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Neutron HiFi DAC V1 Review

Rate this portable DAC & HP Amp:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 10 5.7%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 67 38.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 98 56.0%

  • Total voters
    175
not parametric EQ.... which the others listed have...
The original post said:
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No mention of Parametric.
 
When is the need for onboard EQ on a DAC ? I wonder
A few use cases: iPhones, streaming app with no EQ (or no good one), when you want to leave a dongle attached to your headphones or IEM to not have to mess with presets.

I also think it’s too expensive compared to
A Qudelix 5K. But it’s a neat dongle! :cool:
 
A few use cases: iPhones, streaming app with no EQ (or no good one), when you want to leave a dongle attached to your headphones or IEM to not have to mess with presets.

I also think it’s too expensive compared to
A Qudelix 5K. But it’s a neat dongle! :cool:
I also think the price might be a barrier, especially if it's *only* used with portable devices. OTOH you do get real quality, and it's a bargain compared with things like the AQ Dragonfly.
 
A few use cases: iPhones, streaming app with no EQ (or no good one), when you want to leave a dongle attached to your headphones or IEM to not have to mess with presets.
There are EQs for iphones. UAPP does Tidal and Qubuz.
Not to mess with presets? how do you set it in the first place?
Just as easily dial one in your player, and forget about it.
I am not just disagreeing with you, I am saying it is a very narrow Need!
I also think it’s too expensive compared to
A Qudelix 5K. But it’s a neat dongle! :cool:
I agree, however, technically, the V1 has better measurements on distortion levels, but much less power.
An E1DA balanced or the Tanchjim at just over half the price, including a capable software player, would be even superior.
 
And more PEQ bands.
Nope:
 
Nope:
Is that per channel?
 
System wide?
I wouldn't know.
Not an iphone guy, but I know they exist.
And more PEQ bands.
I have multiple headphone profiles, setup on my phone with Neutron media player, that I can dial in with a couple of taps. They use no more than 4 bands each!
But I do get it that EQ has become more of a toy, a must-have, for headphone users, than an actual tool.
 
??? The 5K, from a couple of FW revisions ago does offer 20x PEQ, or 2x10, or 10+10L+10R, or GEQ, or 10GEQ +10xPEQ…
Not wanting to be pedantic, but that's not 20 PEQ bands per channel.
 
Nope:
I don't think the Neutron has BlueTooth. That might be as big a deal as anything else for most users.
 
I don't think the Neutron has BlueTooth. That might be as big a deal as anything else for most users.
It needs USB power and a player. BT is really not required.
Now if it had onboard power, then BT would have been really nice, even a must. Perhaps they could make an addon device.
 
It needs USB power and a player. BT is really not required.
Now if it had onboard power, then BT would have been really nice, even a must. Perhaps they could make an addon device.
I'm saying that the Qudelix has BT, which IMO is a big plus over the Neutron as you don't need a cable source-to-DAC. The Qudelix also has a claimed 6-20 hours of battery time, another plus.
 
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I have multiple headphone profiles, setup on my phone with Neutron media player, that I can dial in with a couple of taps.
I went another direction: several Qudelix 5K & T71 “attached” to headphones, and a bunch of FreeDSP cables or equivalent “attached” to IEMs. After setting up an EQ that works for me… I just swap USB-C enabled HP & IEM between my iPhone, Laptop, Work Laptop (no EQ app allowed…), and, if I wanted, Raspi, PlayStation, etc. No need for any tap in any app after the initial PEQ setting.
The key for me was the availability of good enough DSP-enabled dongle/cable at a reasonable price…

I am saying it is a very narrow Need!
Maybe… But then why Neutron‘s only DAC/Amp device is precisely built around a HW DSP solution?
 
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