Good review. I'm thinking of getting one of these to replace my bigger devices on my desk. I really don't need a ton of power for the headphones and IEMs I currently use and love this compact form factor.
I generally tend to prefer r2r dacs. I have a Denafrips Pontus II and Soekris dac2541 for my desktop chains and love them both. R2R dacs tend to sound more spatially expansive and natural, at least to my ears. R2R dacs tend to be more picky with amp pairings (if they aren't an all in one). As far as being easy to manufacture, that is not so accurate. They may be easier to program through software, but they are not easy to manufacture. Reason being, each resistor has a certain tolerance rate. If you don't match each resistor by the same exact tolerance rate, it will sound horrible. This requires manufacturers to have to spend more money on high quality resistors, as well as match each one individually so that the tolerance rates are matched. There is also a huge difference in preferences with r2r dacs as it relates to oversampling/non-oversampling (nos).
I learned something new today! I always thought the “R2R” stood for reel2reel and it’s an emulation of analogue similar to the old gynormous reel2reel players 😅 It would be interesting to see how it fares against a pocket dac/amp like the KA17. A banger review 👍
Hi Chris, I have both(couldn't help it😂) and to my ears, the OG sounds a little more clinical, neutral and analytical, and less sub-thumpier than the R2R... The R2R sounds a little heftier and musical... to me...🤔(listening with the planars: MP145, S12 2024, and my fave T10) Anyway... Shout-out to Audio46 and B and H for making WAY too easy to get both, also to FIIO LT-TC5L and LT-TC5S USB-C charging and data cables... Thanks as always for your honest and expert review... ☮️&❤ my brother 😎
Oh yeah! I can see that with planars. I think the hybrids may have affected my perception a little bit. And that is recency bias most likely. But you are right. As I think about it, especially the sub thumpy musical part, yep, I am smellin what you're steppin in. B&H Photo Rules!!! I have had good experiences with Audio46 as well. See ya in a bit.
Good review. I'm thinking of getting one of these to replace my bigger devices on my desk. I really don't need a ton of power for the headphones and IEMs I currently use and love this compact form factor.
Thanks for this. I use just little moble dongle dacs. Works well enough for me, my spotify premium, and mid-fi gear.
I generally tend to prefer r2r dacs. I have a Denafrips Pontus II and Soekris dac2541 for my desktop chains and love them both. R2R dacs tend to sound more spatially expansive and natural, at least to my ears. R2R dacs tend to be more picky with amp pairings (if they aren't an all in one).
As far as being easy to manufacture, that is not so accurate. They may be easier to program through software, but they are not easy to manufacture. Reason being, each resistor has a certain tolerance rate. If you don't match each resistor by the same exact tolerance rate, it will sound horrible. This requires manufacturers to have to spend more money on high quality resistors, as well as match each one individually so that the tolerance rates are matched.
There is also a huge difference in preferences with r2r dacs as it relates to oversampling/non-oversampling (nos).
This is just a taste of R2R flavor, the target audience is entry level and people who already have a lot of Delta Sigma DACs
@@hazi5961 this is super helpful hazi. I will continue to research! ☮️
@@gabech2789 I believe you just nailed it.
@ thanks, I have the Grey R2R version bc I didn’t have the willpower to wait for that lovely red colored one 🤩
I learned something new today! I always thought the “R2R” stood for reel2reel and it’s an emulation of analogue similar to the old gynormous reel2reel players 😅 It would be interesting to see how it fares against a pocket dac/amp like the KA17.
A banger review 👍
Hi Chris, I have both(couldn't help it😂) and to my ears, the OG sounds a little more clinical, neutral and analytical, and less sub-thumpier than the R2R...
The R2R sounds a little heftier and musical... to me...🤔(listening with the planars: MP145, S12 2024, and my fave T10)
Anyway...
Shout-out to Audio46 and B and H for making WAY too easy to get both, also to FIIO LT-TC5L and LT-TC5S USB-C charging and data cables...
Thanks as always for your honest and expert review...
☮️&❤ my brother 😎
Oh yeah! I can see that with planars. I think the hybrids may have affected my perception a little bit. And that is recency bias most likely. But you are right. As I think about it, especially the sub thumpy musical part, yep, I am smellin what you're steppin in. B&H Photo Rules!!! I have had good experiences with Audio46 as well.
See ya in a bit.
@BassDad8 ✌🏽😎
Btw, I forgot to mention, the SM4 was also in that "mix"😅
Do you hear an audible difference with other over $1k R2Rs?
@@7in1 I wish I could say…
First again!
@@UFO-Audio noice!!!