Review of TRN Black Pearl: Portable USB DAC & Headphone Amp with 10-band PEQ

[staticV3]

I use High/Low shelf PEQ filters often. Does the Trn Black Pearl still only support Peak filters, or can you use Shelf filters too?

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[Ventfull]

Scroll up six posts

Oh Thank you! May I ask if there is a limit to how shelf filters you can use? You can use a total of 10 PEQ filters in general yes?

 

[Ventfull]

Also does anybody know if the Fiio Snowsky Melody supports shelf filters? Thank you for the assistance

 

[zern]

About problems from my previous post
They didn't disappear on their own, but apparently because I switched to UAC1 mode.
In Windows I can't select a sound mode higher than 24/96 anymore (earlier there was option up to 384, I think).
No key combinations when inserting DAC switch it back to UAC2 (PS4 recognizes it every time, so it's still UAC1).
Factory reset did not help.
So what to do now?

 

[symphonyofconstruction]

Feeding an external HP amp, which would be best between this or the Sound Blaster X1? The 1v limit of the TRN doesn't really concern me because even with 0.5v from the EU Apple dongle it reaches (more than) loud enough on mid gain with the volume pot maxed. So it's basically a question of which would be best suited after taking available headphone power out of the equation?

 

[AlexRockSoul]

About problems from my previous post
They didn't disappear on their own, but apparently because I switched to UAC1 mode.
In Windows I can't select a sound mode higher than 24/96 anymore (earlier there was option up to 384, I think).
No key combinations when inserting DAC switch it back to UAC2 (PS4 recognizes it every time, so it's still UAC1).
Factory reset did not help.
So what to do now?

Hello. Try pushing the volume up button, prior to connecting the device to the usb, with headphone cable already inserted. Mantain the volume up pressed and the insert the usb cable. If that doesn't work, try again this time pressing the volume down button prior to connect the usb cable (with the headphone connected). This is how it works on an similar device, fosi DS1.

 

[symphonyofconstruction]

Feeding an external HP amp, which would be best between this or the Sound Blaster X1? The 1v limit of the TRN doesn't really concern me because even with 0.5v from the EU Apple dongle it reaches (more than) loud enough on mid gain with the volume pot maxed. So it's basically a question of which would be best suited after taking available headphone power out of the equation?

After reading the review more carefully and not just skimming it for keywords I realise "Although this dongle's max output is only 1 Vrms," is referring to the HiMax and not the TRN. So I went ahead and ordered one from TRN Official Store on ali, is it likely to come with the latest fw installed?
One thing I'm still a little unclear of - can DRE be defeated by forcing the highest sample rate in windows alone or is the latest firmware also required?

 

[MaxwellsEq]

One thing I'm still a little unclear of - can DRE be defeated by forcing the highest sample rate in windows alone or is the latest firmware also required

DRE corruption when present in a device can only be solved by a firmware upgrade. Sample rate does not fix it. HOWEVER, some have found that NOS mode defeats it. Unfortunately NOS mode is bad at native sample rates. To mitigate NOS mode faults, it's necessary to manually upsample the source content (e.g. in real time) so that NOS artefacts are at extremely high frequencies. So it's a bodge on a bodge.

 

[audioloco]

I just bought a TRN Black Pearl to connect to my PC and an amplifier. It sounds somewhat better than the Asus TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS WIFI motherboard. It can definitely deliver excellent sound, very clear and precise. It has two chips and a hardware equalizer, and for that price...
It came with firmware 0.5, and I had no problems configuring it with the Walk Play website. The only issue is that it makes clicking noises when turning on the PC or when skipping a song. I haven't found a solution yet, but I'll try to find one. Aside from that, there's no background noise. So far, the only solution I've found for the clicking is the Sound Keeper program. It turns out that after one PC restart, it wasn't making the clicking noises without me touching anything, and then later in the same session, they started again. It must be a configuration issue; it's not that annoying, but it would be good to fix it. Ah, and one more thing: when I access the web-based equalization in Walk Play, the volume drops. I imagine it's a protection feature, but it's a bit annoying having to raise it again using the DAC's buttons.

 

[CedarX]

So far, the only solution I've found for the clicking is the Sound Keeper program. It turns out that after one PC restart, it wasn't making the clicking noises without me touching anything, and then later in the same session, they started again. It must be a configuration issue;

Most of these dongles are configured to go into a “sleep mode” to save your phone battery when nothing is playing, causing pops when it resumes. Obviously not optimum when the host is a PC with “unlimited” power… I don’t think the TTGK modules (TRN Black Pearl is one of them) expose settings to turn this feature off through their HID interface.

Another cause of pops is when the next track has a different sampling rate (e.g. 44.1kHz > 192 kHz) which forces a DAC reset, and a “pop”.

Some OEMs pay more attention to this and better leverage the “mute” feature of the DAC chips, other add specialized “de-pop” circuitry.

 

[audioloco]

I think I'm going to return it; it keeps making clicking noises. The power-saving mode is definitely not a good idea if you're going to use it with a PC, and you can't disable it. I've tried everything to get rid of the clicking. I'm going to give it another day of testing. Interestingly, I had no problems with the GraveAudio DA06 CX31993 (5 euros) on my PC, and it sounds great. I bought it to try it out, but thinking about it, the DAC on the Asus TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS WIFI motherboard sounds fantastic.

 

[audioloco]

I finally managed to completely eliminate any popping or crackling.

1 - I located the USB TRN Black Pearl's ID and disabled power saving on the USB port it's connected to.

2 - In the Windows power profile, I disabled USB port sleep mode.

3 - MOST importantly, I left the equalizer set to Walk Play Web's default flat setting. I believe this hardware equalizer is which was causing the popping or crackling problem, perhaps there's a bug or error there. All other options, like gain and filters, work perfectly.

Now i'm using FXSound as my equalizer. I know it's not hardware-based, but it works very well and sounds much better than Walk Play's, and It also adds a touch of warmth to the sound. Plus it's simpler than going to the website and having the volume drop.

With this combination, the TRN Black Pearl is giving me exquisite, high-quality sound when connected to the PC and amplifier. So if it continue works fine and without clicking problems, i'll test it for a few days, i'll definitely keep it as primary Dac for my PC.

Just in case it helps anyone.

 

[ziggurcat]

Does anyone know of any type of carrying case for the Black Pearl to make it less of a PitA walking around with it attached to my phone (phone is an iPhone 14 Pro)?

 

[symphonyofconstruction]

Mine has arrived but it's not being detected by walkplay. I get 'Unauthorized device, usage is restricted.' message on android and brave on windows doesn't see it either.

Edit: Looking through the window I notice my PCB has less components. Windows and Android recognise it as HiFi188-Audio. Did I just get a fake from the official store?

 

[CedarX]

Mine has arrived but it's not being detected by walkplay. I get 'Unauthorized device, usage is restricted.' message on android and brave on windows doesn't see it either.

Edit: Looking through the window I notice my PCB has less components. Windows and Android recognise it as HiFi188-Audio. Did I just get a fake from the official store?

Can you check the VendorID & ProductID? WalkPlay expects VID 0x3302 / PID 0x43E8 to for the TRN Black Pearl.
If you see something different, it's either a fake... or a new TRN version that is not compatible with WalkPlay—if, for example, TRN decided to develop their own App, similar to what other OEMs have done for these TTGK modules.

 

[symphonyofconstruction]

Savitech Kencent Audio USB\VID_262A&PID_0001\5000000001

Edit: some audible pops on the cmaj.steady and SotS test. great

 

[ziggurcat]

Mine has arrived but it's not being detected by walkplay. I get 'Unauthorized device, usage is restricted.' message on android and brave on windows doesn't see it either.

Edit: Looking through the window I notice my PCB has less components. Windows and Android recognise it as HiFi188-Audio. Did I just get a fake from the official store?

Official store meaning direct from them or something like Amazon or AliExpress? It would seem highly unlikely that TRN would sell you a fake. I can have a look at the one I just got last week, but I am on MacOS/iOS, so I do not have an app available to me (I use the online WalkPlay site to add PEQ/change settings, etc...).

 

[symphonyofconstruction]

Official store meaning direct from them or something like Amazon or AliExpress? It would seem highly unlikely that TRN would sell you a fake. I can have a look at the one I just got last week, but I am on MacOS/iOS, so I do not have an app available to me (I use the online WalkPlay site to add PEQ/change settings, etc...).

AliExpress TRN Official Store with highest units sold (600+)

 

[CedarX]

Savitech Kencent Audio USB\VID_262A&PID_0001\5000000001

Edit: some audible pops on the cmaj.steady and SotS test. great

Definitely a different dongle then—even if it uses the same housing as Black Pearl ... or a fake !!!The Savitech USB bridge and the fact you hear pops on the test tracks means it's probably a legit. CS431xx dongle, but it's not a Black Pearl and won't support an App, PEQ & the other features.

 

[ziggurcat]

AliExpress TRN Official Store with highest units sold (600+)

I got mine from Shenzhenaudio via Amazon Canada (which shipped from the US). Again, I will have a look when I get a chance (I didn't bring it with me to work this morning). I'm not sure how to check for the VID/PID on Mac, though...

Have you tried contacting TRN?