Which DAC measurements do you like to see next?

[Graph Feppar]

I would like if Amir started measuring DAPs when used as DACs,that is connected to PC with usb and output to amplifier.

I was ignoring these portable players for long time,I thought something so small couldnt compete with desktop DACs,I thought they must have bad THD+N and that buying player to be used in home desktop scenario was stupid and waste of money.

I found out I was wrong,these DAPs improved massively,they now rival the best desktop DACs and amps.Things like iBasso DX 120,150,200 or Fiio X7 mkii or X5 mkiii,these are some serious high performance DACs and amps.

There is this man in Russia with his measurement website called reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en that measures these daps and I was shocked how good some of them are.One problem I found is that his measuring gear is some mediocore sound card and not proper Audio Precision gear like Amir has.

Many of his measurements are useless becose some of these devices he measures are better than his E-MU soundcard so as result you really see limits of his soundcard,not the real performance of device under test.I cant trust his measurements like I do Amirs,since nobody else measures DAPs it sucks becose I must buy blindly not knowing how my player would really perform,since DAPs have digital volume control,hearing noisefloor with IEMs is very common,this isnt just crazy perfectionist in me obsessing over stuff way too down bellow,superb THD+N in DAP makes audible difference.

I am really interest right now in iBasso DX120 with single AK4495 chip,its about 350$ DAP which can be used as desktop DAC.

 

[amirm]

I would like if Amir started measuring DAPs when used as DACs,that is connected to PC with usb and output to amplifier.

I measured a Shozy a while back and it performed very poorly (losing to my Samsung S8+ phone by a mile): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...of-shozy-alien-digital-audio-player-dap.2058/

So I am dubious about spending hundreds of dollars on one to test.

Let's see if we can an owner to send me one. Or one of you buys one and drop ships it to me for testing.

 

[Graph Feppar]

I measured a Shozy a while back and it performed very poorly (losing to my Samsung S8+ phone by a mile): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...of-shozy-alien-digital-audio-player-dap.2058/

So I am dubious about spending hundreds of dollars on one to test.

Let's see if we can an owner to send me one. Or one of you buys one and drop ships it to me for testing.

Alot DAPs are still garbage but the mid to high end iBasso and Fiio are good.

 

[Veri]

Monolith Desktop DAC AMP seems to be released now.

Monolith by Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amplifier and DAC with THX AAA Technology (Dual AKM 4493 DACs & Dual AAA-788 Modules)

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24459

A kind member has purchased one to send me but they have yet to confirm shipping it.

Only shipped just now. Billing != shipping so my order hit the fraud check, sorry for the wait guys.

 

[Raqs]

Amir,
Topping NX2s, pretty please... It's a glaring hole in the entire internet, really. I can't even find information on the exact DAC IC used in it. Could be an ESS (would rather not), or an AK, as an educated guess. Given your stance on Topping offerings, this one's potentially a gem on the DAC / headphone amp regnum.
Radu.

 

[amirm]

Amir,
Topping NX2s, pretty please... It's a glaring hole in the entire internet, really. I can't even find information on the exact DAC IC used in it. Could be an ESS (would rather not), or an AH, as an educated guess. Given your stance on Topping offerings, this one's potentially a gem on the DAC / headphone amp regnum.
Radu.

Someone sent me the NX3. Would that do?

 

[Raqs]

Someone sent me the NX3. Would that do?

Not a whole lot, as the NX3 doesn't have a DAC section... But it may offer a glimpse on the amp part of the NX2s.

One of my favorite spare time mappings is chart out a manufacturer's design criteria, decisions, choice of parts, across its series and hierarchy - if you see my drift. Specific to this, NX1 (another amp-only component) vs. NX3, parallel to NX2 vs. NX4. I wager the former two and the latter two may have highly similar amp stages; it would at least makes a lot of sense to me as far as product R&D and overall logistics go.

And in that sense, a thorough review of NX3 would provide useful information for charting this out.

As far as NX2s goes - if someone would open it up and document what the DAC is, that would be just great input for me (I am a creature of numbers and measurements, having a background in physics). I can't believe the internet hasn't come up with that person yet (google contains everything, actual or potential, ain't it?). Or maybe the product is just too novel yet.
aR.

 

[Patrick1958]

Amir,
Topping NX2s, pretty please... It's a glaring hole in the entire internet, really. I can't even find information on the exact DAC IC used in it. Could be an ESS (would rather not), or an AH, as an educated guess. Given your stance on Topping offerings, this one's potentially a gem on the DAC / headphone amp regnum.
Radu.

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/mobi...m5101a-sa9226-32bit-192khz-black-p-12279.html
PCM5101A DAC from Texas Instruments

 

[Raqs]

Thank you, Patrick. Two reasons for disappointment there:

• my skill at searching the internet
• their choice of DAC. I guess I was hoping they'd shoot higher than the PCM510x series every budget DAC uses. Well.

More of a reason to see a good review. This may be very well implemented, enough so that it may be a decent choice in its class. As many of you may notice, I'm trying to find options for a DAC / headphone amp deserving of my newly acquired HE400i, that'd be flying just under my better half's radar.
aR

 

[Patrick1958]

Thank you, Patrick. Two reasons for disappointment there:

• my skill at searching the internet
• their choice of DAC. I guess I was hoping they'd shoot higher than the PCM510x series every budget DAC uses. Well.

More of a reason to see a good review. This may be very well implemented, enough so that it may be a decent choice in its class. As many of you may notice, I'm trying to find options for a DAC / headphone amp deserving of my newly acquired HE400i, that'd be flying just under my better half's radar.
aR

At the price this unit is selling a higher rated dac chip would be very unlikely

 

[Raqs]

At the price this unit is selling a higher rated dac chip would be very unlikely

True. Though the Fiio Q1 MKII sells for just shy of that $ value and sports a higher tier AK4452. I guess across this range it's a matter of nitpicking the last cent-worth of differences. I'd still be very interested in seeing a review, which I think would fill in nicely in the budget DAC / headphone amp world.

 

[HeadphoneFan]

True. Though the Fiio Q1 MKII sells for just shy of that $ value and sports a higher tier AK4452. I guess across this range it's a matter of nitpicking the last cent-worth of differences. I'd still be very interested in seeing a review, which I think would fill in nicely in the budget DAC / headphone amp world.

Why not Fiio E10k?

And Amir,
Thanks for the reviews! I just bought a D30 and would likely never have found it if not for ASR.

 

[Raqs]

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/mobi...m5101a-sa9226-32bit-192khz-black-p-12279.html
PCM5101A DAC from Texas Instruments

Well, there's a quirk. The Topping sales team just responded to my inquiry and stated the NX2s uses a PCM5102A for D/A. It's a better spec'd part than the one the link above mentions. I ordered a Q1 MKII last night, but probably would have given the NX2s a try having known this.

 

[SiW]

Well, there's a quirk. The Topping sales team just responded to my inquiry and stated the NX2s uses a PCM5102A for D/A. It's a better spec'd part than the one the link above mentions. I ordered a Q1 MKII last night, but probably would have given the NX2s a try having known this.

Is the 5102 that much better than the 5101?

Simon

 

[Silent85]

Would definitely like to see a review of the SMSL M3 as it's in contention for the best DAC/Amp combo along with the FiiO E10k for under $100 USD.

 

[Raqs]

Is the 5102 that much better than the 5101?

Simon

As far as I know (and please correct me if I'm wrong, if you have more hands on knowledge of this process), these are select parts from production batches. So, they test them for compliance with the specified level of performance per cut sheet, and some parts will exceed by some amount (and they become 5101s), and others by a higher amount (and they become 5102s). All the rest are 5100s. See the cut sheet for exact measurements / selection criteria information.
Essentially the same parts, but guaranteed to perform better as marked, and priced accordingly.

 

[eugenius]

Any news on the bluesound node 2i / sonos DDFA amp front?

PS: I didn't check, but have you actually measured an iPhone?
One with a 3.5mm jack and one with a lightning to 3.5mm adapter?
It must be the most used DAC/amp in the world ...

 

[eugenius]

PS2: How about measuring the AD/DA performance on some top dog sound cards like this:

Lynx E22:
https://www.lynxstudio.com/products/e22/

Marian Seraph AD2:
http://www.marian.de/en/products/seraph_ad2

RME HDSPE AIO:
http://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/hdspe_aio.php

 

[amirm]

Any news on the bluesound node 2i / sonos DDFA amp front?

The Bluesound folks wanted some time before sending it. SInce I have so much to review, I have not pushed them to send it to me yet.

 

[amirm]

PS2: How about measuring the AD/DA performance on some top dog sound cards like this:

Lynx E22:
https://www.lynxstudio.com/products/e22/

Marian Seraph AD2:
http://www.marian.de/en/products/seraph_ad2

RME HDSPE AIO:
http://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/hdspe_aio.php

Given their high prices, it is not in the cards for me to purchase them, pun intended.