Budget Dac/Amp test (work in progress)

[Psittac]

A few day's ago @rice guru mentioned going mobile for a dac in a post and it got me thinking.... I have a $40 amp but can't find any budget dac's.... Why not try an apple dongle dac.  So that's the premise of the testing I'll be doing and while I'm at it compare it to the fosi audio Q4, Schiit Fulla and onboard.

 

Equipment tested:

Fosi Audio Q4  $60usd Amazon

Apple type C to 3.5mm  $9.50usd Amazon

Douk Audio U3  $42usd Amazon

Schiit Fulla E  $109usd Schiit.com

ALC1220-VB Gigabyte Aorus Ultra X570 front and rear

 

Headphones:

Rode NTH-100 $150usd (Amazon) (Adorama)

40mm Driver

Dynamic

32ohm

110dB/V

 

Sennheiser HD 6xx $280usd (Drop)

??mm Driver

Dynamic

300ohm

??dB/V

 

Beyerdynamic DT-880 premium $160usd (Amazon)

??mm Driver

Dynamic

600ohm

96dB?

 

 

Control dac/amp:

SMSL SU-9

Emotiva A-100  (superceeded by Emotiva BasX A2m)

 

Media:

Tidal HiFi

 

 

 

Open to suggestions

 

Test #1 Sub-Bass Control on Rode NTH-100  Track Yellow Claw and DJ Snake - Public Enemy 2:42 - 3:05

Fosi Q4: Abundant bass that is exaggerated and bloomy but fun  (volume knob just under half way)

Apple + Douk: Correct amount of bass not as bloomy but slightly exaggerated  (volume knob just under half way)

Fulla Schiit: Correct amount of bass, not bloomy or exaggerated  (volume knob just over 1/3)

Onboard: Slightly exaggerated, the rest is correct (volume knob 40%)

 

Test #1 Sub-Bass Control on Sennheiser 6xx  Track Yellow Claw and DJ Snake - Public Enemy 2:42 - 3:05

Fosi Q4: Muddy bass volume knob at 2/3 slightly shouty

Apple + Douk: Exaggerated bass, slightly boomy but fun  (volume knob just over half, starting to get a little shouty so difficult to adjust properly)

Fulla Schiit: Slightly exaggerated slightly boomy (volume knob just under half, not shouty)

onboard: Bloomy bass but sounds good Volume 68

 

Test #1 Sub-Bass Control on Beyerdynamic DT-880pro 600ohm  Track Yellow Claw and DJ Snake - Public Enemy 2:42 - 3:05

Fosi Q4: Shouty and struggling, stopped adding volume at 75%

Apple + Douk: Quiet, shouty and struggling, max volume (might be my imagination but I may have smelled hot electronics)

Fulla Schiit: Slightly shouty, somewhat exaggerated bass, overall pretty impressed volume 70%

onboard: Shouty and thin but given the circumstances better than I was expecting.

 

Test #2 Sub-Bass Quantity on Rode NTH-100 Track Shades, Alix Perez, Eprom and Mc GQ - Immortals 0:50 - 1:20

Fosi Q4: 10/10

Apple + Douk: 8/10

Fulla Schiit: 9/10

onboard: 9/10

 

Test #2 Sub-Bass Quantity on Sennheiser 6xx Track Shades, Alix Perez, Eprom and Mc GQ - Immortals 0:50 - 1:20

Fosi Q4: 8/10

Apple + Douk: 7/10

Fulla Schiit" 8/10

onboard:  11/10 (more quantity than smsl/a-100)

 

 

 

*edit: I'm finding that everything I'm hearing is completely gone on youtube videos no matter the chain

[Psittac]

Does anyone have suggestions of what other aspects I should test?  I've heard that bass is the first place an under powered amp will fall down so that's what I tested.

 

All of these solutions sound drastically different when keeping the volume across the board the same, namely the douk and fosi would lose volume in the mids where the fulla stayed pretty close to the test setup with the exception being the dt-880-600 which crapped on most everything and the fulla holding up surprisingly well all thing's considered.  Onboard did the best at staying flat across the 6xx and nth-100 but it's a higher end onboard solution.

 

Thought's on each so far

 

Fosi Q4:  This dac/amp is difficult to compare against due to the knobs for bass and treble, I did my best to match it to my topping DX7 a while ago where the mids (can't be changed) are close in total volume to the bass and treble.  The biggest downfall of this solution would probably be it's dac as I tested it with the a-100 and the same sound signature was present on that amp too.  It just lacks clarity and refinement.  I wouldn't suggest this dac/amp over anything else listed especially the onboard solution.  However if you have a faulty or poor quality onboard solution it could be an upgrade.

 

Apple Dongle + Douk:  This one suffered the same problem of keeping volume present across the spectrum, when I would adjust volume for treble and bass the mids would sit in the background and sound distant.  Clarity isn't it's best point either.  I'm thinking that a better dac may let this amp shine as a budget champ but seeing as a dac is far more expensive than an amp, I'm going to have to look for another solution, maybe I'll try it with the onboard audio dac to see what it's capable of.  Another note is supposedly this can be modified to run off 12v instead of 5v greatly increasing it's output, just not entirely sure if I want to trust that,  But at that point perhaps it will run well.  But for $50 with dongle and amp + another $7 for a cable, it's probably the best solution at this price point, again only if your onboard solution is lacking in some way.

 

Fulla Schiit:  Across the board this is the best solution but also the most expensive.  It is better than onboard because of the refinement it offers in listening experience, clarity being the biggest win.  It even did the best on the 600ohm headphones.  That's not to say I would suggest them for that use, but I can safely say they will keep pace with anything in the 250ohm family with the 6xx 300ohm doing rather well.

 

Onboard:  This is a tricky one because my solution is probably one of the better solutions.  I can say that overall it lacks refinement but will do good enough for most headphones.  I don't know how to describe the difference between it and the Fulla, the onboard just sounds a little flatter across the board but turned up a couple notches.  Almost like it lacks the dynamic range that the Schiit product offers.  Onboard audio will be good enough for many, but anyone wanting to spend $100+ will find improvements to be had.

[Psittac]

I just got this Sybasonic SD-DAC63116 today and gave it a listen for half an hour on my nth-100 and I have to say for the money it's pretty good, no glaring problems and I would be happy with it if I was on a budget and didn't have good onboard.  These are very easy to drive and non-transparent headphones so I'm going to redo the entire test and include this dac/amp.  For price to performance I think it may be a winner, if it can drive something like a 6xx competently then it's a no brainer.

 

Does anyone have suggestions or critiques of my testing?  Anything to add or take away?  I might throw in some planar's too but I only have he-400i (2017) and t50rp in that category.  Was thinking I might try the douk with the onboard audio dac.  I'll have to look at my other computers to see if any of them have lack luster onboard too.

[Jirne]

If you're going to test AMP's you should have at least one pair of sensitive IEM's for checking noise floor and a pair of planar headphones, since there's amp's that will easily drive your more demanding dynamics (which I assume is what the DT-880's are there for) but will struggle with planar's and vise-versa.

[rice guru]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:40 PM, Psittac said:

A few day's ago @rice guru mentioned going mobile for a dac in a post and it got me thinking.... I have a $40 amp but can't find any budget dac's.... Why not try an apple dongle dac.  So that's the premise of the testing I'll be doing and while I'm at it compare it to the fosi audio Q4, Schiit Fulla and onboard.

 

Equipment tested:

Fosi Audio Q4  $60usd Amazon

Apple type C to 3.5mm  $9.50usd Amazon

Douk Audio U3  $42usd Amazon

Schiit Fulla E  $109usd Schiit.com

ALC1220-VB Gigabyte Aorus Ultra X570 front and rear

 

Headphones:

Rode NTH-100 $150usd (Amazon) (Adorama)

40mm Driver

Dynamic

32ohm

110dB/V

 

Sennheiser HD 6xx $280usd (Drop)

??mm Driver

Dynamic

300ohm

??dB/V

 

Beyerdynamic DT-880 premium $160usd (Amazon)

??mm Driver

Dynamic

600ohm

96dB?

 

 

Control dac/amp:

SMSL SU-9

Emotiva A-100  (superceeded by Emotiva BasX A2m)

 

Media:

Tidal HiFi

 

 

 

Open to suggestions

 

Test #1 Sub-Bass Control on Rode NTH-100  Track Yellow Claw and DJ Snake - Public Enemy 2:42 - 3:05

Fosi Q4: Abundant bass that is exaggerated and bloomy but fun  (volume knob just under half way)

Apple + Douk: Correct amount of bass not as bloomy but slightly exaggerated  (volume knob just under half way)

Fulla Schiit: Correct amount of bass, not bloomy or exaggerated  (volume knob just over 1/3)

Onboard: Slightly exaggerated, the rest is correct (volume knob 40%)

 

Test #1 Sub-Bass Control on Sennheiser 6xx  Track Yellow Claw and DJ Snake - Public Enemy 2:42 - 3:05

Fosi Q4: Muddy bass volume knob at 2/3 slightly shouty

Apple + Douk: Exaggerated bass, slightly boomy but fun  (volume knob just over half, starting to get a little shouty so difficult to adjust properly)

Fulla Schiit: Slightly exaggerated slightly boomy (volume knob just under half, not shouty)

onboard: Bloomy bass but sounds good Volume 68

 

Test #1 Sub-Bass Control on Beyerdynamic DT-880pro 600ohm  Track Yellow Claw and DJ Snake - Public Enemy 2:42 - 3:05

Fosi Q4: Shouty and struggling, stopped adding volume at 75%

Apple + Douk: Quiet, shouty and struggling, max volume (might be my imagination but I may have smelled hot electronics)

Fulla Schiit: Slightly shouty, somewhat exaggerated bass, overall pretty impressed volume 70%

onboard: Shouty and thin but given the circumstances better than I was expecting.

 

Test #2 Sub-Bass Quantity on Rode NTH-100 Track Shades, Alix Perez, Eprom and Mc GQ - Immortals 0:50 - 1:20

Fosi Q4: 10/10

Apple + Douk: 8/10

Fulla Schiit: 9/10

onboard: 9/10

 

Test #2 Sub-Bass Quantity on Sennheiser 6xx Track Shades, Alix Perez, Eprom and Mc GQ - Immortals 0:50 - 1:20

Fosi Q4: 8/10

Apple + Douk: 7/10

Fulla Schiit" 8/10

onboard:  11/10 (more quantity than smsl/a-100)

 

 

 

*edit: I'm finding that everything I'm hearing is completely gone on youtube videos no matter the chain

As much as I like the apple dongle dac I only reccomend it due to straight up availability there are better options on places like Ali express. With stuff like the ve Avani, or a moondrop click. The problem with the apple dongle is at max volume it can sound shouty and uncontrolled but still better than a majority of onboard especially if it's noisy, and it sucks if your buying the European version 

[spartaman64]

On 10/3/2022 at 7:25 PM, rice guru said:

As much as I like the apple dongle dac I only reccomend it due to straight up availability there are better options on places like Ali express. With stuff like the ve Avani, or a moondrop click. The problem with the apple dongle is at max volume it can sound shouty and uncontrolled but still better than a majority of onboard especially if it's noisy, and it sucks if your buying the European version 

also its hard to get the full volume on android because they dont have hardware volume control without rooting or something like UAPP. I got abigail dongle from aliexpress and while i havent had time to ab test upon initial impressions I think its better than apple dong. also the cable on abigail is much more robust and i heard the cable fraying on the apple dong is a problem 

[Tan3l6]

Cool, I've got Fosi Audio DAC-04 and it's all I need for Hifiman HE400se.

Though the trebble and bass are a bit difficult to me to calibrate...

Cost only 30€