This is my take on Yulong’s last offering, the DA10 DAC / headphone amplifier. The DA10 is the evolution of DA9, basing itself on the same chip and D/A circuitry. Both use the AK4497, which is the top of the line of AKM dac chips, specifically designed for music, and has a very neutral, fluid… » Read the full article
This review describes the sound of Yulong DA-ART Aquila, a DAC derived from the Yulong’s top of the line, the DA9, and aimed to sound very linear and smooth. The Aquila follows the Canary in the DA-ART line, a collaboration between Yulong and several musicians, and as the name suggests (Aquila means “Eagle”, in Italian),… » Read the full article
Until a couple of years ago, Yulong DAC’s have historically been associated ESS Sabre chipsets, introduced with the Yulong D18 and used through the years until the Yulong DA8 Mk2 was designed. In 2016, we saw a change of pace: Yulong created the ADA-1, a middle range DAC based up AKM 4490 chipset. Along with… » 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
The Hifiman MegaMini is SuperMini’s little brother, and the second entry in Hifiman’s thin audiophile digital audio players. The MegaMini is a less expensive alternative to the SuperMini, although it wouldn’t show by looks, being equally elegant, slick and nicely built. The MegaMini follows the same philosophy as the SuperMini, meaning, the capability to amp… » Read the full article
The Hifiman SuperMini is the newest entry in HifiMan’s line of audiophile digital audio players. It differentiates itself because it is extremely small and thin, especially when compared to the much bigger HM-901S and HM-802S. It’s also a very elegant player, with a beautiful line. The SuperMini has been researched in order to obtain a… » Read the full article
This is my review for the Hifiman HM802s, a very interesting audiophile digital audio player, standing as the second most expensive in to Hifiman high quality DAPs line-up, after the higher spec’ed flagship, Hifiman HM901s. The two products are quite different in sound, and capable to different sound signature needs: while the HM802s is considerably… » Read the full article
This time, we are going to discover the Yulong ADA-1. Yulong has been silent for a couple of years since their last offering, and this DAC signs a change of pace compared to the past. While Yulong former top of the line DAC’s were based on ESS Sabre chips (thus, forming the so called Yulong… » Read the full article
HiFiMan was the first Chinese manufacturer to have ventured in the hi-end mp3 player market. The HM801, about 6-7 years ago, started it all with over the top specifications, implementing the revered (and discontinued) BurrBrown PCM-1704 dac chip, for the first time in a portable package. A few years later, other competitors have followed HiFiMan’s… » 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
