This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 portable DAC and headphone amplifier with signal processing (e.g. EQ). It was sent to me by the company and costs US $180.
I didn't think it was possible to give a feeling of luxury and style to a dongle like this but Neutron manages to do so. The display is very small but high resolution, allowing you to see the current settings. I wish that it would display the volume rather than sampling rate by default. It is highly configurable though the config utility but I didn't see an option to do so. Speaking of the app, it allows more capabilities than just about any DAC I have seen let alone portable ones. For example, it comes with EQ profile for hundreds of headphones and IEMs (more on this later). Importantly, you have access to parametric EQ so you can correct for headphone deficiencies and listening preference.
I was impressed by the transparency of the signal processing. When you turn it on or off it will stop playing for a few seconds. But after that, changes are made quickly and with no audible glitch at all. This lets you optimize things faster and perform AB tests.
The unit runs a bit warm. Idle consumption was around 0.3 watt but was variable. When driving my headphones, it went up to 0.6 watt and mostly hovered around half a watt.
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 Measurements
Due to nature of these devices, I can't run my full suite of tests. But there is enough to get a good feel of its performance. Let's start with the dashboard:
That is impressive performance for any DAC let alone a portable one:
I turned on the DSP/GEQ but let the frequency response as flat. Performance did not change:
Noise performance is excellent at full volume and nearly so at 50 mv output:
Portable devices tend to suffer in jitter tests but the DAC V1 performs well:
Courtesy of 2 volt output, we have good amount of power for high impedance devices such as 300 ohm:
Likewise at 32 ohm:
Sweeping impedances shows essentially zero output impedance:
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 Listening Tests
I tested the DAC V1 with Sennheiser HD650. It performed excellently with comfortable level at around 60% volume. There was plenty of bass and of course detail and overall fidelity. I then switched to Hifiman HE400i. Similar performance was had, making me want to sit there and listen. Instead, I decided to pull up the frequency response corrections from different sources. Not the fault of DAC V1 but I thought all of them were poor. Not only was tonality wrong, but level of distortion increased due to lack of headroom. This might work better for high impedance headphones where the DAC V1 doesn't clip.
For kicks, I also tried to drive my everyday headphone, the Dan Clark E3. As measurements would predict, I could only get to modest volumes before audible distortion set it. At max volume there was both clicking and distortion. Usable at 50 to 60% volume but really not a good fit for this low impedance and difficult to drive headphone.
Of course, driving Tanchjim One IEM was a walk in the park with superb fidelity and plenty of volume headroom.
As I said in the intro, adjusting DSP settings was instant, inviting one to play and play with settings!
Conclusions
When developer of Neutron audio player told me he was working on a hardware DAC, I just about told him he was out of his mind! Boy did he prove me wrong. His software skills shows in incredibly powerful and useful software abilities of the DAC V1. It renders almost any other DAC as "dumb." What's more, the hardware platform is highly capable, achieving full transparency as far as noise and distortion. The only thing I would wish for is balanced/differential output of 4 volts in a future device. Yes, $180 is a lot for a dongle but for that, you get a device that lets you squeeze the bester performance out of your headphone and IEM. And good looks as well.
I am happy to recommend the Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1. It is a model of innovation and performance in a portable audio product.
-----------
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/
I didn't think it was possible to give a feeling of luxury and style to a dongle like this but Neutron manages to do so. The display is very small but high resolution, allowing you to see the current settings. I wish that it would display the volume rather than sampling rate by default. It is highly configurable though the config utility but I didn't see an option to do so. Speaking of the app, it allows more capabilities than just about any DAC I have seen let alone portable ones. For example, it comes with EQ profile for hundreds of headphones and IEMs (more on this later). Importantly, you have access to parametric EQ so you can correct for headphone deficiencies and listening preference.
I was impressed by the transparency of the signal processing. When you turn it on or off it will stop playing for a few seconds. But after that, changes are made quickly and with no audible glitch at all. This lets you optimize things faster and perform AB tests.
The unit runs a bit warm. Idle consumption was around 0.3 watt but was variable. When driving my headphones, it went up to 0.6 watt and mostly hovered around half a watt.
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 Measurements
Due to nature of these devices, I can't run my full suite of tests. But there is enough to get a good feel of its performance. Let's start with the dashboard:
That is impressive performance for any DAC let alone a portable one:
I turned on the DSP/GEQ but let the frequency response as flat. Performance did not change:
Noise performance is excellent at full volume and nearly so at 50 mv output:
Portable devices tend to suffer in jitter tests but the DAC V1 performs well:
Courtesy of 2 volt output, we have good amount of power for high impedance devices such as 300 ohm:
Likewise at 32 ohm:
Sweeping impedances shows essentially zero output impedance:
Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1 Listening Tests
I tested the DAC V1 with Sennheiser HD650. It performed excellently with comfortable level at around 60% volume. There was plenty of bass and of course detail and overall fidelity. I then switched to Hifiman HE400i. Similar performance was had, making me want to sit there and listen. Instead, I decided to pull up the frequency response corrections from different sources. Not the fault of DAC V1 but I thought all of them were poor. Not only was tonality wrong, but level of distortion increased due to lack of headroom. This might work better for high impedance headphones where the DAC V1 doesn't clip.
For kicks, I also tried to drive my everyday headphone, the Dan Clark E3. As measurements would predict, I could only get to modest volumes before audible distortion set it. At max volume there was both clicking and distortion. Usable at 50 to 60% volume but really not a good fit for this low impedance and difficult to drive headphone.
Of course, driving Tanchjim One IEM was a walk in the park with superb fidelity and plenty of volume headroom.
As I said in the intro, adjusting DSP settings was instant, inviting one to play and play with settings!
Conclusions
When developer of Neutron audio player told me he was working on a hardware DAC, I just about told him he was out of his mind! Boy did he prove me wrong. His software skills shows in incredibly powerful and useful software abilities of the DAC V1. It renders almost any other DAC as "dumb." What's more, the hardware platform is highly capable, achieving full transparency as far as noise and distortion. The only thing I would wish for is balanced/differential output of 4 volts in a future device. Yes, $180 is a lot for a dongle but for that, you get a device that lets you squeeze the bester performance out of your headphone and IEM. And good looks as well.
I am happy to recommend the Neutron HiFi™ DAC V1. It is a model of innovation and performance in a portable audio product.
-----------
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/
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