Yeah, I've got my Element plugged into the same port on my Gigabyte B350 board. Never really tried other slots, but never had issues with that one, so I never really tried.
Oh, it's fantastic, and they do it free too. I got my Element's knob engraved. And bought an extra knob, engraved with a different image. The extra knob did cost an extra fifteen dollars though.
Yeah, best-case stuff is fine. The Magni 3 puts out a fair amount of power at an okay distortion level most of the time. I wasn't paying super close attention the first time they showed an FFT and then CCIF vs Frequency, and I thought to myself: This looks a bit too good. And then I checked...
Hmm... nothing too surprising in there. They do seem to like to use 0.7V RMS input on Low gain, and 0.13V RMS input on High Gain for some of their... what to call them. FFT snapshots? and CCIF vs Frequencies tests to show low distortion. If you look on their Distortion vs Level graphs though...
And this is part of the reason I'm still happy with my Element even after it just measured okay, and not really looking for an upgrade anytime soon unless I end up needing more features out of my DAC/Amp.
I disabled ReplayGain in Foobar for this to set my volume better on some music at a slightly above normal listening level. On a set of HD 6XX. -50dB is moderately audible. -60dB is just barely audible, very very faint. -70dB is completely inaudible to me.
Hmm, you're right. I confused myself with many of their other products like D50, D10, DX7(Didn't have the hump), DX7S featuring ESS chips. D30 does use Cirrus Logic chip.
D30 is a better price/performance. Similar enough USB performance. EL DAC is a better over S/PDIF, and doesn't have the ESS IMD Hump(because AKM chip). Aesthetically, I like the EL DAC a lot better than the D30. Both are good DACs.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/audioquest-dragonfly-red-black-usb-da-headphone-amplifiers-measurements
I know it's not Amir's measurements, but shows similar distortion levels to the Black(Edit:though a lower 3rd harmonic). I would not expect it to perform significantly better other than...
I have a micro USB wall-charger from an old LG dumbphone I had over a decade ago that just outlasts all my other chargers, even though I use it almost every day. They definitely can last a good number of insertions.
I've got some Etymotic ER20. Used them at a convention a couple months ago. Man was I glad I had them. Especially since some panels and the speakers had the gain way too high and some cables that would blast static if touched or moved outside it's optimal position. They're totally worth...