I purchased a Qudelix 5K because, for my portable audio, I did not want to be tied to a cable between my smartphone and a DAC/amp dongle. The Qudelix is connected in Bluetooth and has very stable connection. It is small and has a large clip to attach it to the trousers, which helps adding… » Read the full article
In this review I am going to evaluate a few new Hifiman items: the EF400 amp/dac and two headphones, the R9 and the Edition XS. You can watch the video review here: The EF400 is a budget all-in-one dac/amp combo which uses HifiMan proprietary R2R DAC chip. The R9 is a dynamic headphone and it… » Read the full article
In this post, I collected information related to a few modifications aimed to improve the Stax SRD-7 family (Stax normal bias transformers, to let us drive the older normal bias Stax headphones out of a speaker amplifier). Disclaimer: these are not step by step instructions. Search the internet in order to find further information related… » Read the full article
This is a review of Yulong DA11 DAC / preamplifier / headphone amplifier. The DA11 comes out 3 years after the DA10, and marks the return to an ESS Sabre DAC chip over the former AKM AK4497 of the two former models. The Yulong DA11 receives input from the following connections: – USB (which… » Read the full article
This is the review of DA-ART Aurora, latest DAC of Yulong DA-ART line, which is aimed to offer high performances at an affordable price. The Aurora uses the recent ES9068AS DAC chipset, which offers compatibility with several bitrates and frequencies, reads Tidal MQA format, and has very high signal to noise ratio. While the DAC… » Read the full article
Some output current values of amplifiers for electrostatic headphones (which, in turn, help determining how well they can drive hardest to drive headphones, such as Stax SR-007, SR-Omega, Hifiman Shangri-La Jr, Stax SR-009, Stax SR-009S, across the frequency spectrum). Blue Hawaii SE: 15mA Stax T8000: about 8mA KGSSHV: between 6 an 9mA (depending on how… » Read the full article
I have been listening to Stax D50 DAC/amp solution, but I am very unimpressed. The device is very expensive, beautiful and sturdy looking. It’s quite powerful for the size. I have tested it with Stax SR-009 and L300 Limited. Unfortunately, with the L300 Ltd it’s too cold and 2D sounding. With the SR-009, it… » Read the full article
This time, I am testing Yulong DA-ART Aquila II, newborn DAC of the DA-ART line, the collaboration between Yulong and a team of musicians, offering natural sounding products at a competitive price. The Aquila II uses ES9038Pro DAC chipset, which is a change of pace compared to the former latest Yulong DAC’s, where AKM AK4497… » Read the full article
The Yulong DAART line has been defined as a new collaboration between Yulong engineers, musicians and music producers. The Canary is the first product in the DAART line: it’s a transportable DAC with integrated headphone amplifier for computer audio, in the 250-300$ price bracket. The Canary has a peculiar shape and can be found in… » Read the full article
This is the review of the SOtM sHP-100, a portable dac/amplifier combo designed for computer audio. SOtM has made itself known especially for their network players/streamers, such as the tiny sMS-100, which offered several features, stability, and high performance, for a much cheaper price tag than its competitors. The sHP-100 is built on the same… » Read the full article
