iDSD Black Label by iFi

direct link to the review

https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/ifi-audio-micro-idsd.20201/reviews#review-18157

Next stop RHA CL750 + DACAMP

CL750
https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/rha-cl750.21740/reviews#review-17777


dacamp
https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/rha-dacamp-l1.21738/reviews#review-17789

Questyle Q192

This here is a rare piece of hardware, the Q192, discontinued product, and you hardly can find any info on this dac amp

http://www.head-fi.org/products/questyle-q192-dac-with-headphone-amplifier-silver/reviews/17463

iFi iCan Nano

http://www.head-fi.org/products/ifi-ican-nano-portable-headphone-amp/reviews/17536

Schiit Magni

Schiit ( named exactly what you think it is ) is a company established by Jason Stoddard. Their ideal is simple, clean, powerful, made in the USA using USA parts. I love them for the plain humor they imply on their site, and also the design of the item. Oh, not forgetting the great sound from a simple circuit board implementation.

Some do feel that simplistic means lousy, this redefines it! Here we will talk about the Magni, an "entry" level $99 amp that packs some absurd power. 1.2W RMS per channel on 32 ohm, like seriously.. and on 600 ohms, 130mw RMS. So, who says $99 amp cant get you nowhere?

Magni

Design

I absolutely love the aluminium looks of the Magni. It looks real simplistic and is a definite space saver on a desk. The Magni is connected via RCA ONLY. 

Rear

There are 2 variations for voltage and 4 types of plugs to choose from.

Sound

When I plugged in this amp, I was skeptical for a $99 amp. I wasn't expecting something extraordinary, apparently from the early part of this article you should know I had my mind turn upside down.

Treble

The treble on Magni is really really nice. From an orchestral perspective, you can hear all the minor details that are in the music clearly. The high hats are just plain crispy. All the little "ting tings" possible in a music is clear cut and apparent. No top parts of the music gets let off.

Vocal / Mids

Wow, the trumpets in this Magni is mesmerizing.  Vocals mix real well with the trumpets in "Trumpets, by jason derulo" That really proves that vocal isn't always necessarily be overturning other mid range audio parts. Piano, goosebumps, period!

Female vocal is quite sweet and warm on the "Vertigo" duet between Jason Derulo and Jordin Sparks. Their mix with the piano really caught me in my emotions!

Bass

I used "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo to test the deep down bass of Magni, and it did not disappoint at all! Beats can go real down thumping, but very well controlled and precise. It will not give you the WAAAYYY overpowered bass that "some brands" will give, but instead quality speaks better than quantity.

Soundstage

The soundstage projected by the Magni is very wide, as explainable in "the fire rises" by Hans Zimmer. The whole scene can almost be very well positioned, with every instruments pin pointable to their exact location, near or distanced. Echos transverse wide and clear without early cut offs.

Dynamics are very well done in Magni. It feels like everything is equally appearing and mix real well together, giving you the feeling that this is at the Alo Audio level material but at a $99 price level.

Conclusion

Well, with that many praises from Head-Fi, and Jason with his humor, I can say it is undeniable that Schiit is making them a challenger to be reckoned with at this already diverse market of amp and DAC options. If you do have an interest in audio, the first step to go for will be the Magni, it's $99 pure awesomeness! I wonder what other Schiit will sound like.. Schitty perhaps? haha. For Magni, I give a 100% definite recommendations, no questions asked!

Coming soon - Fiio X5

Arrangements are being made with Fiio to review the unreleased Fiio X5 player, so hold on to your seats, cause it will be here some time soon.

Fiio X5

Features:

• Dual Core Ingenics 4760B dual-core 600MHz CPU
• supports DSD, APE, FLAC, ALAC, WMA, WAV, ALAC
• Serves as DAC when connected to computer
• Asynchronous USB up to 24/192
• Quad Balanced Power Supply with separate positive and negative rails for pre-amp and amp sections),

Quad Balanced Power supply

• Dual TF slots supporting 128GB and more in newer firmware
• 10 band Graphic EQ
• 2.4" IPS LCD
• Mechanical scroll wheel
• 3 output ports, line out, headphone out, coaxial
• external dac+ amp supported
• 3700 mAh 3.7v lithium battery

CPU: JZ4760， DAC chip：PCM1792， AMP chip: OPA1612

Shonyun 306a portable amp - SO CLOSE

Shonyun (山韵) 306a is quite a reputable portable amp from the mainland China. It has been featured in multiple review sites, and so you will have a tonne of reference in comparison, so I will make it my way, short and straight to the point as usual.

306a on the left, dacport LX on the right

 Packaging

Since what i got is a demo package, so I am not quite sure how accurate is the package content. They include 2x 3.5mm interconnects, one with Choseal Q563A HIFI cable, another with DIY Tefflon silver plated HIFI cable by Ancient River as shown above. The rest in the box includes a charger and the unit itself.

The package itself is made of hard paper box, which is a love or hate thing, depending on what you think of it.

unpacked

The Unit

The unit itself is very simplistic, with the power inlet at the bottom, and source in, out and volume knob on the top. The unit lights up when both in and out are connected, no power switch of any, so you will have to unplug to switch it off, which I kinda not like it (who ever thought of not needing a power switch should be fired). The body is made of metal, which is nice, but why the hell is the surface using acrylic? It will be prone to scratches, which ruins the overall looks.

Battery life is also quite at an acceptable level, on my listening level of 9 o clock, it can last around 10 hours or so in single charge, all thanks to 21V of battery, consisting of 5 x 3.7V in serial. Not forgetting, there is no battery level indicator, it only either lights up the logo, or not. Depleting battery means sudden shutting off of  the amp without notice. What a mood killer!

Power On

The 306a also has a secure feature, where the volume knob can be pushed into make sure you don't accidentally turn it too loud. This I will give a "like" to.

The charge is where the indication of charge level is, instead of the unit itself. When charging it lights up red, and when done lights up green.

charged

charging

Picture extracted from lowyat.net forum.

Sound

Treble

The treble / high range of this amp, although sounds good overall, in a nit pick manner, there are still some wobbly high notes reproduction, which is weird and I couldn't explain it in exact terms except wobble wobble ( like the vocal tone going slight up and down but not changing the tone level -> the vocal vibrations). Putting that aside, the cyrstality level leaves it very suitable for mobile usage, especially line out from devices like iDevice or even Android line out to a DAC then to 306a. The thick sounding source of the usual mobile devices lets the treble on 306a be tamed down and be much comfortable to listen to.

Mids / Vocal

Vocal on the 306a could use some improvements, as the vocals are relatively recessed, and can be clearly heard off modern day music. Drums though are placed quite in a good position, as every hit can be clearly heard, and not missed out or cut off. Overall speaking, the vocal got suppressed by almost all the instruments added up together (feels like the music player is bullying the singer).

Guitar is also a portion that I am quite liking on the 306a. Strikingly appearing, and glares like a sun shining down on the music. 

Bass

The bass on the 306a is what I am loving to the utmost. The bass hits hard, accurate and full of authority. It doesn't scale to the basshead level, but if you appreciate quality bass from bass guitars and bass drums, you will certainly love this one. I never expected such amount of bass out of the Q701, but it did oush out all the bass mass it needs to sound great. Definitely a great bass prone amp, and a good one!

Soundstage

Soundstage on the 306a can be quite a subjective matter that is very much a bull shit debate that can cause a massive forest fire. Even then, I will still comment on it, and depends on your perspective compared to mine. To me, the soundstage is quite wide, and not quite restrictive provided that you have such a good source to decipher it. Staging feel from a concert music is very entertaining, and does not cause a fatigue of tight space feel to the music.

Summary

Likes

• Quality bass
• Secured volume knob
• Environmental packaging
• 2 cables (varies according to retail)

Dislikes

• Lack of power switch
• Acrylic surface finishing
• Lack of battery indication

Conclusion

From an overall look, I do like this amp, and almost will give out the "recommended" stamp, once all the annoyances are fixed, and some features implemented back. IF yu can live through the minor annoyances, this is a good to go amp to buy.

Credits to Stars Picker Enterprise (reg no: CA0199613-A) for loaning the unit for review.
Contact method/details:
Email: starspickeraudio@gmail.com
Facebook shop: Stars Picker (http://www.facebook.com/StarsPicker)
Hp: +6012-3395413 Willy (preferably via lowyat forum - https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3024046&hl= or any online mode)

Coming soon

Review on the next item will be this item

Shonyun 山韵 306a portable amp that is made in China

credits to the following for the unit loan coming in:

Stars Picker Enterprise (reg no: CA0199613-A)

Location of seller: KL, Hong Kong, China

Contact method/details:
Email: starspickeraudio@gmail.com
Facebook shop: Stars Picker (http://www.facebook.com/StarsPicker)
Hp: +6012-3395413 Willy (preferably via lowyat forum or any online mode)



and of course Shonyun for the unit itself

Sales thread for Shonyun by Stars Picker Ent:https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3024046&hl=

GoVibe Minibox Review

The GoVibe minibox is a plain simple amp without any special features, heck it doesnt even have a volume control. So this review will be short as hell.

Layout

Simple use of numbering to tell you everything

1. Power inlet is beside source input, on the left
2. audio out on the right, with 2 LED: blue for power display, red for charge
3. back is shirt clip

That's all bout the layout

Cable that comes along is one right angle 3.5mm to straight 3.5mm jack. Charger is usb to DC inlet

Sound

Since it's a passive amp, so I am expecting it to not draw it's own characteristics to sound, but merely amplifying what you give them. So, this is a confusing part, does it have it's own colouring or just a impedance lift up? I have no idea

Final word

Cant say much about it, but for people who thinks they need more power, say for 250 ohm headphone maybe, can sure try this unit. It's not expensive at all, really. Maybe a pack of cigarette  or 2.

Hippo CriCri+ Review

The hippo cricri+ is a 24bit 96khz capable DAC+ Amp, with an internal battery to run on, has line in audio, and that makes it one hell of a complete package. The question is, is it good in sound? FYI it packs a TI USB DAC, so should be a not bad one.

Outlook

At first glance, the unit looks real solid, with a brushed metal type look  on it. The power button is by a click away. Volume button is easily controlled, and can maneuver precisely.

Weight

The unit actually is quite light, and can be pocketed without you actually caring about the weight.

Accesories

3.5mm interconnect

USB cable for PC use or charging

Sound

Basically I will be reviewing it as a DAC+ AMP, since it will be more optimal.

Treble

The treble in the cricri+ is quite clean and not sharply spiked. Just a decent quality treble i must say.

Mid

The vocals is quite "in the middle". Not very strongly forward but yet cant be called laid back. Background vocals are quite muffled bits though, but still can be heard.

Bass

Bass on the cricri+ is quite strong I must say, and packs some punches, BUT it will not satisfy basshead's craving for an ear massage. 

Soundstage

Somehow, I really like the amount of width that the cricri+ is able to project. It has a certain extent of airiness, though still not the best of all. 

Conclusion

I would really recommend this unit for people who seeks these in one pack: 1. portable amp 2. home headamp but dislikes bulkiness 3. has an easy drive IEM or headphone. If you fulfil the 3 terms, this is for you.

Burson Audio Soloist + LCD-3 review

Burson Audio Soloist SL

The Soloist SL is one amp that I am quite impressed with. 

Design + build

Burson Audio Soloist SL

Well I can say that I am totally loving the whole aluminium casing idea and it looks really really classy. All the socket connection secures tightly despite frequent plug unplugging. 

One thing that bothers me though is the only rca input, which I did not have the cable for, and had to go out and find one 3.5mm to RCA. Although so, the 2 inputs are quite appreciated so that users can switch between inputs. Great for AB-ing too.

Audeze LCD-3

This headphone is one heavy one i must say, and overall the build is real classy looking, with the comfort of leather that I find wearing a whole day without breaking a sweat. With the package comes along these accessories:

• Ruggedized travel case

• 4-pin to 2x3-pin XLR adapter (for balanced cables)

• Leather care kit
• 4-pin to 6.5mm adapter

Sound

I always love to simplify sound description and not over boast it. In here, I will just directly make judgement and not split them up into 2 sections, since this review is about the synergy of this both.

Treble

The pairing really brought out major detailing that I have yet to hear from what I had, which made me really impressed. All the clear audio really got me going on and on boasting how good the sound is to my surrounding fellow mates.

Vocal / Mids

The mids are quite forward in this pairing, and I can really feel it quite close to me, so I dont miss a single word out of the singer's lyrics. Background vocals are well separated with the main singer, and doesn't get overly mashed up, which also depends on the mastering of the audio.

Bass

The amount of bass in this pair is short and full of power, but not boasting the ear shattering amount. They do little to the bass and is quite focused on the quality of audio and not letting the bass getting all over the music. 

Soundstage

The soundstage is also one of the point that really got me going on boasting. It is really wide, and is one of the best I have heard so far. Nothing came even close to what this pair had to offer. Having listening to some live concert masterings and instrumental ones, I am quite sure this pair will do remarkable experience to classic lovers.

Conclusions:

Well, all thanks to the sponsor, Burson Audio, I had one hell of an experience, and will definitely get this setup once I hit a jackpot. Now the next person in line, get your ears all ready for hell of an experience, mate! And lastly, as always ,  test everything, leave nothing behind.

Big Guns are here

I have finally received the long awaited (at my side at least) for the Audeze LCD-3 and Burson Audio Soloist SL unit. I'll be starting to test it after i get the things set up, for now, pictures of a few

Burson Audio Soloist SL

Audeze LCD-3

Open up

Special  thanks to Burson Audio and Audeze for this wonderful opportunity, I wouldn't be ablke to afford these rigs anyways :/

Intriguing special product

I was browsing around, and noticed something unusual among the products, which looked like this:

Now this is something i wished i had the chance to have a look at, it's the V-Moda Verza, a Universal DAC+Amp for android Samsung GS3 line out and also apple line out. It is priced @ USD600.00. No idea how much will it be locally, but my guess on rates should be more than RM2k. Ouch! @@ Here is a snippet from the site itself:

O2 + Interconnect cable comparison (extract)

The following is the review I did in the past for earmass.com, so I'll just copy and paste it into here, simply because it's mine, haha XD

Side by Side

(From left)BTG,Bos 4 and BOS3LE

O2 Amp comparisons:

Summary: Both sounds just about the same, no difference in sound signature is detectable, difference mainly in builds and size

JDS Labs : Smaller housing, better volume pot and jack qualities, power and gain button spacing is tighter, volume easier to control because of its tightness.

Leolabs: larger housing, cheaper rate for purchase, jacks not as tightly secured as JDS used, no branding on the unit at all, it’s a DIY after all. Springs can be seen at the power button and gain button, revealing a slight loose house fit and volume control.

Both has the same gain amount, as they build based on the reference design.

Output cleanliness: Since both has about the same SQ, we shall compare how clean the signal passes through the amp to output. On low gain, the differences are not very noticeable, but on high gain are different. All my units are low impedance, so on a high gain, I will be able to detect which distorts sooner.

JDS: The output is far cleaner than of Leo, there are less clippings and distortions detectable. On several occasions, the whole SQ seems to be sleek and cleaner. We can’t blame the differences cause sources for components in Malaysia is not very wide, quality components are quite costly. A DIY is very hard to beat one made by companies, but a very good effort by Leo, hence for this, unless you are up for a premium price, might as well take Leo’s unit for a run. The output cleanliness is only detectable when you have sensitive rigs, which I suppose mainstream listeners tend not to have.

Cable comparison:

BOS3LE

BOS4

BTG Audio Interconnect

BOS3LE

Build: BOS3LE has sleeving, which is a good thing, prevents damages to the cables, but tends to be harder to bend. Sleeving caused it to “remember” the position it was bent. Repairs to this cable may be troublesome, the repair will need to first take off the sleeves, and then only make repairs, then sleeve back again, in this situation, and workmanship may cost more. Silver Rean plug is used on BOS3LE which I expected on first look will be more vocalist sounding, and I was right.

SQ: The sound of this cable tends to bring the whole song more forward. It places the singer quite near the ears. What I think it outshines is the guitars, the guitar tends to sing better in this cable compared to the other cables. Since it brings in a very forward sound, naturally, vocals will sound best in this too. Pronunciations of the singer can be heard really clearly, every word can be heard well with no misses.

BOS4

Build: Build wise is similar to BOS3LE, although uses silver sleeve so that can be easily differentiated from BOS3LE. Memory effect tends to be lesser on the BOS4. If BOS4 was put together with the BOS3, we can see that the BOS3 bent more than BOS4. Gold Rean plug, which normally I expect a relatively wide soundstage and dynamics, and I might have a good feeling on this one.

SQ: BOS4 has a much better pronounced bass, but lacks separation in the bass hits when fast bass drums roll in. Soundstage on BOS4 is an A+ on this, feels something like a small hall, echoes are slight longer and lasts a bit. Vocal on the BOS4 is slightly laid back and mix into the songs together, overall what can I say is this is slight balanced, so you hear everything, and nothing pops out from the crowd. Recommended as a cable for flat EQ listeners.

BTG Audio

BTG Audio cable is the cable I bought myself, and it has no sleeving, and yet more expensive than the other cables I have seen, excluding exotics like ALO Audio.

Build: BTG Audio build has in comparison lost to BOS due to lack of sleeve and shielding, but since mine is a right angle jack, it is more convenient to use than of BOS, and cable doesn’t need to be bent, saves the trouble of memory cable, and cable will have lesser bent pressure, so damage chances will be lower. Oxidation will be a problem with the cable, and BOS is the winner in build comparison.

Availability, Convenience and options: well, unless BOS has the option of a full series of jacks, doesn’t seem that BOS wins over BTG. BOS is easier to get than BTG, so win goes to BOS. BTG has to be ordered from the US, and payment by Paypal. With an expensive postage included, it can be a hassle to get one. The price is more expensive than BOS line up at a shorter distance, which will cause more considerations.

SQ: BTG Audio by far has the best bass among the 3, every single beat of the bass drums can be heard clearly, bit by bit, how many steps did the drum make. This will explain the clarity level of BTG. I believe that the BOS uses copper cable, and BTG is a silver one, so the cable is about details, all details will not be missed out. Vocal wise is just below BOS3LE, slightly laid back than BOS3, but not as far as BOS 4.

Conclusion:

Overall sound: Go for BOS4 or BTG

Vocal freaks: BOS3LE

Detailings: BTG Audio with silver cable

Listening instruments:

Foobar2000 – WASAPI- DACPort LX 24/96 DAC – JDSLabs O2 / Leolabs DIY O2 Amp – Custom One Pro (Port 2)

Songs Line Up:

So Far Away, God Hates Us – A7X –Guitar, Bass, Vocal

紅塵客棧 – jay Chow – Instrumentation, Soundstage

Life of the party, Be your everything – Boys Like Girls – Vocal, Bass

Gotham’s Reckoning – Hans Zimmer – 24 bit instrumentation, soundstage, dynamics

Chicken fried – zack brown band – guitar, dynamics

O2 comparisons:

JDS Labs: much cleaner output, bass is lesser, but I can feel the whole song has cleaner cymbals and distortion rate is lower.

Leolabs: well, “dirty” output doesn’t mean it will sound bad. It sounds good in dynamics and vocality, but there are distortions and clippings here and there for not pickers / really sensitive IEMs, and the “dirty” sound results in a flatter sound output too.

Side note: on normal headphones, pop sound is not apparent, but once I use the CIEM, there tends to be a slight pop on both devices, sensitivity can pick up things some cant.

Equipments: JDS O2 / Leolabs O2 + UM Miracle+ BTG Audio Cables for CIEM and also at the interconnect

Cable Comparisons:

In this second review, I will be using the JDSLabs amp as the focus output, so decisions can take on consistencies.

BOS3LE:

SQ: Bass is still not very well separated. Continuous bass drums couldn’t be sorted out piece by piece, vocal is more forward than I expected. Seems my first review didn’t go off course too much. Not much pronounced highs, cymbals are placed at the rear together with the drums, only make the suitable appearance as recordings should be. Instrumentations are also still brought to the forward positions, not covering the vocal, which is what people need in their music, instrumentations stay at the back, where they should be.

Soundstage: since I mentioned that almost all sounds are brought to the front, that counts into “not much soundstage to be said”.

Dynamics: Seems that there will occasionally be mix ups, where certain instruments couldn’t be taken into the suitable position, and becomes quite unsettling to the very familiar songs.

BOS4

SQ: instrumentations and drum sets make a pronounced appearance, vocals take their positions really well at the middle, but not overwhelmed by the instrumentations. Continuous drums can be well separated, and I can manage to count how many hits on the bass drums did the drummer hit it. Very well balanced mixture overall. Not forgetting, the BOS4 seems to have a better gain and volume than of the BOS3, might have to do with the plugs used, gold = best conductivity = faster throughput = less resistance which finally equals more throughput

Soundstage: Can be sensed that it can project soundstage echoes to quite a distance. Echoes from the instrumentations seems to be able to be pulled longer before it ends, overall a really good soundstage offering given here. Doesn’t give a “studio” feel to music, instead is “entertaining”.

Dynamics: Compared to BOS3, there are more details revealed, and they mix in the overall music “just right amount”.

BTG Audio

SQ: BTG has better pacing and speed compared to BOS, there is also a “unexplainable glare” it adds to the music, makes the music feel they have “emotions”, it might be due to the fact that it uses silver cable and REAN plug, the whole transparency level just won over BOS totally. Vocal is still defeated by BOS3LE, soundstage is defeated by BOS4, but others, well everything else BTG owns them hands down.

Soundstage: Although not as wide as the BOS series, it does give a sense of “hollowness” in it. My ears can roughly estimate the distance of the instrument, and how far off the echo roughly is.

Dynamics: The overall music feel is very well mixed, with placements slightly more accurate, and takes into consideration “the glare” I mentioned, it is a very nice little cable, but do consider the price, it is quite steep, ouch! For a shorter than both BOS cable, it is way more expensive than them.