High measuring dongle DAC?

[staticV3]

@Ja1man The $13 Meizu HiFi has 95.8dB SNR @50mV:

So there's no need to spend any more if you're after the lowest possible noise floor. MoonRiver 2 and L&P W2 are noisier.

 

[Ja1man]

wow. Did not know this. Will order it. ASRs measurements are different https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...zu-hifi-usb-c-headphone-adapter-review.10947/

 

[Ja1man]

@Ja1man The $13 Meizu HiFi has 95.8dB SNR @50mV:
View attachment 222934
So there's no need to spend any more if you're after the lowest possible noise floor. MoonRiver 2 and L&P W2 are noisier.

Hey, I had a question actually. So, a balanced DAC outputs 4v. But an IEM needs only a few milliwatts at most. Shouldn't there be a device that takes the DAC output and steps it down for iems. Literally the opposite of an amplifier?

 

[staticV3]

wow. Did not know this. Will order it.

No longer in production unfortunately, so eBay etc is your best chance.
The last one was sold for 11€:

ASRs measurements are different

Here's why: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...tive-to-the-meizu-hifi-pro.30802/post-1085671

Shouldn't there be a device that takes the DAC output and steps it down for iems.

An attenuation adapter: https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/headphone-attenuation-adapter/

 

[Jimster480]

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.

It's not the current King anymore. The new l30 Mark II has bested it by 5 SINAD.
In order to find out the current King you must look at the image from the most recent amplifier review.

Regardless of such that is incredibly impressive for a dongle.

 

[Rayman30]

I use the Hidiz S9 Pro, its silly good for its size, see Amir’s video, it measures better than almost all other dongle dacs.

 

[VintageFlanker]

see Amir’s video, it measures better than almost all other dongle dacs.

He didn't reviewed the S9 PRO (ES9038Q2M), but the S9 (AK4493).

I did.

 

[Rayman30]

He didn't reviewed the S9 PRO (ES9038Q2M), but the S9 (AK4493).

I did.

Ahh ok, well I stand by my recommendation based off of Hidiz history of producing solid products.

Edit: Seeing your review, seems to be solid, I just wish it had a volume control. Did you run into any volume control issues? I occasionally have to reboot because I lose volume control.

 

[Ja1man]

It has a volume control issue. But I am using USB Audio player pro which allows me to bypass the moondrop software.

 

[MCH]

.

No longer in production unfortunately, so eBay etc is your best chance.
The last one was sold for 11€:
View attachment 222948

Here's why: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...tive-to-the-meizu-hifi-pro.30802/post-1085671

An attenuation adapter: https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/headphone-attenuation-adapter/

Hey @staticV3 seems you know your Meizu.
I own one and i am very happy with it, but same as other people explained in it's review thread, mine also suffers dropouts only under certain conditions (example: when plugged to a raspberry pi zero). There was some people telling it is due to it being a synchronous dac (?). What is your opinion on this?

 

[charleski]

It would be interesting to know which transfer mode these dongles are using. As I showed here the TemptoTec Sonata (Hidzis S8) is isochronous adaptive (rather than the preferred asynchronous mode). It's easy enough for anyone to test this with a PC, just download the Thesycon USB Descriptor Dumper and point it at a plugged-in dongle. Then look at the Endpoint Descriptor bmAttributes field.

 

[brandall10]

Ahh ok, well I stand by my recommendation based off of Hidiz history of producing solid products.

Edit: Seeing your review, seems to be solid, I just wish it had a volume control. Did you run into any volume control issues? I occasionally have to reboot because I lose volume control.

I'd also recommend the Tempotec Sonata HD, which appears to be a rebrand of the S8, with a slightly better performing DAC section but less powerful/less expensive option. I use it to drive my KSE1200s which come with an amp.

 

[Ja1man]

templates sonata hd is its own brand. independent of hidizs. The build and a lot of small things are different. My only issue with it is that it's not significantly better than the headphone jack of my phone. It doesn't do anything "special", take that as you wish.

 

[ZolaIII]

I'd also recommend the Tempotec Sonata HD, which appears to be a rebrand of the S8, with a slightly better performing DAC section but less powerful/less expensive option. I use it to drive my KSE1200s which come with an amp.

TempoTec is OEM, Hidizs is/whose customer for line's of products.

Among best measuring dongles if still not the best is Luxury&Precision W2 but that one is pricy.

 

[Ja1man]

TempoTec is OEM, Hidizs is/whose customer for line's of products.

Among best measuring dongles if still not the best is Luxury&Precision W2 but that one is pricy.

There are better options now with the same chipset. Moondrop Dawn for example.

 

[ZolaIII]

There are better options now with the same chipset. Moondrop Dawn for example.

Do you have mesurument & what's the price? Didn't sean that one.

 

[staticV3]

Do you have mesurument & what's the price? Didn't sean that one.

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/moondrop-dawn/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/dawn-35edition/

Available with 3.5 and 4.4 out. Price is $65/70
Good performance as a DAC/Line out, but the Amp is rather meh.

 

[ZolaIII]

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/moondrop-dawn/
https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/dawn-35edition/

Available with 3.5 and 4.4 out. Price is $65/70
Good performance as a DAC/Line out, but the Amp is rather meh.

Well not a bad price, neads a tap down in the volume from max. Good old CS43131 still dominate the ultra portable space.

 

[Ja1man]

The amp is audibly flawless. It's the best thing I've heard so far. At some point, the difference in measurements doesn't matter right.

 

[Mitre86]

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.

I had a chance to remove the glass cover of my earmen eagle ( as i wanted to reglue it ) and the pcm board has Sparrow written on it so i think it might really be true. It sounds amazing paired with my Shures se535