Review and Measurements of E1DA 9038S BAL Portable DAC & Amp

[WoodyLuvr]

Since it doesn't require OTG cables how well does the E1DA #9038S play with usb hubs? USB-C hub best? Powered/Unpowered? Interested to hear people's experiences.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Besides the volume knob, display, and additional inputs is everyone still finding that some of these dongle dac/hpa units are on par to desktop units sound wise?

 

[IVX]

WoodyLuvr, depends on a particular product. Amirm got a lot of measurements for decent stuff and for the junk as well, regardless of the price tag. I hope 9038S outperforms many of them in terms of THD at 32/16ohm loaded and Zout. I have noticed that DACs manufacturers like to show very good performance for no-load condition, and just so-so if the DAC is loaded with headphones, probably because users don't understand the difference loaded either not loaded condition is matter for real life.

 

[IVX]

9038SG3 Dynamic Range at 32/384 123db(A), hence S/N the same -123db(A).

 

[IVX]

The AP analyzer is quite a sophisticated machine, for example, I can get the result of THD without a noise included just to see the distortions itself. Why THD and THD+N may look so different in the case of 9038SG3? As I mentioned, SNR is -123db(A) hence, -120db unweighted. Harmonics of the distortions also has the same or a bit lower level, so the THD+N looks up to 2x times(2^.5 if noise and harmonics are equal) worse vs THD(or let's call it THD-N). I don't think if such distortion level makes difference but I absolutely don't believe if such a noise level does, so, it's a good idea to take a look for distortions separately. The blue plot is 9038SG3 no load condition, red one 32ohm. As you can see, up to -2.5dbfs(200mW) THD almost the same. The next plot(magenta) is loopback AP2522 for the reference i.e. how big residual THD of that analyzer.

 

[uga]

@IVX impressive, as always

How long are you still far from releasing this? The "dongle market" is rushing very fast now !

 

[IVX]

A couple days, I think.

 

[Veri]

A couple days, I think.

woop woop~

 

[uga]

A couple days, I think.

Now THAT's good news! Keep us posted !

 

[tential]

@IVX impressive, as always

How long are you still far from releasing this? The "dongle market" is rushing very fast now !

What competition does he have that he needs to rush? I thought this was the best dongle on the market? No other reviews here are as good.

Isn't this basically like a nx4 dsd(no offense if this is a bad comparison ivx. This is my noob idiocy thinking) but balanced, and in dongle form?

 

[uga]

What competition does he have that he needs to rush? I thought this was the best dongle on the market? No other reviews here are as good.

Isn't this basically like a nx4 dsd(no offense if this is a bad comparison ivx. This is my noob idiocy thinking) but balanced, and in dongle form?

In the elitistic olympus of the "Perfect Battery-less Dongle/DAC Hyppogryphs", 9038 has no technical competition, I mean it.

Then there is the plebeius world.
There's a lot of money there to be taken, and a lot of competition.

On that segment ALC-based or even better ESS-based single-ended dongles capable of 32/384, DSD256, 30+30W/32Ohm (way enough for most IEMs and "some" cans), "decent" SNR and quite simply decent/good SQ and technicalities are just now dropping to 15$ public price (down from $35-45-ish 1 month ago). Once these will spread enough, and it will take no more than 15/20 days, they will systematically cut the "assumed fair price" for the category down. 9038 will stay in another league technically, sure. But right now it is "twice as expensive as a decent but lower level one". Tomorrow it risks to be "4 or 5 times more expensive". In terms of potential buyer's feeling it's a totally different situation.

 

[sawe]

@IVX May I ask what 9038S has inside?

Can I reprogram it to give even more power?

Or change the gain by changing some component?

It seems that Tin Hifi P1 takes all the power it can get.

 

[staticV3]

The 9038S G3 uses a CT7601 USB bridge, an ES9038Q2M DAC, and AD8397 OP-Amps.
I'm pretty sure it cannot be programmed to put out even more power.

 

[staticV3]

The 9038S G3 is now available on AliExpress!

I will refrain from listing all the improvements so as to not sound like a salesman, but if you're interested, then you can read more on the website or on the Discord server.

 

[Jimbob54]

The 9038S G3 is now available on AliExpress!

I will refrain from listing all the improvements so as to not sound like a salesman, but if you're interested, then you can read more on the website or on the Discord server.

Bought!

 

[staticV3]

Bought!

that was fast!

 

[Jimbob54]

that was fast!

Itchy trigger finger. Support the small guys doing good work. Ivan, Geshelli etc.

 

[EddieFreak]

I tried to buy this on AliExpress but they wanted me to confirm my credit card by sending a picture of my driver's and of my credit card. I am definitely not doing that. Is there another option to purchase?

 

[Veri]

I tried to buy this on AliExpress but they wanted me to confirm my credit card by sending a picture of my driver's and of my credit card. I am definitely not doing that. Is there another option to purchase?

I think via @IVX direct over PayPal. or over at LinSoul.

 

[uga]

I tried to buy this on AliExpress but they wanted me to confirm my credit card by sending a picture of my driver's and of my credit card. I am definitely not doing that. Is there another option to purchase?

First time I hear this. I quite regularly buy from AE, using either paypal (when supported) or credit card (either standard or prepaid) and no one ever asked me for id verification (which ofc I would have never provided - the credit card company and its online expense authorisation system are there for a purpose!... )