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Post by julesd68 on Feb 3, 2023 21:44:15 GMT
I thought I would buy a DAC / amp to soup up my late night headphone listening, or at least that's what I thought.
I also wanted something very portable for travel and not as pricey as the excellent Chord Mojo that I used to own. So I decided to start off by investing a modest sum on a highly regarded USB dongle which would surely make a worthwhile difference, or at least even a modest one. Having read *numerous* reviews of dongles around the 100 quid point I settled on the nearly universally favoured Moondrop Dawn.
So it arrived today and I downloaded an app that allows you to change the output and mess around with filters. First thing to do was listen to some familiar music on my Superlux cans plugged straight into my phone, streaming from Spotify Premium. After that I eagerly plugged in the Dawn, and er ... I didn't hear any difference I could perceive between the two. Tried some other tracks but same result. Of course, I knew what was in play here, I needed to switch to my more resolving Philips X2HR cans! No, same again. Played with filters and outputs, still no joy ...
Well, the Dawn is going straight back whence it came. It makes me wonder how much money you really have to spend to get a significant upgrade but just now I'm not sure I'm feeling minded to do the experimenting necessary to find out.  If anyone else has been down a similar road please share! |
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Post by Slinger on Feb 3, 2023 22:41:39 GMT
Have you considered one of the AudioQuest Dragonfly DACs, Jules?
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Post by John on Feb 4, 2023 5:06:02 GMT
I tried USB dongle DAC the sound was okay but I found the connection was not great so got rid of it.
The mojo is a good headphone DAC
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Post by julesd68 on Feb 4, 2023 10:58:52 GMT
I think I'll happily sacrifice some portability for performance ... I'm down on dongles now.
The old Mojo is very good value after release of Mojo 2 but am not sure I can cope with those horrible Star Trek controls it has ...
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achim
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 11
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Post by achim on Sept 10, 2023 12:32:35 GMT
Obviously a not so busy thread, but I can give a recommendation with good conscience.
For the few "garden sessions" with music I bought a FiiO KA3.
Reasons were the facts that the dongle is solely powered by f.e. a smartphone, it offers an 4.4 mm Pentaconn out for my beloved Sony MDR-1AM2 which is light and convenient. In combination with UAPP and Qobuz it sounds simply great and is really mobile.
(I hate Bluetooth and IEMs. Old fashioned, I know. The last time I put something deep in my ear I was three years old an ear specialists was needed...so that is likely the reason.)
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 10, 2023 15:14:50 GMT
Thanks for the recommendation. Actually I was so disappointed with the Moondrop dongle that I rather forgot about sourcing an alternative. Listening last night on my headphones reminded me that I should try and get a rather more "high fidelity" set up without throwing lots of money at it so I will have a look at Fiio.
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 169 
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Post by seanm on Sept 10, 2023 18:42:07 GMT
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 11, 2023 13:12:17 GMT
I *think* that there is an argument that on phones etc you need a special media playing app to bypass the android system mangling the bit stream.. the old bit perfect problem.... "USB audio player pro Hi Sean, wow that's an interesting idea, I've never heard mention of this before. To be honest, the only bit of kit that made my phone's output sound any different is my old Chord Mojo. I have a new phone arriving soon so must do some experimenting with that. Cheers. |
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Post by wannarock2 on Sept 16, 2023 19:43:15 GMT
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seanm
Rank: Trio
Posts: 169
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Post by seanm on Sept 17, 2023 7:36:42 GMT
WannaRock, Thank you for the link to this DAC... I look forward to following it up.... on face value, it appears to have a similar topology to the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti although the DAC chips are different and the price of the Moonriver is around double.... I've seen one review (from iwii) for the moonriver and it was positive. Is anybody using this type of DAC dongle with BALANCED IMEs or headphones? if so which ones? |
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 24, 2023 11:21:56 GMT
The dongle has landed!  I'll hopefully fire it up over the weekend.  |
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 25, 2023 17:22:31 GMT
I’ve had my first session with the iBasso - it’s good!
First job is to download the iBasso UAC app which gives the following controls -
- Volume
- L/R Balance
- Digital filters x 5
- Gain: high / medium / low
- Output: normal / turbo
- Eco mode
Listening to one of my ’test’ playlists on my Philips XR2HR I have gain set to high, turbo mode on, eco mode off and volume at 80/100 which is loud. I’ve had a quick listen to filters and settled on NOS which possibly takes just a slight edge off but I couldn't hear much difference between them to be honest.
Sound quality is very respectable indeed for a relatively inexpensive dongle. Electronic tracks like ‘Dangerous’ by David Guetta or ’She’s like the wind’ by Annie have a big soundstage, great dynamics and plenty of deep bass. Turning to a fully acoustic track, ‘Tennessee’ by Gillian Welch, I get a pleasant and relaxed presentation, easy to listen to but a bit lacking in ultimate rez. Metal next with Arch Enemy - ‘Deceiver’ is absolutely slamming, just bursting with energy from the thunderous drums and bass. Wow - I absolutely love it! ‘Paradise City’ from Guns n Roses has plenty of slam too and lots of separation in the mix. Listening to Prince’s ‘Take Me with’ U confirms my thought that I’m just missing out on the extra detail and rez you’d get from a dedicated setup.
But, no, there is more to come. I discover that my phone has special settings for audio played over USB. First, it lets you choose an audio profile for the headphones you are wearing. Selecting full size headphones ups the output and clarity no doubt about it. There is also a graphic equaliser and dialling in my preferred ‘V’ shaped pattern I can get a lot of the info that was missing from the Prince and Gillian Welch tracks, the latter was hugely superior to the first listen. I will save classical listening for another day.
Conclusion - the dongle really responds well to some tweakery, in fact it’s absolutely essential if you want to get the best out of it.
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Post by rfan8312 on Nov 26, 2023 19:16:13 GMT
Sounds incredible. Have you already mentioned which phone you are using?
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 26, 2023 20:51:55 GMT
It's a very modest Poco M5S.
I'm quite intrigued to see what 'better' headphones would bring but not the right time for me to be going large on those ...
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Post by rfan8312 on Nov 26, 2023 22:22:42 GMT
Ahhh ok cool I was going to suggest a trick I used to use with headphones but then realized I'm an idiot and this is a USB device.
Nice to see 5 digital presets there.
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Post by julesd68 on May 20, 2024 21:12:41 GMT
Used this dongle for the first time in ages the other day. Wow - reminded me how impressive it is for the money. An instant injection of extra rez and dynamics!
A pair of Sennheiser Momentum 3 cans arrived from eBay today for plane travel, where I am looking forward to using the ANC. The last flight I took was such a bad experience with kids screaming uncontrollably and parents seemingly content to let them carry on regardless. Some of the "adult" behaviour wasn't much better either.
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Post by MartinT on May 21, 2024 4:19:23 GMT
I really dislike flying now because of the anti-social behaviour of so many passengers.
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Post by julesd68 on May 23, 2024 10:43:49 GMT
I'm going to keep these Sennheisers. Of course they are not the last word in high fidelity but for sitting on a flight they should be ideal. They are lightweight, foldable, with a case & decent battery life - so far I find them very comfortable with soft leather memory foam earpads and not too much pressure. They have a metal construction with a leather covered headband. Onwards for the field testing!
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 2, 2024 13:25:17 GMT
On the plane back from holiday these phones were very comfy indeed and noise cancelling was good if not the very best.
I'm going to try them with a wired connection to the iBasso dongle to see if I can squeeze some more goodness from the performance.
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 4, 2024 8:12:08 GMT
What a palaver getting these cans to work with a wired connection! 
First mistake - I assumed it was 3.5mm so bought a new cable. Wrong, it's 2.5mm at the headphone end.
Second mistake - I then assumed a new 2.5mm adapter would work. Wrong again! There is actually a twist locking mechanism required on many Sennheisers but they don't tell you that!
After spending way too much time looking at possible cables I then had a brainwave. My mum has an old pair of Sennheiser wireless phones which she doesn't use. Lo and behold she still had the original cable which features the same locking mechanism. Bingo, we have music!
Third mistake - I assumed a wired connection into the iBasso dongle would bring revelatory gains. It doesn't. In fact you might as well stick to wireless for the convenience. I'm assuming that the cans are just not resolving enough ro show up any gains an external DAC brings.
Really disappointing. Never mind, they still make a comfortable and compact pair for travel, accepting the rather underwhelming sq. I'd be gutted if I had paid over 200 quid for them! 
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📶NAS > Gustard x26p DAC > Benchmark LA4 Pre-Amp > NAD M22-V2 Amplifier > Revel F228Be Speakers
