Soundwise I guess they are pretty on par. Beside obvious 3 independent inputs for SMSL I see only some differences - Android support only listed for Tempotec while Linux for SMSL. SMSL also doubles the insane high-res values (768kHz + DSD512)..
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TempoTec Sonata BHD Pro Portable DAC & Amp Review
- Thread starter amirm
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AudioSceptic
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It comes with an Apple Lightning connector as well as USB-C?
staticV3
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The Lightning to Type-C cable for use with older iPhones costs $7 extra.
AudioSceptic
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"Older"? The first USB-C iPhone has only just been released.
staticV3
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Correct. Lightning is now last-gen.
PenguinMusic
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Hi Amirm,
Hope you are going to feel better soon...
Not because I am waiting for the rest of the listening session, but because I hope you'll get better just to get better
Wishes....
Hope you are going to feel better soon...
Not because I am waiting for the rest of the listening session, but because I hope you'll get better just to get better
Wishes....
ZolaIII
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Today pretty much any popular OS has a USB audio 2.0 driver embedded and there is a Windows ASIO one for Sonata. Tempotec is still sticking to recommending Hiby Music as companion player (and official one on their DAP's) on mobile OS-es and now that it has basic 10 band PEQ it's hard to complain about that one either.
musicforcities
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The now accepted use of “balanced” in the way of headphones is misleading as to how the amplification is changed such that one must have separate negatives for each channel. I guess “differential” was too obscure.
musicforcities
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I am not familiar with the su1, except that seems to be a stand alone DAC and you would need to add a headphone amplifier to it, while this little thing has both a dac and an amp integrated into it. Though the su1 has optic and coax digital as well as usb inputs. And is easier to I grate with a speaker amp and such.
Depending on what you choose as an a stand alone desktop amp you can get more power especially for non-balanced. Whether you need it will depend not only on impedance but also sensitivity of the headphone you are driving. There are some relatively low impedance headphones that still require tons of power to drive them properly (many planar magnetically for example). And if you have 600ohm Beyerdynamics dt880s, you need more power than this dongle single ended, but could likely get away with the balanced output though the bass might be thin. It’s that whole current vs voltage limited thing.
This dingle-dongle is gonna work better with high sensitivity IEMS than some desktop amps that may cause hiss.depends on output impedances and such.
You can get better SINAD from separate desktop amps and DACs, even very cheap ones like the schiit magni heresy amp and a good dac. But the difference may not be audible. Likely is not unless you have golden ears and some fantastic headphones with impeccable sources.
However, chances are this little deally-whopper will work great and I don’t know of a desktop combo dac/amp or separates that would perform as well for the same money. There might be, just can’t think of one off hand.
I recommend reading lots of reviews from the review index to get a better sense of pros and cons and whatnot.
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Cheers @amirm.
Its amazing how many excellent low cost items you have introduced us too. I have purchased several and have been delighted with their performance.
Never underestimate the importance of your work and how much it is appreciated by forum members, you are slowly but surely enlightening the audio community to what really matters in sound reproduction.
Its amazing how many excellent low cost items you have introduced us too. I have purchased several and have been delighted with their performance.
Never underestimate the importance of your work and how much it is appreciated by forum members, you are slowly but surely enlightening the audio community to what really matters in sound reproduction.
57gold
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Couple of questions for the smart folks here:
- Is this unit powered from what it's connected to?
- See a cable to hook up an iPhone with USB C to Lightning, assuming a USB C to USB C cable to hook up to a Mac Book would work?
- Use an Amazon Fire HD 10 to watch movie/TV downloads on flights (as well as read books), does anyone know if the USB C input on this unit will output digital audio to this DAC/ headphone amp? Can not seem to find a manual for the Fire HD and see that the USB C is for charging and attaching external storage.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #52
Yes. It is the only way to power it.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #53
Yes.
AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
1. Yes, as par for the course on dongle DACs.
2. It should.
3. Seems so:
www.audiosciencereview.com
2. It should.
3. Seems so:
Amazon Fire tablet connect to external DAC
Thinking of getting one of these to use to use as a display, with the USB connected to my minidsp SHD. Has anyone tried using the Fire tablet with an external DAC ?
www.audiosciencereview.com
OP
- Thread Starter
- #55
I still see it at $70 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/TempoTec-Hea...mzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc
Very slow shipping though.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #56
Sure. A headphone amp is just like line out with lower impedance which is just more goodness. And yes, input is USB.
In those type of devices, the credit for performance should really go to IC designers (in this case, Cirrus Logic). The OEM only adds a PCB (usually, following a reference design from the chip vendor) and a nice metal enclosure. Assuming a proper design following vendor's guidelines, performance differences among devices using the same IC are typically so small as to be meaningless. So these reviews should really be grouped by the type of chips used.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #58
There are plenty of examples of such implementations producing poor performance. Dealing with noisy USB right next to the DAC is non-trivial. Many dongles have polluted output as a result.
Here you can clearly see USB interference:
And here is the item in this review:
You see the clear difference?
So no, it is not about the chip. It is about the whole package with implementation being even more important than the DAC IC.
They are available right now at various sites for 89.99. Not sure where the $70 price tag is coming from unless you want to wait two months...
Yes so that's $70 plus tax which is about another $5 or $6 depending where you live. Or you can pay $13 more and have it on October 3rd via a shop site.
What's the difference between blue and red?
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