Zorloo Ztella MQA Phone Headphone Adapter Review

[confucius_zero]

I guess I'll stick with my sonata hd pro and meizu pro

 

[staticV3]

Wouldn't these dongles be the perfect specimen to test a USB filtering device on?
(Even though it might not make sense as you won't carry the purifier around as you will a dongle)

I still think Amir's measurement methodology for dongles is fundamentally flawed since 0db got way, way better results from the Meizu Pro plugged straight into a phone running UAPP.

 

[Tks]

Reddit user Oratory1990, an acoustic engineer who specifically measures headphones as part of research his company does based in Austria, actually calculates preference ratings using Dr. Sean Olive's formula for headphones, which compared to his speaker formula we're using with a correlation of 0.86 with actual preference ratings, has an even higher correlation of 0.91

I believe Oratory1990 uses the same equipment Olive did when taking the measurements his preference formula is based on, so they will be very accurate and the preference ratings should achieve that 0.91 correlation. All his headphone measurements and preference ratings (both before and after his parametric equalizer settings to EQ to the Harman target frequency response) can be found here. It's a fantastic resource.

My biggest wish would be that he measured THD as well.

 

[amirm]

This is quite disappointing. @amirm can you measure it at 1v output?

Measure what at 1 volt out? The dashboard? If so, I did that first and SINAD was down to 91 dB. Lower output makes the noise more dominant.

 

[amirm]

But like you, the majority of people still just use their smartphones directly when listening to music. What is severely lacking is hard evidence that there is that much of an audible difference between sound from our phones and dongles like these that is worth spending money on.

With some exceptions, headphone jack is being eliminated from smartphones. First was Apple, then Samsung. So for most people with newer phones, they have no choice but to use such dongles.

 

[MZKM]

With some exceptions, headphone jack is being eliminated from smartphones. First was Apple, then Samsung. So for most people with newer phones, they have no choice but to use such dongles.

And unless you need more power, the $9 Apple dongle should work for most (if the weird voluem issue was resolved on some Android phones).

It’s pretty amazing that Apple can sell it for just $9 (assuming they make a profit), guess that just shows what a multi-billion dollar tech company can do (and with having a large consumer base for such a product).

 

[amirm]

Apple probably sells millions of them and I would not be surprised to hear whoever makes them doesn't make money and just wants Apple on their business resume.

 

[CJ Miller]

Boy do I have such mixed feelings on these dongles. For the most part they're just not all that great. Plenty of them were way too expensive for what you get. That old lg g⁷ or something similar with some iem makes a better case most of the time.

I bet some one of these phone company's will probably hit the first inexpensive home run.

 

[bobbooo]

With some exceptions, headphone jack is being eliminated from smartphones. First was Apple, then Samsung. So for most people with newer phones, they have no choice but to use such dongles.

Most people, realising small incremental improvements aren't worth the money, are holding onto their phones for longer periods these days before upgrading - at least two years, often three (or even more). For example, you still have an S8+ that was released back in 2017 And I only had an S7 until recently upgrading, with some people I know still using this model, now nearly four years old. Many also choose to buy last year's or even earlier models due to the ridiculous over-inflated release prices of modern phones as well.

This all means that a huge proportion of people are still currently using phones with headphone jacks, and likely will continue to do so for several years to come. Just take a look at top global phone sales for the last couple of years below - apart from the Apple models, every single one of them has a headphone jack:

And that's not even counting all the users who still have phones from previous years (as you do, and I did until recently). Then of course there are brands like LG which are thankfully continuing to equip all their new phones with headphone jacks. And even brands like Sony have brought audio jacks back with their recently announced phones, and Motorola have brought jacks back to a model for which it was omitted in the previous three generations. This is all due to the fact that a large majority of consumers actually highly value headphone jacks in smartphones, as they are much more convenient than having to buy a separate dongle that can easily get lost, they allow simultaneous charging and headphone listening unlike dongles, do not have the potential compatibility problems some dongles have, and the remaining option for consumers, Bluetooth audio, is inferior in audio quality, connection reliability and latency.

I wouldn't be surprised if other brands follow Sony, Motorola etc. in bringing back the headphone jack due to popular demand. Even Samsung has backtracked on design 'streamlining' before with its reintroduction of both water resistance and the microSD card slot due to the backlash it received when it omitted these features on their Galaxy S6 model. There's a similar backlash for their latest Galaxy models due to them only having USB-C audio output. The headphone jack is not dead (yet), and even if it is dying out, it still has at least a few more years left out in the wild in many consumers' pockets

You've posted full measurements and reviews of both your desktop and laptop audio output, so I and I'm sure many others are still hoping you will add to the great smartphone data you presented for the LG G7 by doing the same for your Samsung Galaxy S8+ when you get a chance, which as I said before, will be very useful information not only for S8 owners, but those who have or are thinking of buying the S9, S10, Note8 and Note9 models (and their variants), as they all use the same audio chip.

 

[Palex]

I recommend - https://www.mqa.co.uk/how-to-get-mqa/highscreen-partner-page
https://hs-store.ru/product/audioadapter_Highscreen_TrueSound_Pro/

 

[Hiilari]

Thanks for review! Ordered the MQA version - I would've preferred the standard but they've run out.

A faulty power supply in my Lenovo docking station fried my trusty DragonFly Red. I loved that little unit even if it didn't shine in tests, not at least for 200 € worth. And that I had to cover that stupid bright light with duct tape. But loved the sound and the form factor. Zorloo will carry those duties soon.

 

[Hiilari]

...and now listening to the Zorloo connected to TinHifi P1 planars. Really like the sound! Cannot compare to Dragonfly since it got fried so now I can only easily compare to the headphone output of my Lenovo laptop. Not too hard to detect diferences: Zorloo has that finesse, top end sparkle, and lack of hiss between songs, enough juice to drive planars. Seems like a good buy.

Found one odd thing about Zorloo, or difference from Dragonfly: if the unit is connected to a laptop but nothing is connected to the 3,5 mm jack on the analog side, then Zorloo does not show up in Windows audio devices. Took a while to figure that out: thought the unit was broken as its blue light was on but did not show up as an audio device, and no drivers to download. Not sure I like this too much: accidentally tug the headphone cable in mid song or movie, and the player app throws an error messgae due to lacking the audio device.

 

[Be.]

I initially got a Zorloo ZuperDAC-S and it broke after a single day. It wouldn't be detected by my phone nor my laptop. Zorloo was kind enough to send me a Ztella as a replacement for no charge. That worked well for a week or two. The stress from going on walks with it in my pocket and my headphones (Sennheiser HD 25-1 II) plugged in broke it after such a short time. At first, I would not hear sound if the cable was bent at certain angles, then a few days later I didn't get any sound out of it. I have not bothered contacting Zorloo again; I do not trust their products to last after these experiences. I am going to get a ddHIFI TC35B which has no cable to break.

 

[Hiilari]

I initially got a Zorloo ZuperDAC-S and it broke after a single day. It wouldn't be detected by my phone nor my laptop. Zorloo was kind enough to send me a Ztella as a replacement for no charge. That worked well for a week or two. The stress from going on walks with it in my pocket and my headphones (Sennheiser HD 25-1 II) plugged in broke it after such a short time. At first, I would not hear sound if the cable was bent at certain angles, then a few days later I didn't get any sound out of it. I have not bothered contacting Zorloo again; I do not trust their products to last after these experiences. I am going to get a ddHIFI TC35B which has no cable to break.

That sucks. I've used mine only connected to my laptop in home office use, and I better be careful with it. Good to know what in-between cable is the Achille's heel.

 

[MalinYamato]

This must be the smallest DAC with MQA.

 

[Green7]

I got both the MQA and the non-MQA versions. Build quality was not up to par. The connector for the 3.5mm head

phone jack came off. The cylindrical metal piece that was glued to the wire dislodged. There were some static issues with sound cutting in and out. Sent emails to support multiple times. Never heard back. Purchase at your own risk.

 

[mbze430]

I'm glad I found this website. I have been looking for electronic measurement for this particular device. I have the OnePlus 8 Pro (no 3.5mm) so I have been using my old Google USB dongle v1 and its horrible (I also have a Mojo, but it starting to be too bulky for being "portable"). I was settling on getting the zTelle MQA (I wanted something with MQA support). Looks like this review locked it in. Thank you

 

[lystor]

Hi

I have both Zorloo Ztella MQA and Ztella non-MQA.

I use all of them with Windows 10 PC (WASAPI only) and don't hear any significant differences
in sound quality between them.

But I have an annoying problem with both Ztella MQA and non-MQA constantly connected to the PC.

PROBLEM: both Ztella devices don't work when they were plugged into a powered off PC and then the PC is powered on or rebooted.

I tested them on five different PCs with the same result.

When I reconnect them to any USB port with a running operating system, they start working.


Error on device manager: This device cannot start. (Code 10).
I tried different USB ports - same problem with 2x ASMedia® USB 3.1 Gen2; 8x Intel® USB 3.1 Gen1; 6x Intel® USB 2.0
Ztella MQA has latest firmware: 7361

I sent three letters to [email protected] and received only a single response:
"Hi Mykola, Thanks for the info, we will look into it."

Meizu DAC Pro, Tempotec Sonata HD Pro and all other USB DACs I had before don't have this problem.

SO I DON'T RECOMMEND TO BUY AND USE BOTH ZORLOO ZTELLA MQA AND NON-MQA WITH PC
BECAUSE IT IS REQUIRED TO REPLUG THEM EACH PC REBOOT OR AFTER POWER ON.

 

[IVX]

I found on taobao DIY version of es9280 DAC for $20 https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.3-c.w4002-1880652053.68.79c45594zMKMKY&id=614179069861

 

[Ziginox]

Just want to throw my two cents in on the Ztella. I purchased the non-MQA version. I bought it because it's one of the few DACs that will accept mic/remote input. It sounds great, but I'm sending it back because the microphone input is completely useless. There's barely any signal when used with any of the mics I have. I even tried a powered shotgun mic, that I'd use on my camera. With the +10dB gain enabled on that, it was still very low when I was speaking normally, and had the end of the mic right up to my mouth.
Zorloo's response, after a couple of emails, was "We are sorry that the mic input volume may be a bit low and is the limitation of the chip design. It can only addressed by future silicon update from our supplier."

Because the mic input is essentially useless, I am considering the device faulty. I'll update here if I have any issues with the return. I think I'll try the Meizu DAC instead, as it seems to be even better quality, and is cheaper.

(Apologies for bumping this thread, please let me know if it should have been its own post!)