Anyway, the THD+N looks too high for that price tag IMO. Meizu HiFi DAC is better for $13
The challenge with reading this in December 2023 is, where can I find the Meizu Hifi DAC, for anywhere near that price or price differential?
The pace of development of new DACs/Headphone Amps is, in my opinion incredibly rapid, and the duration when these devices remain widely available is also short. Once out of production, the price rockets up like anything which is in short supply.
The measurements on ASR.com and by Julian Krause on youtube, have been really really eye opening, and given enough time to understand what all of it means, very good foundations for deciding on what to buy.
I'm usually more interested in the audio interface end of things, cos as well as listening to music/audio, am also interested in recording in a home studio. In the home studio market, these devices, with the exception of AD/DA component changes occasioned by the supply challenges of Asahi, devices typically remain available for at least 4 years, typically more, so one has plenty of time after reading/viewing a review to buy the item.
As I have been shortlisting which premium-but-budget headphone amp/dac to purchase, I read the reviews with excitement and the anticlimax comes when I search for the damn product, and its not readily available in Europe/UK..
So I ask, I'm looking for :
i. a good quality dongle headphone amp/dac, reliable durable, will last long, and sound amazingly good.
ii. for use with both low impedance ear buds, all the way to something like the AKG K702, and also able to deliver enough oomph to a Sennheiser HD 600 or HD 650.
iii. ASIO drivers would be a bonus. At the very minimum - full support for WASAPI is compulsory, would prefer a device that had audio drivers for Windows 10, rather than fallback to some unpredictable in-built drivers in the operating system, that are supervised by Microsoft.
1. What's are the currently widely available options, if I do not need a balanced output, i.e I'm ok with unbalanced.
2. What's are the currently widely available options, if I might need both a balanced as well as an unbalanced output.
3. Newbie question. Can the balanced and unbalanced outputs also be used to send audio to sets of active speakers? All the while, my mind has been focussing on headphones. For the balanced outputs, would this be akin to the professional line level +4dBu outputs on professional audio gear.
4. Newbie question. Some professional audio interfaces output as much as +18dBu, so would a dongle with a maximum balanced output of +4dBu or thereabouts, be less loud.