awesome review, specially the comparison part! thank you! If i get it correctly the Aune has the largest soundstage. Does that also apply to soundstage depth, tallness and layering? These are my main requirements, so i would much appreciate some input.
Hi and thanks for the comment. Unfortunately I haven't heard the dongles mentioned to have a personal opinion. Maybe someone else from the community could give us some help.
ka17 and ua4 share the same dac ES9069Q, i guess the difference in quality you hear is coming for the amps that are different but is this difference in sound quality also audible with iems that requires very little amplification ? don't the lowest gain used for iem simply bypass the amplification stage, any amp as good as they are distort the sound, if you don't need power it makes sense to completely bypass it in order to have best sound
Hi and thank you for your comment! In my situation I used three different iems for testing, the Sennheiser IE600, Theiaudio Oracle mkII and Fiio FD5.In all occasions I heard better resolution, layering and dynamics with the KA17 although the UA4 was a bit more musical but of course these are subjective impressions. In terms of specs the KA17 features dual Dac set up Vs single in the UA4, different amplification technology and probably differences that are not covered in the specs in terms of coding and topology. About whether the amplification section is bypassed when very efficient iems are used unfortunately I can't tell if this is the case technically , maybe someone from the community could help us with this. Can I ask also if you found this type of visualization helpful for comparisons?
@@TechTune-ur6rc very interesting to know that even for iem you heard a difference, is this difference significant enough that you could tell them appart in a blind test (with the help of a friend) or did you had to do very focused a/b testing to notice the difference ? i did not noticed that ua4 was single dac vs ka17's dual dac, good point !
Hello, I'm considering a dac upgrade for my Hidisz AP80 pro dap with an external dongle. I will only drive iems like the EPZ 530. EPZ had a warmish and thick BA bass with upfront transparant mids/vocals and sparkly, detailed treble. With i miss is a more tight bass and more texture in bass and mid section and also better dynamics. Which dongle will provide me this for about 100 USD? Some power efficient dongle will be appreciated.
Hi and thank you for your comment! It depends on your situation. If you are currently listening to your music wired through your phone or laptop with a decent pair of headphones by switching to a dongle Dac and especially the KA17 you will be able to enjoy the music to its full potential. With this I mean more clarity, more dynamics less noise and of course more amplification power for your headphones. I hope this helped.
Hi and thank you for your comment. In my ears I didn't find it to be especially treble biased. I would say overall it follows the typical Sabre sound ,if you are familiar, but it has a quite refined variation of it. So personally I didn't experience any treble fatigue. Now if you want to be on the safe side maybe you should look at something based on a Cirrus Logic DAC chip such as the Aune Yuki or the Simgot DEW4X. I hope it helped!
Hi and thank you for your comment. In terms of sound quality alone the DC elite is better. Especially around musicality and realism. In terms of features and portability the KA17 is ahead and also it is better in overall value for money proposition.
What about the KA17 sub bass extension ? I looking for a dongle with good subs and punchy midbass
awesome review, specially the comparison part! thank you! If i get it correctly the Aune has the largest soundstage. Does that also apply to soundstage depth, tallness and layering? These are my main requirements, so i would much appreciate some input.
Hi and thank you for your comment. In my opinion the Yuki has a bigger soundstage but the layering and depth goes to KA17.
Excellent rescue, subscribed!
How does the KA17 sound compared to the Cayin ru6 and ru7? And chord mojo 2?
Hi and thanks for the comment. Unfortunately I haven't heard the dongles mentioned to have a personal opinion.
Maybe someone else from the community could give us some help.
ka17 and ua4 share the same dac ES9069Q, i guess the difference in quality you hear is coming for the amps that are different but is this difference in sound quality also audible with iems that requires very little amplification ? don't the lowest gain used for iem simply bypass the amplification stage, any amp as good as they are distort the sound, if you don't need power it makes sense to completely bypass it in order to have best sound
Hi and thank you for your comment! In my situation I used three different iems for testing, the Sennheiser IE600, Theiaudio Oracle mkII and Fiio FD5.In all occasions I heard better resolution, layering and dynamics with the KA17 although the UA4 was a bit more musical but of course these are subjective impressions.
In terms of specs the KA17 features dual Dac set up Vs single in the UA4, different amplification technology and probably differences that are not covered in the specs in terms of coding and topology. About whether the amplification section is bypassed when very efficient iems are used unfortunately I can't tell if this is the case technically , maybe someone from the community could help us with this. Can I ask also if you found this type of visualization helpful for comparisons?
@@TechTune-ur6rc very interesting to know that even for iem you heard a difference, is this difference significant enough that you could tell them appart in a blind test (with the help of a friend) or did you had to do very focused a/b testing to notice the difference ? i did not noticed that ua4 was single dac vs ka17's dual dac, good point !
The SPDIF 3.5 output is optical or coaxial? Thanks
Subscribed. Did you get any overheating issues? Did you update the firmware?
Hello, I'm considering a dac upgrade for my Hidisz AP80 pro dap with an external dongle. I will only drive iems like the EPZ 530. EPZ had a warmish and thick BA bass with upfront transparant mids/vocals and sparkly, detailed treble. With i miss is a more tight bass and more texture in bass and mid section and also better dynamics. Which dongle will provide me this for about 100 USD? Some power efficient dongle will be appreciated.
I'm sorry for my ignorance, but why would I buy something like this? What is it used for?
Hi and thank you for your comment! It depends on your situation. If you are currently listening to your music wired through your phone or laptop with a decent pair of headphones by switching to a dongle Dac and especially the KA17 you will be able to enjoy the music to its full potential. With this I mean more clarity, more dynamics less noise and of course more amplification power for your headphones. I hope this helped.
Did it has pause button?
Hi and thank you for your comment. No unfortunately it doesn't.
How many users presets for eq are available ?
Hi and thanks for the comment. You get three custom EQ presets.
Is KA17 good if someone is treble sensitive?
Hi and thank you for your comment. In my ears I didn't find it to be especially treble biased. I would say overall it follows the typical Sabre sound ,if you are familiar, but it has a quite refined variation of it. So personally I didn't experience any treble fatigue. Now if you want to be on the safe side maybe you should look at something based on a Cirrus Logic DAC chip such as the Aune Yuki or the Simgot DEW4X. I hope it helped!
Wait which is better Elite or ka17?
Hi and thank you for your comment. In terms of sound quality alone the DC elite is better. Especially around musicality and realism. In terms of features and portability the KA17 is ahead and also it is better in overall value for money proposition.
160 usd hahaha