This is a review and detailed measurements of an "old friend," the Speaka portable USB DAC and Headphone dongle. I say old friend as it is one of the first devices I tested and I gave it high marks. The unit was donated to me from a member in Germany. Shortly after the unit was no longer available at least in US. But another one, the
XtremPro X1-1 seems to be the same guts and is available for US $31 from Amazon including prime shipping.
I was requested -- and literally bribed with money -- to remeasure the Speaka with my new analyzer and metrics so comparisons become easier.
If you have seen one dongle, you have seen them all:
There are a couple of LEDs on it but I did not pay attention to what they do.
USB DAC Audio Measurements
Here is our usual dashboard:
I had to dial down the input by 1 dB as otherwise it clipped and performance dropped good bit.
SINAD (distortion and noise) is not competitive with desktop products of course:
Dynamic Range is good enough for 16 bit music:
Jitter performance is surprisingly good and is not what we typically see in dongles:
Linearity falls in the same category:
Intermodulation distortion versus level shows the large gap between desktop DACs and dongles:
Here are the power measurements into 300 and 33 ohm loads:
Better yet is to look at how they rate relative to other portable products:
The above is difficult to achieve since it requires high output level. Speaka does very well there far outperforming products like AudioQuest Dragonfly Black.
Similarly good performance exists at 33 ohm:
Output impedance is very low (and hence good):
Headphone Listening Test
I connected my Sennheiser HD-650 to Speaka and once again I was impressed with level of fidelity and loudness. There certainly was enough to enjoy music with this little dongle. I sensed no distortion from the Speaka even at full volume in the few clips I tested.
Conclusions
It was a relief to find the Speaka to perform well as a dongle. No, it doesn't come remotely close to Desktop Amps and DACs. But for a little dongle that costs the same as a reasonable dinner out for one, it provides good and usable performance.
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As always, questions, comments, corrections, etc. are welcome.
Have to go and buy a bunch of mulch today to cover the massive amount of weeds that have grown in the front yard which I have not trimmed due to review load. Since you all are my partner in crime here, I appreciate you all donating as much as you can toward the purchase of the mulch using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
XtremPro X1-1 seems to be the same guts and is available for US $31 from Amazon including prime shipping.
I was requested -- and literally bribed with money -- to remeasure the Speaka with my new analyzer and metrics so comparisons become easier.
If you have seen one dongle, you have seen them all:
There are a couple of LEDs on it but I did not pay attention to what they do.
USB DAC Audio Measurements
Here is our usual dashboard:
I had to dial down the input by 1 dB as otherwise it clipped and performance dropped good bit.
SINAD (distortion and noise) is not competitive with desktop products of course:
Dynamic Range is good enough for 16 bit music:
Jitter performance is surprisingly good and is not what we typically see in dongles:
Linearity falls in the same category:
Intermodulation distortion versus level shows the large gap between desktop DACs and dongles:
Here are the power measurements into 300 and 33 ohm loads:
Better yet is to look at how they rate relative to other portable products:
The above is difficult to achieve since it requires high output level. Speaka does very well there far outperforming products like AudioQuest Dragonfly Black.
Similarly good performance exists at 33 ohm:
Output impedance is very low (and hence good):
Headphone Listening Test
I connected my Sennheiser HD-650 to Speaka and once again I was impressed with level of fidelity and loudness. There certainly was enough to enjoy music with this little dongle. I sensed no distortion from the Speaka even at full volume in the few clips I tested.
Conclusions
It was a relief to find the Speaka to perform well as a dongle. No, it doesn't come remotely close to Desktop Amps and DACs. But for a little dongle that costs the same as a reasonable dinner out for one, it provides good and usable performance.
--------
As always, questions, comments, corrections, etc. are welcome.
Have to go and buy a bunch of mulch today to cover the massive amount of weeds that have grown in the front yard which I have not trimmed due to review load. Since you all are my partner in crime here, I appreciate you all donating as much as you can toward the purchase of the mulch using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/