.4mm balanced output. I popped them on in bed the other night for a quick listen I got totally lost in the music and the next thing I knew it was 5am.
 

Ja1man

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Guys Moondrop Dawn is the best right now. Caveat. You cant play it at full volume. 115+ db sinad L7 audio lab
 

Jimbob54

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Guys Moondrop Dawn is the best right now. Caveat. You cant play it at full volume. 115+ db sinad L7 audio lab
Not exactly the most versatile though being only balanced.
 

staticV3

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Also not sure where it is for sale.
Google is your best friend.
The first results page for "Moondrop Dawn" has five different shops for you to choose from:
Screenshot_20220806-090458.jpg
 

Jimster480

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Google is your best friend.
The first results page for "Moondrop Dawn" has five different shops for you to choose from:
That seems to be a super crazy price because of having dual DAC chips which are actually somewhat expensive chips. They must have gotten a good deal on a batch of them to offer this price.
I wonder if I should buy it and send it to @amirm for testing.
 

Jimbob54

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That seems to be a super crazy price because of having dual DAC chips which are actually somewhat expensive chips. They must have gotten a good deal on a batch of them to offer this price.
I wonder if I should buy it and send it to @amirm for testing.
You could, but I would be surprised if it gives significantly different results from those of Prof Wolf at L7Audiolab linked above. I also expect the balanced out to be v similar to the Moondrop Moonriver 2 which has both 4.4 and 3.5mm outs (and of course is more expensive)
 

Jimster480

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You could, but I would be surprised if it gives significantly different results from those of Prof Wolf at L7Audiolab linked above. I also expect the balanced out to be v similar to the Moondrop Moonriver 2 which has both 4.4 and 3.5mm outs (and of course is more expensive)
I see, the performance is quite impressive from a dongle. I mean honestly this could be endgame for some people. Especially if you typically listen to mostly sensitive headphones or IEMs.
 

Ja1man

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I only use IEMs. Since for IEM the metric that matters is 50mv performance I was comparing the dawn against the current king, the smsl sh8s (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../smsl-sh-8s-review-headphone-amplifier.22569/)

It sits at 95 at 50mv. Dawn is 93.8. So this is definitely the endgame from a "neutrality" perspective. Budding audiophiles can just buy this and know that their setup is clean for 16-bit audio.
 
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