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Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII Portable DAC & Amp Review

Rate this portable DAC & HP Amp:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 125 77.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 31 19.1%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 4 2.5%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 2 1.2%

  • Total voters
    162

amirm

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This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII portable battery operated DAC and headphone amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $239/$269 depending on op-amp chosen. I believe I have the latter with AD8620 based on measurements.
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable battery review.jpg

The unit sports a ton of connectivity for the class:
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable battery Coax Toslink Ster...jpg

You can select whether it charges from USB or runs from battery. I don't think it has an ADC so not sure what the 3.5mm analog input does (just mix to headphone?).

Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII Measurements
I set the output to high gain in order to achieve 2 volt output:
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable Measurement.png

As you see, my measurements exceed the specs yet, overall performance doesn't even reach 16 bit level. Distortion is not bad at < =100 dB but noise is an issue, at least with high gain:
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable DNR Measurement.png

The low gain runs at 0 dB/no gain so is helped a lot to get competitive performance. High gain though is very much lacking.

Frequency response is good:
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable Frequency Response Measur...png


Multitone is not:
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable Multitone Measurement.png


I was surprised to see so little power output, barely exceeding lower end dongles:
Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable Power 300 ohm Measurement.png


Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII DAC ADC and headphone amplifier portable Power 32 ohm Measurement.png


Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII Listening Tests
I figured the unit would struggle with Dan Clark E3 and struggle it did. You could hardly hear anything at low gain. With high gain, you got modest levels before distortion set in.

With higher impedance Sennheiser HD-650, something just didn't sound right to me. I cranked it up a bit more and the unit start to stutter. Only a power cycle restored smooth playback.

Overall, very disappointing subjective performance.

Conclusions
I was excited to test the UHA-6S.MKII given the battery supply and extensive connectivity plus nice package/controls. Sadly, neither subjective or objective performance is there. There is just too little output power/voltage (latter needed for high impedance headphones). I expect to see five times more power than what it produces.

Needless to say I can't recommend the Leckerton Audio UHA-6S.MKII.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 
Seems pretty bulky for a portable unit.. with chunky switches to boot.

On a side note, when did you switch from the Stealth to the E3?
 
There is so much cutting edge stuff out there now, a lot of it at reasonable prices also. Not sure why you would venture into the market with something so half-cocked and sketchy. Maybe the cost to produce it is cheap enough, and if you can sell 1,000 units to people who don't know better you can still make a profit? I guess how would the end user know prior to an ASR review anyway? I think just stick to the proven winners and not buy something untested is your best bet.
 
Let me preface this with; I'm not a headphone guy. I have a couple of decent IEMs that I use on occasion and that's it. I prefer the acoustic illusion of envelopment that speakers deliver over the "in head" headphone experience. It's hard to see where a product like this fits in with devices like phones and DAPs that have almost everything a headphone user needs for simple listening tasks. Is one supposed to have a phone or DAP in one pocket and this in another? Anyway, nice review @amirm.
 
The idea of this class of device is that it won't pull any power from the source device because it has a battery. You could listen for hours then without worrying about having a dead battery when your flight lands for example.
 
The idea of this class of device is that it won't pull any power from the source device because it has a battery. You could listen for hours then without worrying about having a dead battery when your flight lands for example.

I can see this as a rationale for a device like this. But . . . from a Marie Kondo standpoint; wouldn't an external battery pack for your phone reduce the in hand clutter?
 
Any details why?
Initially it was the large cups that were less hot and more comfortable to wear. Then I got used to them and when I went back to Stealth, it didn't sound as nice. So I have stayed with even though it is not nearly as nice looking as Stealth.
 
I can see this as a rationale for a device like this. But . . . from a Marie Kondo standpoint; wouldn't an external battery pack for your phone reduce the in hand clutter?
Plus there are so many chances to charge phones these days. It will be really niche uses where you cannot just charge the phone more often.
 
Nice review Amir, thank you. Love the new panther.

I've got dongles (Hidizs S9 Pro+ aka Martha, and the Moondrop DSP cable) which exceed this thing for both output and distortion plus noise performance. Seems they got a deal on surplus miniDSP 2x4 HD casing as well. Pity they didn't also get a deal on what miniDSP put inside the case. Shouldn't even be priced at $26.90 let alone $269.00.
 
that does not look like $239 worth of gear

and micro usb? in the year 2024?

looks more like Temu $23.90 and even that is questionable
 
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