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Post by chris1967 on Jan 30, 2016 13:50:19 GMT
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jan 30, 2016 15:22:50 GMT
Pity about the output impedance being a bit high. That might have an effect on some headphones. Lovely looking unit. I'm still thinking about the X1.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 30, 2016 21:03:59 GMT
for some unknown reason i do fancy a new desktop dac. i think my micro idsd will take some beating though. the S16 is on my shortlist along with chord 2qute , the teac ud503 and the upcoming idsdpro from ifi.
cost of course would be offset by selling my micro.
thanks for posting that Chris, hopefully they will review the others i'm interested in.
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Post by chris1967 on Jan 31, 2016 10:05:33 GMT
Well as far as the reviews that i follow here in Greece, the Mojo is coming up soon from PTA. I have it now on test and it is superb.
I am seriously considering buying one since it offers amazing sound and the best portability i have ever seen compared to the sound quality.
If you are looking into an ultra portable dac that drives every headphone that i have tried with it the Mojo is the way to go.
If you are looking for a desktop dac to be used with your speaker system or through a high quality headphone amp the Aune S16 is a killer.
The ud503 looks interesting but i am very curious as to why the didn't use the better AKM 4495 chipset (found in the Aune s16) and they used the cheaper (by a few dollars) 4490. It remains to be seen.
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 31, 2016 10:28:25 GMT
Chris, why do you think the AK4495 (-101dB THD+N -> 16.83 ENOB) is better than the AK4490 which has better claimed performance (-112dB THD+N -> 18.67 ENOB) and also supports DSD256? Anyway, the latest AK4497 is now top of the range with -116dB THD+N -> 19.33 ENOB and 5 extra dB in SNR (120st/123m Vs 128). This ones goes up to 11 when it comes to DSD supporting DSD512 (aka 22.4MHz). Datasheets: www.akm.com/akm/en/product/detail/0054/?link_id=link902
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Post by chris1967 on Jan 31, 2016 13:49:40 GMT
You are 100% correct on those specs.
My information is as i said, it remains to be seen, and i remain to be corrected!
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jan 31, 2016 16:11:46 GMT
Oh! I wasn't trying to correct anything or anyone... just wondering what was the criteria to qualify as "better than" when specs pointed the opposite way.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Jan 31, 2016 17:00:41 GMT
i notice there are new flagship sabre chips out now too. this will probably mean a load of new dacs will appear this year?
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Post by chris1967 on Jan 31, 2016 18:00:09 GMT
@ Javier, no problem, this is what i was told, and it may well be wrong. I understand though, as far as flagships are concerned that the 4495 is the old one and the 4497 is the successor. The 4490 is the second best of the new line.
@ oldson, yes this is going to be a "dac" year, which is a good thing.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Feb 12, 2016 17:35:05 GMT
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Feb 12, 2016 19:58:37 GMT
Yes, that's it Simon. I bet it'll be a bit more than that though in a couple of days.
It's actually quite a nice unit. Slightly soft in the treble perhaps but lovely, mellow sound with digital files. I use it a lot for analogue and two digital inputs, so I can have thre units connected. X1, 3 or 5 and ipad or Ipod.
Good bit of power. The curious thing is that the headphone socket is slightly larger than normal so the headphone plug goes in and out a lot easier than most. It's a bit disconverting when you first try it, nut I asked at the time it came out and that was normal.
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oldson
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Post by oldson on Feb 12, 2016 20:46:41 GMT
purely from an hpa outlook, how do you rank the following? Polaris,Aune mini and Ifi micro idsd. just curious
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Feb 12, 2016 21:13:15 GMT
Analogue in ....
Polaris, Aune, Micro.
Digital ......
Micro, Aune.
Connectivity ....
Aune, Micro, Polaris
The Aune has warmth in its sound, like the Polaris, where the Micrp is perhaps a little cooler sounding. All quite powerful.
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