Dongle Dac/Amp Shootout Apple Dongle vs Meizu vs MBlu

[@d0nj03]

There are exceptions to that off-brand rule ofc, for example if you get some random dongle based on the Conexant CX31993 DAC chip you're likely to get better sound than from the Apple dongle, if I go by existing reviews of multiple 31993 devices. This chip has been blowing minds with its price/performance it seems. BTW, I wish you'd mentioned which DAC chip is in each of these dongles - that design choice is pretty much what makes or breaks these devices since they don't have room for a lot else in there.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

I’ve only had luck with one random dongle dac, that wasn’t meizu or Apple. Based on the number of dacs I’ve tried, I’ve found the dac chip doesn’t not always conclusively describe how it will sound, which is why I don’t include it.

[@jcap8391]

Hello darkness my old friend 🥲😶‍🌫️

[@mototom9086]

Lol ;-)) Let's see how this clock works, please give me the hammer ...

[@nyvoreviews5443]

😂

[@amanieux]

on the qu5k with olina on the 3.5mm se output, do your hear a difference in bass when you switch from normal gain to high gain ( lowering volume to match loudness with normal gain ) ? on my es100 i get much more bass on bal output vs se output or on apple dongle ( matching overall loudness on pink noise) with olina and s12 ( but no difference on heart mirror so this added bass with extra power available on the source is iem dependant but clearly audible)

[@nyvoreviews5443]

How are you matching your pink noise levels? Just by ear?

[@amanieux]

@@nyvoreviews5443 no using a android db meter app

[@nyvoreviews5443]

@@amanieux I don’t think that will be accurate enough to say they are truly db matched. (Needs to be within 0.1 db and that leaves too much room for error)

[@amanieux]

Even if loudness is not perfectly matched, if I want to reach the same level of bass on the SE output, mids get shouty very fast so there is a very noticeable difference in bass quantity

[@amanieux]

can you spot these dongle vs q5k in a blind test with the help of someone hiding the dac from you to avoid placebo? thanks

[@nyvoreviews5443]

As mentioned. I just hosted a double blind abx test, it takes a lot of time to set these tests up so I have not done that. But I think I personally could because I know what to listen for.

[@thomasleong9401]

I was expecting to hear the shoot out! Yucks.

[@nyvoreviews5443]

What do you mean by this? Me recording audio over each dongle and then you listening to it over your dac? It doesn’t quite work that way.