This is a review and measurements of the 1mii Lavaudio DS600 USB DAC. It was kindly purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. It costs US $225 including Prime shipping.
The DS600 enclosure feels quite solid and substantial (i.e. machined out of a block of aluminum):
There is some talk that the DS600 may be a copy of Topping D50s. It indeed looks very much like it but with addition of that headphone jack. The display looks sharp and nice (better than the picture) but did not come with a plastic cover. I also saw a spec of dust behind the front glass.
Back panel is what you expect:
A USB cable to 9 volt barrel connector is supplied and is mandatory to power the unit with any port (including USB).
When It tried tried to configure the DS600 for testing, I saw this odd indicator:
Notice the word "EVAL?" It stands for evaluation and seems to indicate some unlicensed, reference design firmware was used. Maybe they just forgot to update the name but still, doesn't look good. It worked fine though.
Lavaudio DS600 Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard:
Ah, this is good news as far as performance. SINAD which is the relative sum of noise and distortion is excellent:
Zooming in:
Dynamic range is quite good as well:
IMD distortion relative to level shows a hint of ESS IMD hump which did not exist in the D50s:
Jitter shows a lot of interference but they are of no consequences given their extremely low levels:
I was pleasantly surprised that the default DAC filter was the correct one as it is not 99% of the time:
Linearity was nailed:
On the other hand, noise and distortion were as high as much cheaper DACs:
Finally, multitone results are excellent:
Lavaudio DS600 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
This is the main value-add over Topping D50s so let's see how it does into 300 ohm load:
Hmmm. We have very low power level and the ESS IMD hump is quite visible. Let's change the load to 33 ohm:
Ah, the truth comes out! Someone just tapped the RCA outs and brought it to the front and called it done. This is wrong as the RCA out typically has high impedance in the order of 100 ohm we see here. That high impedance causes a ton of power loss as we see in the 33 ohm test. And rules out using vast majority of headphones out there as it will interact with their impedance and change their frequency response (tonality).
In one line: this is a useless addition. You could get an RCA to 3.5mm female adapter and have the same on any other DAC.
Conclusions
Unlike some other Topping DAC clone we have tested, the DAC portion of Lavaudio DS600 delivers the goods. The "eval" indicator on the name though gives me pause as to whether this is a properly licensed product. The marketing headphone output is quite a poor attempt at confusing the buyer into thinking they are getting the real deal. But they are not. Taking that away, the unit costs the same as Topping D50s.
Other than the headphone amp, I can't fault the performance of the DS600. However, I am reserving recommendation until I am assured that it is a legitimate, licensed product.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The DS600 enclosure feels quite solid and substantial (i.e. machined out of a block of aluminum):
There is some talk that the DS600 may be a copy of Topping D50s. It indeed looks very much like it but with addition of that headphone jack. The display looks sharp and nice (better than the picture) but did not come with a plastic cover. I also saw a spec of dust behind the front glass.
Back panel is what you expect:
A USB cable to 9 volt barrel connector is supplied and is mandatory to power the unit with any port (including USB).
When It tried tried to configure the DS600 for testing, I saw this odd indicator:
Notice the word "EVAL?" It stands for evaluation and seems to indicate some unlicensed, reference design firmware was used. Maybe they just forgot to update the name but still, doesn't look good. It worked fine though.
Lavaudio DS600 Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard:
Ah, this is good news as far as performance. SINAD which is the relative sum of noise and distortion is excellent:
Zooming in:
Dynamic range is quite good as well:
IMD distortion relative to level shows a hint of ESS IMD hump which did not exist in the D50s:
Jitter shows a lot of interference but they are of no consequences given their extremely low levels:
I was pleasantly surprised that the default DAC filter was the correct one as it is not 99% of the time:
Linearity was nailed:
On the other hand, noise and distortion were as high as much cheaper DACs:
Finally, multitone results are excellent:
Lavaudio DS600 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
This is the main value-add over Topping D50s so let's see how it does into 300 ohm load:
Hmmm. We have very low power level and the ESS IMD hump is quite visible. Let's change the load to 33 ohm:
Ah, the truth comes out! Someone just tapped the RCA outs and brought it to the front and called it done. This is wrong as the RCA out typically has high impedance in the order of 100 ohm we see here. That high impedance causes a ton of power loss as we see in the 33 ohm test. And rules out using vast majority of headphones out there as it will interact with their impedance and change their frequency response (tonality).
In one line: this is a useless addition. You could get an RCA to 3.5mm female adapter and have the same on any other DAC.
Conclusions
Unlike some other Topping DAC clone we have tested, the DAC portion of Lavaudio DS600 delivers the goods. The "eval" indicator on the name though gives me pause as to whether this is a properly licensed product. The marketing headphone output is quite a poor attempt at confusing the buyer into thinking they are getting the real deal. But they are not. Taking that away, the unit costs the same as Topping D50s.
Other than the headphone amp, I can't fault the performance of the DS600. However, I am reserving recommendation until I am assured that it is a legitimate, licensed product.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
decent measurements but honestly, for the price I'd pass, especially considering the lacking/non-existent headphone line driver. At least it's better than the 
