YONGSE Y01 Balanced Headphone Adapter Review

[AuricGoldfinger]

My CC statement and checkout always showed Ali transactions charged in my local currency, not USD. It may vary by country.

 

[pablolie]

Now that Bluetooth sounds great and you can do without a cable, and you can throw in NR, I no longer know why these USB dongles are still appealing in any semi-portable environment. But that's just my read and personal evolution. I do own an Audioquest Dragon from back in the eary 2010s, not even sure where that is, that's how long I haven't bothered.

 

[restorer-john]

Nope: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806221292972.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

View attachment 371329

Amir, that's a "welcome deal" as in Welcome to Aliexpress.

Aliexpress wear the cost of that super cheap deal (not the seller) when you sign up and create an account. You only get one "welcome deal" across the whole site.

It's not representative of the normal price of the dongle.

Logged out (it thinks I'm a new Aliexpress customer with no account):

Logged in (with my account):

 

[G|force]

Tongue in cheek I'll say regardless of low price, who would use it in the first place if it barely makes 1V? Free useless is still useless but this costs 3 bucks.

 

[renaudrenaud]

I want to participate to the price war...

From Taobao in China

 

[renaudrenaud]

I want to participate to the price war...

From Taobao, China

 

[raif71]

Tongue in cheek I'll say regardless of low price, who would use it in the first place if it barely makes 1V? Free useless is still useless but this costs 3 bucks.

A couple of posts here have suggested that this might be ok for iems that have balanced connection that don't require high voltage to drive them. YMMV

 

[G|force]

A couple of posts here have suggested that this might be ok for iems that have balanced connection that don't require high voltage to drive them. YMMV

That may be true, but can it be bettered with a dongle at twice or 3x the price? I don't understand the race to the bottom I guess.

 

[Rottmannash]

Amir, that's a "welcome deal" as in Welcome to Aliexpress.

Aliexpress wear the cost of that super cheap deal (not the seller) when you sign up and create an account. You only get one "welcome deal" across the whole site.

It's not representative of the normal price of the dongle.

Logged out (it thinks I'm a new Aliexpress customer with no account):
View attachment 371440

Logged in (with my account):
View attachment 371441

Don't we all lust for the "slim, powerful thrust"?

 

[MacCali]

Wow, over 100 SINAD for $2.49? The SINAD problems should be gone from all new products now. Honestly what chip is this even using at such a low price to deliver 100 SINAD?

This the type of crap that proves how much they rip us off in hifi, especially in 2024

 

[wwenze]

I've always wondered if these 300yen dongles are worth it

 

[Rja4000]

SINAD of 100dB but DR of 90dB? How does that compute? DR is pretty much the same measurement as SINAD, just 60dB lower and then 60dB added to the result. How did this come out to be 10dB worse?

(EDITED: There is no IMD vs level)

Look around the THD+N vs level plot at 300 ohm.

There is obviously something wrong at lower levels.
We don't have linearity measurement, so not sure what it's about.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Dynamic range is using CCIR-2k weighting, which emphasizes issues around 6kHz (+6.4dB or so vs 2kHz, +12dB vs 1kHz)
So if we have big junk there at lower volume, you may actually have a lower dynamic range than the un-weighted SINAD.

@amirm Does that seem plausible ?

 

[oscar_dziki]

Are you confused? I just made a try to search on Aliexpress. It is sold for ~$10 on Aliexpress from the Yongse Offical Store. With $10, is its performance notable? Apple dongle has power output better than a few mW, but SINAD is worse than a few dB.
View attachment 371319

Today 10$, tomorrow and yesterday probably 2,49$. Is it your first time on AliExpress?

 

[peniku8]

Look around the IMD vs level plot.

There is obviously something wrong at lower levels.
We don't have linearity measurement, so not sure what it's about.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Dynamic range is using CCIR-2k weighting, which emphasize issues around 6kHz (+6.4dB or so vs 2kHz, +12dB vs 1kHz)
So if we have big junk there at lower volume, you may actually have a lower dynamic range than the un-weighted SINAD.

@amirm Does that seem plausible ?

Good catch. There are no typical IMD vs level plots, but the THD vs level plots for the power figures are interesting. Unloaded (which I assume was the case for the DR measurement) and 300Ohm show this strange anomaly, while the lowZ load looks clean.

 

[Rja4000]

T

There are no typical IMD vs level plots

You're right.
I corrected my post above.

 

[delta76]

Nope: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806221292972.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

View attachment 371329

that only applies if you are a new buyer
also other members are visiting from EU so VAT is included.
With that said, prices on Aliexpress are even more dynamic and confusing than Amazon. in many cases, the price you see is only applied to you.

 

[restorer-john]

that only applies if you are a new buyer
also other members are visiting from EU so VAT is included.
With that said, prices on Aliexpress are even more dynamic and confusing than Amazon. in many cases, the price you see is only applied to you.

Did you read #43? I guess not.

 

[caocaolatre199x]

Today 10$, tomorrow and yesterday probably 2,49$. Is it your first time on AliExpress?

I bought many orders on Aliexpress so of course I did not receive the welcome deal. The price of $2.49 is due to the discounted Aliexpress for those who first purchase, not the original price of the product, not the seller discounted. I will not waste $10 to buy this.

 

[wwenze]

Want to see how low we can get it?

 

[caocaolatre199x]

I've always wondered if these 300yen dongles are worth it

300 Japanese yen equals $1.91. At this price it cannot have good sound. I lived in Japan for 5.5 years. Things like this or even the other usb-c adapter cost 5 times more than sold in large supermarkets with extremely bad sound quality and very very small output power. It is not for Hi-Fi sound, it is only to plug the headset with the microphone to make the phone call, and to listen to music for those who are not so important in sound quality.