YONGSE Y01 Balanced Headphone Adapter Review

[herr.jemine]

That sounds only perfect with the Yongse Captain Voodoo hi-end precious crystal cable : 245,91€

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005007032437524.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.15.3033eEEVeEEVCx&algo_pvid=25ad303e-5792-4a5f-b020-3c0fafc1e80b&algo_exp_id=25ad303e-5792-4a5f-b020-3c0fafc1e80b-7&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21EUR%21245.91%21245.91%21%21%21260.61%21260.61%21%4021032dc617168242960224525eeee8%2112000039158979474%21sea%21DE%212498006076%21&curPageLogUid=tsynV70D7b7l&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

 

[HissingFree]

I have a Jcally JM6 Pro and it hisses a lot with IEMs, this thing doesn't look much different, you should have measured dynamic range at 50mv, I bet this thing is bad, as 90db of dynamic range at 1V is already low. Apple Dongle is much better in the departments that truly matter, like I said noise and hissing, as 3db difference of Sinad in the 100s range won't be audible.
I'm looking at THD+N at low power levels and it looks bad compared to many others, this could indicate a high noise level too.
Ultimately, this probably falls into no mans land, too underpowered for low sensitivity headphones and too noisy for high sensitivity IEMs. I see it useful in some cases, for example, some laptops like my Asus have lower vrms into low impedance loads, probably due to high output impedance, I measured 1.2 v unloaded and around 0.5 v with a multimeter measuring the output of a jack to jack adapter with 30 ohm resistor attached to it and 1khz sine tone. So 1 vrms can actually be an upgrade in some cases believe it or not.

 

[mc.god]

Want to see how low we can get it?

View attachment 371507

Just for the lol

 

[pseudoid]

Thank you for the review, @amirm,
I am going to hold off buying one, until a member unearths an updated version that sell for under $10 which doesn't clip, is much higher power w/16+bit performance.

Machines don't need very human conditions

For $2.49 this can never be produced in very human circumstances, i think.

They have not yet figured out the kinks in making machines that make these machines. Thus, it is a valid point that @Stokdoof makes: Re: Lack of "very human circumstances".

 

[MCH]

Will also contribute to the off topic, because i find it a fascinating subject. This is from a launch report in 2016. It could be referring to the chips in question:

Would love to know something about the subject, that obviously i don't, but this is my guess: make a run of 10000, you still have 10k to finish the product, sell a bunch at 10$ (this is the minimum i could get it today applying all the Aliexpress tricks i know) and probably sell the rest at 2.5$ breaking even. And this at the 1$/chip price, that i would guess might have gone down...

I would still buy the Jcally JM20 at 17eur shipped any day.

Conexant Introduces USB-C Digital Audio Compliant Chips

www.anandtech.com

 

[Harryharryharry]

Can anyone recommend a similar sized usb-c headphone dac / amp for 3.5mm that's better quality but still cheap?

 

[wwenze]

The Apple USB-C set a benchmark for $10

The market needs something that is:

- Supports 24/96 or higher
- Same or better noise level
- Same or better output power
- For around $20-30

 

[Harryharryharry]

I'm on android unfortunately

 

[Rja4000]

I'm on android unfortunately

Works with Android

Beware of the difference between European version and rest of the world though.
Read here on this, as this is off topic here.

 

[mc.god]

Can anyone recommend a similar sized usb-c headphone dac / amp for 3.5mm that's better quality but still cheap?

Jcally jm20 as already said before is a very well measuring dongle for around 20€\$ at aliexpress.

 

[Tell]

I'm on android unfortunately

Works with Android

Beware of the difference between European version and rest of the world though.
Read here on this, as this is off topic here.

And you don't get full volume on Android either. I bought an European one and it was totally unusable because of that low volume, so I returned it and got something else instead (which distorted a lot so I ended up buying my first pair of bluetooth inear and never looked back at those wires again).

 

[dzerig]

I would be curious to know how many people can tell from a blind test this as a dac vs a transparent measuring (115 sinads) dac using a basic $109 headphone amplifier with top tier specs.

 

[HissingFree]

The Apple USB-C set a benchmark for $10

The market needs something that is:

- Supports 24/96 or higher
- Same or better noise level
- Same or better output power
- For around $20-30

I would think most dongles with a CS43131 can improve on all that? at least according to the measurements I have seen out there (Jcally JM20, MBQuart...).

 

[artburda]

They have not yet figured out the kinks in making machines that make these machines. Thus, it is a valid point that @Stokdoof makes: Re: Lack of "very human circumstances".

Very human conditions compared to what? Foxconn? I mean Apple products sell for high prices, so I'm not sure there is a clear correlation between the prices the western consumer pays and the conditions for the workers in the corresponding chinese factories that produce the goods.

 

[formdissolve]

Build quality might be an issue with the bottom barrel USB-C connector dying with multiple removal cycles, and the multi-stranded cord will probably fray and pull apart like a lot of that style of aftermarket headphone cables.

That said, I see it at $6.49, so cheap enough to have one as a spare in the car or something!

 

[diddley]

Materials shipping and most of all LABOUR costs, something is fishy about this.

 

[musicforcities]

I did a mental spit take when I read the price. If this was offered by a company known for audiophile questing the decimal would move to the right two spaces.

I guess it’s cheaper or as cheap as many 4.4mm to 3.5mm TRS adapters…so there you go for those who want to use 4.4mm ended cables with an iPhone….

I chuckled that it is advertised to have “powerful thrust”.

Seems like an odd thing though. Maybe I’m out of the loop but 4.4mm seems a weird form factor for such a dongle with its power output. For IEMs, 2.5mm balanced would seem to more prevalent and lighter (if fragile…). And the advantage of balanced is usually greater power per channel. Unless this thing uses less power from the device than the apple dingle for example.


For me it’s a panther head scratcher. But heck, it’s so cheap given its performance seems like a great thing for those with 4.4mm IEM cables who want to listen on phones without jacks. Can’t think that’s a huge market these days but I don’t know.

 

[musicforcities]

I'm on android unfortunately

Does the apple usb-c dongle not work with android?

 

[formdissolve]

Does the apple usb-c dongle not work with android?

Last one I tried it worked, but was 1 volt - USA version. I haven't tried it on Linux or Mac.

 

[amirm]

Does the apple usb-c dongle not work with android?

From what I recall, you get much lower output level from it.