The TC01A and TC01C USB adapters were provided by ddHiFi for my analysis…and use. And I thank them for that. You get them from DD Official Store for $8.99 each or $15.99 for the couple.

What? An adapter review? Another one? Does anybody care? Sure, I love adapters, but I never intended to write one about the TC01A and TC01C. When I was asked to analyze the Janus3 earphone, I inquired whether I could try these out. I have purchased quite a few of USB-A to USB-C adapters (in both directions) since Apple changed their USB notebook ports from A to C.

I purchased a few cheepos and a couple of UGREENs. UGREEN is a reliable brand. But there was one problem I could not resolve: getting a tight, stable connection between my Hidizs AP80 Pro-X DAP and the USB-C to USB-A adapter. Most did not work because of the DAP’s leather case, and they also did not fit firmly without. I often had my music interrupted when the connection got loose. Annoying.

On top of that, I am operating amps and headphones with variable 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm sockets and plugs, and also purchased adapters between these two circuits. Relying on cheap no-name adapters from aliexpress caused more harm than good. Independent of sonic issues, some of these did not fit properly and I often had only one channel working.

The TC01A and TC01C are pricey – $16 USD for the pair – but they work. I now get a snug fit on my DAP and the thick leather case ain’t a problem for the connection either. Haptically, they are head and shoulders above their competition. And they are the only ones with gold-plated contacts.

What about the sound? Will probably make no difference. But that’s not really my concern. I want a reliable connection. And it looks good, too.

These are definitely the highest quality USB adapters in my collection.

Sometimes, simple things an make a big difference.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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The post ddHiFi TC01A and TC01C USB Adapters Review appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The $4.99 CAD/$ 3.99 USD/3.99 € IKEA HAVSKÅL is a set of two USB-cable weights (one black, one yellow that help keeping your equipment on your desk or other flat surfaces. I purchased it from IKEA Calgary.

I like accessories that add functionality to my equipment without breaking the bank. IKEA, who stand for pragmatic design like not other company, does not only offer furniture, but also electronics such as batteries, chargers, digital cables, and even speakers and a record player.

I own tons of USB cables which not only cause clutter, but that also dangle down from the table, the charger or computer is resting on. If you are unlucky, the phone of DAP at the end of it will be dragged down by the cable…and could be damaged. Or you pull on the phone and rip the attached computer off the table. Not good.

What is needed to avoid such mishap is a weight between, let’s say the source computer and the charging phone.

The Havskål comes to the rescue: it consists of two halves that are being held together by magnets. It is mainly made of rubber so that it won’d damage the floor when being dropped. Most important is its generous weight of 90 g, which stabilizes the anchor on its surface.

Specifications Havskål

The USB cable is being placed in the grooves between the halves. The diameter is big enough for “normal” USB cables…I can also fit my AudioQuest ones in there without problem. But if you want to use it for other, fancier, fatter cables, you are out of luck. After all, the cable has to sit tight in there.

While the Havskål works well, it may be a bit big and chunky for some. I’d like to see versions for 2 and 3 cables in the future. Some more exciting colours would also help. The Havskål is certainly rugged and functional, but it looks a bit cheap. Oh, and Havskål is Swedish and translates as “Sea Shell”.

Said it before: simple things can make a big difference.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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The post IKEA HAVSKÅL 2-Piece USB Anchor Review – All Aboard appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The $130 ddHiFi Janus3 is a Moondrop-tuned single-dynamic-driver earphone with an agreeable Harman sound and an original, small shell design that provides maximum comfort and fit. Adding the compact cable and the good isolation, it is a great companion for travel. Fits in your shirt pocket between flights.

The Janus3 was provided by ddHiFi for my review – and I thank them for that. You can get it from the ddHiFi Official Store.

Introduction

ddHiFi are a company that specializes in accessories such as adapters, cables, and storage cases. But they have also produced a line of earphones called “Janus”, after a Roman god that is often depicted by a double-faced head.

Reason for this name was the unique double connectivity of the two previous models, Janus1 (released in 2020) AND Janus2 (from 2021): both had sockets for 0.78 mm two pin and MMCX plugs. The E2023 Janus3 is therefore the third iteration of this model line.

The dual connector had the advantage that one could connect essentially any earphone cable found in their drawer….which was actually not necessary as each model featured a fancy and rather pricey cable you could also purchase separately. While the Janus1 lacked sub-bass, the Janus2 had an over energetic upper midrange. Both models also came with luxury cases…these accessories drove their price up to $200.

Moondrop helped out with the tuning of the Janus3, which is way more mainstream than that of their predecessors. Also slimming down the accessories helped reducing the price by $70. Interestingly, ddHiFi abandoned the 2-pin connector in the Janus3: you can only connect MMCX cables to this model. Strictly speaking, the Janus ist not a Janus anymore, as one half of its head is missing. But I’m waffling…

Specifications ddHiFi E2023 Janus3

Physical Things and Usability

Although slimmed down, accessory wise compared to its more expensive earlier iterations, you still find quite a few goodies in the box: most of all the gorgeous modular MMCX cable, that comes very close in appearance to the $60 ddHiFi M120 A model.

The wire is OCC (“Ohno Continuous Casting”), manufactured according to a Japanese process that results in essentially oxygen-free copper, which minimizes corrosion. The cable is thin, light, has the right stiffness, and essentially no microphonics. You can choose between a 3.5 mm and a 4.4 mm connector, both are included. There is no memory wire. All this is very handy.

Also in the box are a set of silicone eartips (S/M/L), the largest of which actually work for me. The storage case is not too small and very sturdy, also of good quality.

Finally, the earpieces, not double-faced as in the previous iterations, feature MMCX connectors. They are part metal, part resin, and you can look inside to admire the interior. These earpiece have otherwise not changed in shape: they remain small, light, they seal well, and can be worn over-ear or under-ear.

The Janus3 are easily driven with a phone.

Considering that many earpieces are marketed by their faceplates, which resulted in some monster cherries in our ears, ddHiFi’s pragmatic earpiece design may be one of the Janus’ biggest asset. Together with the light cable, you have a stereo that fits in the smallest pockets and isolates well in the loudest environments.

Tonality and Technicalities

The Janus3 features a classic agreeable, middle-of-the-road sound with a natural timbre and average technicalities without major flaws. In terms of richness, they are more on the lean side but without any stridence, which adds some articulation to the overall sound.

Although the shells are small, the drivers are reasonably large (10 mm, compare to Sennheiser IE900’s/IE 600’s 7 mm), and hence produce some decent heft at the low end. Sub-bass extension is excellent, an annoying midbass hump is missing, and the lower end can develop a good punch and impact…it all depends on insertion depth: deeper means thicker. A satisfying low end that is well layered, well composed, never too thick, and it does not smear into the lower mids either.

Female and male voices are therefore “free standing” and a bit on the lean however nuanced side. Lean does not mean thin, it means articulate and well carved out in this context. Upper midrange is not overenergetic. All this makes for a good midrange transparency: lots of space between notes and musicians.

Treble is subdued in its lower part but quite lively in the upper. This avoids shoutiness but adds (perceived) detail, sparkle, and liveliness to the upper registers such as cymbals. The treble is decently well resolving and articulate.

Soundstage is reasonably expansive and tall, with ok depth, imaging is pretty good. While layering, separation, and spatial cues are also decent (the stage is really well organized in 3D), detail resolution is average. Not bad, but not outstanding either. Timbre, as expected for a dynamic-driver earphone, is very good.

Concluding Remarks

The Janus3 is the sonically much improved version of the 2020/21 Janus1 and 2, with slimmed-down accessories, a better price, and a more cohesive, well-rounded sound. Its biggest assets are its original, imaginative small design with maximum comfort and fit, and its attractive modular cable.

While it does not add anything spectacularly new sonically for the experienced hobbyist, it may have its appeal to the novice and intermediate experienced…and/or to listeners who prefer to carry their stereo in a shirt pocket. Considering their good seal, the Janus3 are well suited for airplane, bus, or train travel. And that’s what I will use them for.

Until next time…keep on listening!

The post ddHiFi E2023 Janus3 Review – Beheaded God appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The $60 ddHiFi M120A is a well-made, haptically, and optically very appealing earphone cable with a great jewelry effect that is sadly only available as single-ended with a 3.5 mm plug.

The M120A cable was supplied by ddHiFi for my review…and I thank them for that. You can get it from the DD Official Store.

Arrgh, I was talked again into analyzing an earphone cable that came piggyback with the ddHiFi Janus3 earphone. I don’t like doing this as such reviews give a reviewer a bad name. Why? Because every single cable reviewed “sounds better”, frequently “instantaneously better” than any stock cable or competitor it is compared to.

There is no doubt that analog cables contribute to sonic differences, although they may “measure the same”. No surprise here either as there is no physical correlation between impedance and capacitance on one hand, and soundstage, note definition etc. on the other.

Another problem with testing cables is the reviewers’ expectation bias, fueled by the lack of memory between re-cabling the test earphones. My memory is certainly insufficient and A/B-ing on the push of a button is not possible. There was only one analyst, the revered B9Scrambler, who never included sonic characterizations or comparisons in his reviews.

Even if such were real, they would only apply to that particular test setup and would not be universally valid.

ddHifi are a Chinese company that specialize on audio accessories (with a few exceptions such as the Janus earphone line). Their products are imaginative, practical and of high quality. If you want to get a cross section of their gear, check our reviews of their products. The M120A analyzed here is an earphone cable that comes optionally with MMCX or 2-pin connectors, and a 3.5 mm plug (no balanced version available).

The specs need some explanation:

• CTIA standard refers to the plug with the microphone connector on the sleeve end, which works with all modern smartphones.
• Litz refers to the internal cable structure; it is a special type of multistrand cable designed to reduce skin and proximity effect losses in conducturs below 1 MHz.
• AWG is the short for American Wire Gauge and relates to the wire diameter.
• OCC characterizes the wire material and stands for “Ohno Continuous Casting”. It refers to a method of copper refining developed and patented by Professor Ohno of the Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan. The process results in essentially oxygen free pure copper, which has ultra-low impedance that results in rapid signal transmission. And the lack of impurities makes the material corrosion resistant.

The cable is built extremely well with sturdy metal connectors on both ends. It feels rigid and minimizes noise transmission. The jacket is of rather hard polycarbonate and is dirt and water repellent. What I find most appealing is the fact that this cable lacks memory wires…it can be worn over and under ear. Strange that nobody else has had this great idea before. The cable is thin, almost spindly, and light, which contributes to its comfort.

I chose the 0.78 mm two-pin connectors over the MMXX. The two-pin connectors have a universal fit, which includes recessed sockets in earpieces.

When it came to testing this cable, it was initially catching dust. I could not be, pardon, arsed, to tell you how good or bad it sounded. But one fine evening, I ripped the CEMA RX series cable off my LETSHUOER EJ07M iems, and plugged the M120A in. First: it really upgrades these >$600 in terms of haptic and appearance. Second, the M120A is haptically a pleasure. And third, I liked listening to it.

Using the iPhone SE (1st gen.) with the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, my latest “Deutsche Grammophon” classical music acquisitions sounded full and balanced. Whether this is better than the CEMA cable is completely irrelevant for you, everybody has to test a cable with their own equipment. All I can say is that I really like using this cable, and that I am positively surprised.

If you want to test this or any other cable for your yourself, please consider these points:

1. Cables can make a sonic difference, mainly with multi-driver earphones
2. This difference possibly relates to impedance, wire material, and wire structure
3. Impedance differences may in some cases be large enough to result in different sound volumes and can also alter the earphone’s frequency response; such changes in the frequency response can be calculated
4. Cables may not make any difference with some earphones
5. Listeners often mistake volume increase due to lower impedance for sonic improvement
6. The sonic differences between cables are largely independent of price
7. If sonic differences between cables exist, they are not universally valid but only relate to that particular earphone and the cables used in that particular comparison
8. Eartips are the cheaper alternative to achieve a different sound
9. Expensive upgrade cables may sound worse with your favourite earphone than stock cable
10. One may be better off spending the upgrade cable’s price on better earphones

And what does the mic sound like? Here my test recording:

In summary, the M120A works for me. It sits at the upper end of what I cheapskate have spent on an earphone cable in the past. I am just sad that a balanced version does not exist.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Gallery ddHiFi M120A

Disclaimer

Our generic standard disclaimer.

The post ddHiFi M120A Earphone Cable With Mic Review – Sexy Hexy appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Gear of the Year: audioreviews.org is soon completing its 5th year. We are still six dedicated and competent authors located all over the western hemisphere, catering to a mature, discerning readership. Our list of earphone reviews is approaching 450 and our Wall of Excellence (WoE) is better decorated than the Christmas tree at NYC’s Rockefeller Center. Since any product on our WoE is backed by more than one opinion, it should give you confidence in your buying decisions.

However, our WoE is not a bunch of “best of” lists as we have not tested all competitors in each category. Such claims would be presumptuous.

We did, sadly, lose our single sponsor HifiGo (and some more suppliers) over our reviews of their gear. But hey, our critical, realistic approach sets us apart from 98% of the blogosphere (we think). We rather deal with companies that have confidence in their products.

Whatever gear passes our test must be somewhat good. We still don’t do Google ads, affiliate links, and we don’t allow trackers…we are no salespeople, we honour your reading pleasure and your privacy. We are simply audio aficionados.

Thank you for your patronage in 2023! Enjoy this read and we wish you a happy and successful 2024!

Hey, feel free to let us know your personal favourites of 2023 in the comments section below.

We thank our 2023 Partners

And here we go…that’s what we enjoyed in 2023…published by author in the order of submission…and purely subjective.

Loomis Johnson…Chicago, USA

Wiim Mini AirPlay 2 Wifi Streamer—the onboard DAC is just fair, and the app is quirky (if very ambitious), but through its digital out this is a genuinely excellent streamer  for less than a hundo.

BGVP DM9 IEM—energetic and massive sounding, these are head and shoulders above any other IEM I’ve heard this year. Richly priced at $600 and worth every penny.

Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Headphones—Bose has marginally better ANC and Sennheiser a longer battery and better UI, but overall the XM5 would be my pick if (god forbid) I could own only one TWS.

Oladance Wearable Stereo Open Ear Headphones —eons better than any bone-conduction model out there, these come close to good in-ear TWS models for sound quality, with a rich warm sound and a big 3D stage. Hall of Fame material.

SMSL D0400  DAC/Headphone Amp—a tad more detailed (if not necessarily better-sounding) than the godlike SU-9, the inclusion of balanced out and an excellent onboard headphone amp makes this my pick among SMSL’s myriad offerings.

Truthear Shio DAC/Dongle—well featured, balanced dongle won’t make your counterfeit Beats sound like Carnegie Hall, but it sounds just slightly more transparent than its ubiquitous price peers.

JBL Boombox 3 Portable Bluetooth Speaker— rather than spending ten grand to mod the sound system on his 100k pontoon boat, a very wealthy friend of mine dropped $349 on one of these. He couldn’t be happier. Link two together and you’ll be in hip-hop heaven.

Eagle Rare 10-Year Bourbon—if this was an IEM, we’d deem it “musical, balanced and fully coherent.” People are asking stupid prices for this in the secondary market, but if you can find it anywhere near its $40 SRP, buy it.

Dreamcloud Premier Rest Hybrid Mattress—the downside of buying a really good mattress is that it’ll sap your ambition faster than a meth habit. If, however, like me your ambition is to lay around and watch professional basketball, this is a necessary acquisition.

Jürgen Kraus…Calgary, CANADA

Short and sweet, as I am mainly still using my 2022 gear. And the best gear is the gear one uses after all. 2023 added a few excellent products to my daily listening. Oladance TWS Pro wearables were most impressive…and useful…a home theatre on your ears you don’t even feel. I can listen to these all day.

In terms of earphones, the Sennheiser IE 900 impressed me most because of their natural, cohesive presentation, their incredible treble quality, and their wonderful dosage across the frequency spectrum. I preferred them much more over the IE 600, which offer the same Harman type tuning we have experienced so often before. Both were sadly loaners. I also love the well-balanced Sennheiser IE 200, which are tuning wise closer to the IE 900 than to the IE 600.

Also very natural sounding are the Akoustyx S6, but they do need some modding to tame the upper midrange. As to budget TWS, I do have a pair of Moondrop Space Travel by my bedside, for talk radio and classical music. They have a very composed and nuanced presentation…and they fit me well.

Also by my bedside is the EarMan CH-Amp/Tradutto combination for driving my HD 600 and final Sonorous III. I equipped the HD 600 with a Hart Audio 4.4 mm balanced cable. Also great is the SMSL DO200 MKII DAC, which I use on my desk.

As a movable desktop stack (between sofa and kitchen table) serves the very good sounding Moondrop DiscDream CD player. A great idea to reconsider this technology — looking forward to another premium Walkman.

An honorouble mention goes to the very versatile TempoTec Serenade X Digital Desktop Player, and TempoTec as a company, as they don’t get lost in countless models of the same…no they offer one model of each product, and each is well thought out. A big step up for them in the last two years.

As a guilty pleasure, I indulged myself with USB cables for audio usage from AudioQuest (Forest), IKEA, and Monoprice. I love USB cables. And this combination of brands doesn’t leave room for the usual shitstorm by naysayers.

And hey, Loomis, we just acquired an Endy mattress. Made in Canada, of course.

Alberto Pittaluga…Bologna, ITALY

Given I’m not one of those world-famous tiktokers I guess it’s preliminary worth remembering that I have a sharp inclination to carefully avoid wasting time on even assessing “stuff” which doesn’t apriori seem to qualify for a serious upgrade to whatever I already own – an attitude of mine that applies across the board of course, not certainly to audio gear only. Such information is I presume key to better understand the following list.

Proceeding by categories, and starting with cans, towards the end of the year I got a pair of Sennheiser HD800. These were quite a lot anticipated to upgrade my pleasure on my particular library vs the HD600 – and that’s of course what happened. As a side bonus I had yet another chance to touch how important fresh pads and a decent cable are for sound optimisation, let alone how tough still is finding an overall more exquisite timbre then the one coming off my Groove.

Shrinking size down to IEMs, my trip to Munich earlier this year got me very curious about Sennheiser’s relatively recent IEM introductions, and that’s where the curiosity to assess IE900 and (from a different source) IE600 came up from.

The latter impressed me almost as much as the former, however when it comes to stunning V-shaped IEM encounters happened this year nothing beats – and I reckon will hardly beat tomorrow – Intime Sho DD.

The other major IEM acquisition of the year is represented by final B3, and their ability to capture the auditioner and port him onto the jazz stage. Honorable mention goes to Akoustykx S6 (and their “magic” Earlocks).

In terms of source gear, I completed my collection of DAPs by acquiring a Sony WM-1A, of course instantly flashing MrWalkman WM1Z signature onto it. For a number of reasons its sonic features are at the same time in line and complementary to those of my other standards: Questyle QP1R and QP2R.

Sometimes it does bring an audible improvement, other times it doesn’t – it depends on the apriori situation of the system you plug it onto. I’m talking about AudioQuest’s Jitterbug. My (quite articulated) home setup is clearly in the benefitted category, and that’s why 3 of these are now stable part of it.

Source gear honorable mention goes to a tiny-budgeted device, Ifi GO Link. That, and IEMs with a balanced cable and a 3.5mm TRRS adapter, right away became my blind buy rec to those individuals which every now and then, attracted by the gear they often see me fiddling with, ask me to indicate “something nice and inexpensive to get started with”.

Looking in retrospect what I just recapped (and I genuinely did it “live”, now, for the mere sake of putting these notes together) none of my 2023 preferred tech comes from chifi-land. The white-bearded badly-aging old continent nerd in me shily shruddered in realising it

Durwood…Chicago, USA

Kefine Klanar

Redefines what a planar can do, the Timeless 7Hz was great but it also had that overblown upper air treble that made it standout. The Klanar on the other hand dials everything down delivering similar quality bass and while not as treble exciting is better balanced, target curve crowd pleasing retaining the technical precision and quick transient delivery of the planar driver.

Moondrop Blessing Dusk 2 

Fits snugly staying in place, great technical details, with enough bass to keep me interested.

BGVP DM9

While I do not own many top tier earphones, I have listened to plenty at shows and know that they best anything I have in the $300 realm. The bass hump is well controlled and balanced nicely in the midbass/sub-bass transition region. The elevated treble plateau keeps them energized and engaging delivering maximum resolution and clarity.

SMSL DO400 DAC/AMP

Extreme value premium desktop DAC melding a powerful headphone amp. I miss the quick control of a potentiometer volume knob of a split dac/amp solution, but it is worth the feature rich resolving DAC and potent headphone amp drive.

Truthear SHIO DAC

Just as powerful as any of the dongles out there it sounds the most blended qualities of a dongle dac without leaning too warm, bassy, thin or sharp. Not head and shoulders above the LG G8, but can turn any USB-C phone into an excellent DAP for an average price.

Oladance OWS Sport

A new category of open-ear sports headphones that offers other uses while avoiding disadvantages of in-ear pressure, ear canal phobias, and isolation, earbud compromises, and over ears isolation and sweatiness. Balanced sound quality that trades low-end bass for open awareness without the lackluster bone conduction competition. Review coming soon, they know what they are doing.

TWS????

Still looking for a TWS all-rounder. I want them to fit tight without loosening slowly, excellent tonality and have good ANC. A blend of the Sony WF-1000XM3 ANC with the sound of the Moondrop Alice combined with the fitment of the KZ ZXS Pro.

When browsing the local classifieds this year I scored some very excellent sounding vintage ADS L570/2 and lesser known local midwest unicorn relic well tuned, amazing imaging cherry veneer Amrita Elan (I think) that my buddy is still scorning me over not “allowing” him to buy them instead- no worries we are still friends. He would love to get his hands on the 3 way model with isobaric woofers anyway.

Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir…Munich, GERMANY

This year passed by in the blink of an eye, but fortunately I managed to listen to hundreds of devices in this rather short span. My personal collection also went through some radical changes, so without further ado…

Firstly, I finally upgraded my reference gear, both portable and desktop. On the portable side, it’s now Lotoo PAW Gold Touch paired with the venerable Cayin C9. The desktop, meanwhile, is the recently-retired Questyle CMA Twelve Master. Having tried numerous TOTL setups so far, these two fit my needs the most. I may add a tube amp down the line, but that’s for the future.

On the IEM side of things, my daily drivers include Sennheiser IE 900 and the (discontinued) Softears Turii. The IE 900 are perhaps the most advanced in terms of driver tech, and the Turii have such a unique, spacious sound that it belies the single dynamic setup. They have received the most “ear time” this year, and will likely continue to do so in the coming year.

On the TWS side of things, I am impressed by the Beats Studio Buds Plus. For once, a Beats product is actually decent enough to be a daily driver. Apart from the middling noise cancellation, there is little I’d change about them given the price tag.

Finally, I have streamlined my headphones collection and ended up purchasing a modded Sennheiser HD 800. These hold up tremendously well against the planar magnetic behemoths even now, and the staging and imaging are unparalleled in the sub-$2000 space. I was also pleasantly surprised by Sennheiser HD 660S2, though the price tag is a bit higher than I’d prefer.

This year, I finally managed to audition the Sennheiser HE-1 for almost an hour. It was a surreal experience and I can definitely see (or hear) why these are so mythical. That being said, the Warwick Acoustics Aperio are no slouch either and trade blows with the supreme Sennheisers.

But the one pair of headphones that I can call my “personal endgame” are none other than Warwick Bravura. They get dangerously close to the summit-fi behemoths and fortunately, come pre-built as a system so you can save on the cost of an energizer or accompanying pre-amps to further flavor the sound.

Notable mentions: Campfire Audio Supermoon (perhaps the best sounding planar IEMs), Softears Twilight (fantastic single DD), Effect Audio Code 23 (the best copper cable I have ever tried, despite the challenging ergonomics), iFi Go Blu (fantastic little dongle), Cayin RU7 (replaced Questyle M15 for my portable use).

Biodegraded…Vancouver, CANADA

Environmentally friendly, as his name implies, he stuck to his 2021 gear…again. Gives us carbon credits.

Gear of the Year 2022

The post Gear Of The Year 2023 – Our Personal Favourites appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The ddHiFi TC09BC is a well-made 50/100 cm long USB-C to USB-B Hifi Audio USB cable for connecting your computer to a DAC. Haptic and functionality are premium…and whether it sounds better than ??? (as claimed), well you have to read the whole article...

Introduction

I recently published an article on ddHiFi’s Mfi09S cable. It features a Lightning plug on one end, and a USB-C plug on the other, connecting an iOS device with a DAC. In my writeup I went way beyond my target – characterizing that cable – by reflecting on the general physics evolving around the question whether digital cables can make a sonic difference. After all, ddHiFi claim theirs do.

The answer is not that easy – and not as clear cut as you think. A cable is just one piece in the puzzle – and the best cable you can get is…no cable at all. But whilst there are incredible claims by some cable manufacturers, there are also wild couterclaims of “snake oil”. In reality, one cannot generalize, and the truth is somewhere in between.

I have no issues claiming that analog cables make a difference, that this is not expressed by any measurements (except perhaps impedance), and that there is no link between measurements and audible result by means of a physics equation. Such a link does not exist, although some opinionated claim it does because the measurements are “objective”. And at night it is darker than outside?

The discussion is getting even more polarized when it comes to digital cables. Proponents of the “snake oil” dismissal argue that digital cables only transport zeros and ones, hence there is no difference in quality (because it can’t happen), which also is a circular argument. That’s because none of these can tell you what the zeros and ones actually mean…which shifts the snake oil claims into the territory of the crazy company claims, that is urban myths.

If you belong to one side of the discussion, just enjoy that you save money. And if you belong to the other, enjoy the fact that you have something beautiful in your hands. But please, all of you, don’t lecture the rest of us.

Spoiler alert: bit perfect does not mean perfect data transmission, there can be contaminants in these bits. You better read my Mfi09S article. One thing for sure: a cable cannot improve sound as it cannot clean up a data stream. A cable can can only minimize deterioration of the signal. Whether that’s enough to justify its purchased is in the eye of the beholder.

The TC09BC belongs to the same series as the Mfi09S, both are technically identical, just the plugs are different. and the latter comes in shorter versions. This one is used to connect a computer with a DAC for transferring music (it can also be used as a printer cable, but only if you are a star lawyer, heart surgeon, or oligarch).

The cable comes from ddHiFi, a company y that has been on our Wall of Excellence for their combination of ingenuity and quality.

Specifications ddHiFi TC09BC

Physical Things/Technology

The materials used are in the specs above. Power line and data line are made with different wires that are well shielded against each other. The USB-C connector is rather large, therefore easy to grip, and bother connectors are made of metal and very sturdy. Fit is very snug. You find technical details on ddHiFi’s USB-data cables product page. Overall, this cable is haptically and visually very attractive.

Price wise, the TC09BC is placed between AudioQuest’s Forest and Cinnamon models.

Company Claims

ddHifi claims that the TC09BC offers a “noticeable sound quality improvement“. They fail to specify over what the improvement would be, but it appears obvious that it must be any other such cable. I therefore compare the ddHiFi TC09BC with a well-regarded USB cable.

Physical Theory

I have discussed the theoretic benefits in great detail in my ddHiFi Mfi09S article, which you find repeated behind this spoiler. TL;DR: not all digital cables a equal although they may “sound” the same in some cases…well cables don’t have a sound per se…

Listening Test

Please have a good look at the equipment. I used three different DAPs as sources, the Hidizs and TempoTec connected to the DACs by alternating USB cables (1m ddHiFi TC09BC and 3 m Belkin Gold). The Questyle connected via optical was my reference. I played the same music on all three sources.

The Belkin Gold is a discontinued USB cable that used to be Stereophile’s reference before the fancy USB cables were introduced. Audio pioneer Gordon Rankin confirmed that it is a decent cable. Today, it trades 2nd hand for horrendous prices.

The Questyle/optical combo was my test standard (as it sounded best). I used it to A/B with the other two DAPS. With the Belkin, these Hidizs and TempoTec sounded less dynamic and more subdued compared to the Questyle — independent of the DAC used.

The ddHifi TC09B really made quite a difference — and to the better. Using it, the music sounded crisper with better transparency, which resulted in better resolution and accentuation, but it still could not beat the Questyle/optical combo. In comparison, the Belkin contributed to a less clear, less nuanced sound.

This was evident when flipping (A/B-ing) between USB and optical inputs (my testing standard), which saved me comparing the USB cables against each other from memory (which is inaccurate). The quality difference between optical and ddHiF was simply smaller than with the Belkin. This indirect testing worked well.

A cable (digital or analog) cannot improve sound, it can only minimize signal deterioration.

One has to interpret this with caution, as the sound differences may also rely on other factors such as cable length (maybe the Belkin was too long). Testing the lightning version of the ddHiFi cable, the MFi9S, a while ago, I found zero difference between USB cables. This may relate to the garble/noise, that comes out of the iPhone to begin with, since it has all sorts of clocked non-audio components (cellular, Wifi etc.) — whereas the DAPS are dedicated music players. After all, a cable cannot fix a contaminated signal, it can only minimize signal deterioration.

Concluding Remarks

If you think, USB cables make no difference, then either test them, or just get them from the dollar store — and save your money.

My analysis showed that the ddHiFi TC09BC is a good USB cable that does justice to a >$2000 desktop stack (plus source). With my setup, it does sound better than the popular Belkin Gold cable I tested it against — and I therefore still use it in this application. How it fares with other setups and against really pricey cables, I don’t know. But I would not lose much sleep over it either.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

THE MFi09S cable weather supplied by the ddHiFi for my review upon my request – and I thank them for that. I also thank Alberto for his input to this article.

Get them it from the DD Official Store

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

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The ddHiFi Carrying Case C100 is a spacious earphone storage with two compartments that features the materials and workmanship of its big brothers C2022 and C2023.

Introduction

ddHiFi are a Chinese company that offer a range of high-quality tech accessories, even earphones and little headphone DAC/amps. They also feature a line of storage devices for our personal Hifi devices. They first introduced the C-2020 case in…well the name gives the year away…followed by two carrying cases with shoulder strap, the C2022 and C2023.

The 2022/2023 models and the C100 are essentially identical in materials and workmanship, but they differ in shape and internal layout. The much smaller C100 also obviously serves a different purpose, as it is designed to hold earphones and accessories such as cable, eartips, and dongles…or any small items.

Specifications

Physicalities and Functionality

The C100 carrying case is largely made of double-strand nylon on the outside, with cowhide leather at the top and a hardshell bottom at the bottom. Both top and bottom are internally padded to protect the gear from damage when the case is dropped.

The case features two compartments, a thin upper and a roomy lower one. The slim upper compartment is laid out with internal mesh pockets at the top and bottom. It is designed to hold small, flat items such as eartips, dongles, adapters, and iems.

The lower compartment is rather spacious and padded all around. It holds the bulkier items. A divider, attached with velcro (and therefore removable) subdivides the interior space flexibly into four parts. You can probably squeeze 4 pairs of iems in there, provided the cables are not too bulky.

Concluding Remarks

The ddHiFi C100 is a spacious, well shock-protected, flexible, attractive high-quality earphone case that follows the footsteps of its bigger C2022 and C2023 brothers. It is unique enough not having to fear competition. At $26 it is also a good deal.

Until next time…keep on listening!

Disclaimer

I thank ddHifi for providing this case for review. I always have fun analyzing “difficult” items.

Get the C100 carrying case from ddHifi.

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The post ddHiFi C100 Earphone Case Review – A Big Big Mac appeared first on Music For The Masses.

ddHiFi C100 Earphone Case (Jürgen Kraus)

ddHiFi C-2020 Accessories Case (Jürgen Kraus)

ddHiFi C2022 Shoulder Carrying Case (Jürgen Kraus)

ddHiFi C2023 Shoulder Carrying Case (Jürgen Kraus)

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The ddHiFi Carrying Case C2023 is yet another well-made textile-leather carrying case for your personal audio gear.

The ddHiFi C2023 was provided by the company upon my request – and I thank them for that. You can get it for $57 from ddHiFi.

Introduction

ddHiFi are a Chinese company that impressed us with high-quality adapters, cables, earphones, dongles, and other accessories – which promoted them collectively to our Wall of Excellence. The company started adding a series of bags and cases 3 years ago with the C2020, a storage wallet for headphone DACs, amps, and other accessories. The C2020 is useful for travel and lives mostly inside a bag or suitcase. The subsequent C2022 was a true on-the-go shoulder bag with the dimensions of a small camera bag.

The new C2023 is another compact shoulder bag with different dimensions and functionality compared to the C2022. It is not an upgrade or replacement but rather a parallel development and a complementary design.

Specifications

Physicalities

The C2023 carrying case, like the C2022, is largely made of double-strand nylon on the outside, with cowhide leather at the bottom and in the front. Critical areas of the bag are padded with sponge material.

The inner lining is of polyester. It comes with a shoulder strap that is also made of sturdy nylon and adjustable in length. It is plenty long for a 6 ft/180 cm guy like me. The straps are of very good quality and so are the zippers.

Features and Functionality

The ddHifi C2023 case is a rather tall and slim bag that can be worn in different ways along the body. Since its compartmentalization is impossible to photograph, I present its layout schematically.

• Green: zippered and padded front pouch for small items: iems, change, bus passes etc.
• Red: the padded main compartment for your DAP, DAC, phone or similar. It features two interior pockets and a keychain.
• Black: a back pouch that can be expanded via a zipper (compare to some carry-on luggage for air travel). It is open towards the top. The pouch can hold a 0.5 l water bottle or a small umbrella, for example.

How to wear

Wear the C2023 like shown in the two images below or without a shoulder strap…just attach it with a carabiner to your belt or backpack. The bag features lots of hooks and D-rings for various configurations.

Comparison C2023 and C2022

C2023 and C2022 differ in shape and functionality, but not in materials. The C2022 is noticeably stubbier and thicker, the C2023 is taller and slimmer. With its 4 compartments, the C2022 holds more gear, but the C2023 holds taller devices – and it sits just better along the body….I find the C2023 ergonomically more appealing.

The C2023 also features some improvements such as the advanced shoulder strap.

When actually using the C2023 bag on a daily basis, I find it more comfortable than the C2022. I also like the idea of the expandable pouch. The C2022 may be not as ergonomic, but it holds more gear.

Concluding Remarks

ddHiFi extends their line of high-quality storage devices with the C2023. Although it serves a slightly different purpose than the bulkier, roomier C2022, I find the smaller but taller C2023 more comfortable to wear. From a material or quality perspective, both are identical. In the end, both bags complement each other.

Until next time…keep on listening!

Disclaimer

I thank ddHifi for providing this case for review. I always have fun analyzing “difficult” items.

Get the C2023 from ddHifi.

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The post ddHiFi C2023 Carrying Case Review – I Want You appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The $129 TempoTec March III M3 is a versatile natural sounding and powerful balanced DAC/amp (wired, BT) that drives even 300 Ω headphones well. It runs on 5V from your computer, the stock power supply, or a fancy third party one.

The TempoTec March III M3 was kindly provided by the manufacturer for my analysis, and I thank them for that. You find more information on the TempoTec website.

Introduction

TempoTec are a Chinese company established by audiophiles. They claim to have a multinational team from China, Taiwan, Korea, and Germany. The company originally made a name for itself by budget dongle DACs…cheap, ok, great value, but not necessarily high end. This, unfortunately, stuck with them for the longest time.

Lately, the company left the starting blocks and released impressive “midfi” products that convinced by innovative quality features at attractive prices.

First was the TempoTec V6, a very good sounding digital analog player at an incredible $300. Next came their $269 Serenade X, a desktop streamer with essentially unlimited features. And last but not least, there is the forthcoming IM05 4+1 earphone, their first…but it is a good one.

The March III M3 is TempoTec’s first DAC/amp, which once again undercuts its competition in price, but not in quality.

TempoTec are becoming serious competitors to brands such as Topping, SMSL, and possibly FiiO. But in contrast to these companies, TempoTec are confident to score with one model of each: streamer, dap, DAC/amp…instead of offering us the same in multiple different flavours. A very positive sign.

Let’s have a good look at the March II M3’s specs. What makes the device special?

Specifications TempoTec March III M3

Physical Things

In the package are the unit, a 5V/2A power supply, 2 USB-A-C cables, and the paperwork. The device and all buttons are made of metal, the front is almost completely covered with glass. The March III M3 is rather small and relatively light – easy to be carried around on travel and to be used in hotel rooms or the office.

Technology

The March III M3 sports an Asahi Kasai DAC chip (most competitors use ES Tech Sabre chips) for decoding, and 4 OPA1688 operational amps by Texas Instruments for amplification. For readers who dwell on DAC chips making the sound: they don’t. This combination of quality DAC and opamps costs you and me around $15 USD, and is probably much cheaper in bulk [ES Tech chips are not much different]. TempoTec does not give us details on the other components.

The March III M3 comes with a 5V/2A power supply with USB-A port. Alternatively, you can power the device from your computer or a power bank, or a fancy third-party power supply such as the $99 ifi Audio iPowerX or the $59 Allo Nirvana or the $43 BRZ.

Replacing the stock power supply with the iPowerX enriches the sound, it adds body…though it may be a cost prohibitive upgrade. Just try all the 5V power supplies that came with your tablet or phone. The lowest current I used in my test was 1.2A for the BRZ.

Front Panel

The front contains all control and monitoring functions: the two headphone sockets (3.5 mm single ended and 4.4 mm balanced), the on/off/volume knob, an OLED screen (small but crisp) and three buttons: Mode (wired/BT), Gain (low/high), and Bass (on/off). Most of the front panel is glass. The brandname “TempoTec” is nowhere to be found.

Back Panel: I/O

In the back are two USB-C ports (one for 5 V power, the other for connecting a music source), analog RCA outputs (for powered speakers), and digital SPDIF out (coaxial, optical)

Functionality and Operation

The TempoTec March III M3 is an unusually versatile device.

It does

• play music into headphones from different sources (Phone/tablet, computer)
• accepts digital music wired or per BT
• output an analog signal through its balanced and single-ended circuits into headphones
• output an analog signal per RCA into powered loudspeakers
• output a digital signal into another DAC via SPDIF (coaxial, optical)
• works as a BT receiver

It does not

• drive most unpowered speakers
• power the hungriest planar magnetic headphones

The unit is switched on and off by pushing and holding down the volume knob. The Mode button toggles between wired and BT operations, the gain can be adjusted to low and high (use low gain as much as possible as any high gain compresses dynamics), and bass button adds…you got it…bass.

And the added bass totally contorts the timbre. It is awful and you better leave it off….unless you need some serious “boom boom”. Actually, even without the bass button, there is more than plenty of bass, naturally.

Wired

You can operate headphones through the two headphone jacks. The balanced 4.4 m circuit is much more powerful and provides an overall better sound. Only use the 3.5 mm one, if you don’t have a headphone with a 4.4 mm plug.

If you have powered near-field speakers, they are connected to the RCA ports in the back.

If you can’t be bothered with the DAC/amp functionality at all, you have the option to connect the March III M3 to an external amp. This is a truly rare feature in this price category.

Bluetooth

The March III M3 is also a Bluetooth receiver. It features the latest Bluetooth 5.2 and handles all common codecs (SBC 328 kbps, AAC 256 kbps, LDAC 990 kbps). It operates over a distance up to 30 m. This is useful when the unit is used with powered speakers when the headphone cable is longer than one’s arms. The M3 never lost reception while I was walking with my iPhone music source all over the two floors of my 2000 sq ft house.

It becomes really interesting when the March III M3 is connected via a different DAC to a room-filling stereo system. In this case, the device’s own DAC and amp are disabled and it works as a BT receiver only.

Amplification

Power is not measured but always calculated from voltage, current, and resistance. TempoTec list a power of 630 mW @ 4 V/32 Ω for the balanced circuit, and 310 mW @ 2 V/32 Ω. But 630 mW power require a voltage of 4.5 V, at 4 V, it is only 500 mW (accordingly, the SE power should be 250 mW). Therefore, either the given voltage or power are wrong…which does not matter in the end.

The March III M3’s volume scale goes from 0 to 100. In practical use, the device drives the 300 Ω Sennheiser HD 600 on high gain at a volume of up to 95 (for quiet recordings); it needs a volume of 80 to be loud for average recordings, and 65 for moderate level on the balanced circuit. This is pretty impressive considering the headphone’s sound quality is not suffering at high volumes. The sensitive Final Sonorous III gets away with a volume of 30. The HD 600 don’t run well on the weaker single ended circuit.

Most iems need about 30 on balanced and 40 on single ended. Unless you have a hungry planar magnetic, the March III M3 handles the rest.

Sound

The March III M3’s sound quality is actually surprising(ly good): it is not harsh and analytical as many of its budget peers’, but rather…erm…”musical” with well rounded notes. Many would claim that the lack of “Sabre glare” is ascribed to the Asahi Kasai AK4493SEQ chip, but life ain’t that easy, friends.

The overall tonality is slightly warm with an elevated low end, similar to TempoTec’s V6 dap.

Bass is indeed lifted a bit and not the fastest. It may occasionally smear into the midrange, which is probably the M3’s weakest point – but it is not dramatic. Transparency is otherwise good. The stage is wide and tall but not very deep.

The balanced circuit adds power and also depth to the image. The single-ended image is more two dimensional…and BT operation removes a bit of richness and extension on both ends, but is overall still pretty good.

In order to characterize the March III M3 in more detail, let’s compare it to the $250 EarMen TR-Amp, a battery operated DAC/amp with a single-ended circuit only. The TR-Amp does not offer BT and has slightly weaker amplification. At twice the price, you’d expect better components in the EarMen, and therefore better sound quality.

Both do indeed sound different. The TR-Amp is less bassy, has a crisper attack, better note definition (“sounds sharper”), better resolution and transparency, and better 3-D reconstruction overall. The March III M3 has softer notes, a wider but shallower stage, and lags the TR-Amp in terms of separation and layering.

The TR-amp is technically and analytically better but the March III M3 is more soulful and sweeter sounding…at half the price. I enjoy both.

Concluding Remarks

With the March III M3, TempoTec has pulled another white rabbit out of their hat. It it a complete, good-sounding and attractive looking DAC/amp and BT receiver that works well with most full-sized headphones and essentially all iems. What sets is apart from its immediate competition are its low price and digital outputs.

I cannot think of a comparable competitive device below $200. I really like this little rascal a lot. It is right up my alley.

The March III M3 joins the V6 dap and the Serenade X as a great, enjoyable product at a reasonable price.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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The $469 SMSL DO200 MKII is a versatile and very-good-sounding DAC with additional inputs and lots of sound options.

The $469 SMSL DO200 MKII was kindly provided by AOSHIDA Audio for my review – and I thank them for that.

Introduction

Foshang ShuangMuSanLin Electronics company, or short “SMSL” out of Shenzhen, China have specialized in developing and marketing DACs, headphone amplifiers, and power amplifiers since 2009. SMSL offer a broad selection of model for all wallet sizes – which make selection of the right one difficult.

Over at Audio Science Reviews (ASR), essentially every one of SMSL products measures so well with SINAD that people believe, without listening, they sound great…and that all SMSL DACs models essentially sound the same (as they measure the same).

We are rather skeptical as correlation between SINAD measurements and sound quality has yet to be established. In fact, some devices that are designed to measure well with steady-state sine waves may sound harsh when playing music.

Luckily, this discrepancy appears not to be the case for SMSL products. In fact, Loomis and Durwood are SMSL junkies – there is hardly any space on their desks for anything else…I am sure :). They have collectively tested these models:

Therefore, in the SMSL case, we have rare agreements between ASR and us, which reconciles the views of “objecticists” and “subjectivists”. A win win situation. So good for you, the reader.

But we still differ in that point that low-end DACs and premium DACs do not sound the same. For this reason, SMSL offer a range of devices for all wallets and expectations.

I’m an SMSL newbie, and, to my confusion, there are (too) many models to choose from, ranging from $200 to $1000. How should I know which one is right for my setup – and for yours? Aoshida Audio kindly asked me to analyze the SMSL DO200 MKII, which is in the company’s midrange.

Specifications SMSL DO200 MKII

What’s in a DAC?

As we know, a digital to analog converter “DAC” transforms a digital data stream, called bits, as small voltage fluctuations into an analog signal. Although its analog output stage does some of the amplification, a DAC mainly delivers sonic quality not quantity. And despite what some people tell us, the quality fo a DAC is as important as the pickup on your record player: garbage in, garbage out.

I had a $400 CAD NAD CD player connected to my home stereo for many years. And I was happy with it. At the time of purchase, CD players had made a great step forward, and the NAD was (kind of) competing with a $2000 Cambridge Audio player. 10 years later, I replaced the NAD with the $1300 CAD Marantz SA8005 – the rest of the stereo system remained the same.

The difference was immediately obvious: the Marantz delivered a much richer, fuller sound. Gone was that lean lower midrange I had falsely attributed to the speakers. No A/B-ing necessary.

The only big change in this stereo system was the DAC. So much to voices who claim DACs do not make a difference.

Technology/Architecture

The SMSL DO200 MKII features two ES9068AS DAC chips for decoding, characterized by MQA data handling in both USB and SPDIF (coaxial, optical) and low power drain.

Five OPA1612A opamps can be found the analog output stage. The microcontroller is a XMOS XU-316 chip, which is standard in higher-end devices.

Qualtech’s latest Bluetooth 5.0 chip supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC codecs.

Firmware is upgradeable through the USB port.

Physical Things

In the package are the DAC, a detachable power cord, a USB cable, the screw-on Bluetooth antenna, a remote, the warranty card and the manual [download]. The actual square box with rounded corners is of mid size (21 cm wide, 18.5 cm deep, and 4.8 cm tall) and requires quite a bit of desk space.

Its shell is made of high-quality CNC-machined aluminum for shielding the interior from magnetic interference. SMSL pride themselves of their excellent workmanship and love to detail.

It also features a tempered IPS glass display panel. The low-noise power supply is integrated in the chassis – and shielded. The included remote is pretty standard, made of plastic, and requires 2 AA batteries.

Functionality and Operation

The SMSL DO200 MKII works as a DAC and pre-amp, single ended and balanced. It can be controlled by a knob and a remote control.

Interface

Front panel and back panels are clearly laid out. All connectivity is in the rear.

Front Panel

The front panel features the high resolution glass panel display and a function knob. The know shares its functionalities with the remote. The display can be dimmed and switched off with the frontal knob and the remote.

Back Panel: I/O

The SMSL DO200 MKII is a superstar when it comes to inputs. Apart from the usual USB, coaxial, and optical, it also offers I²S, and AES/EBU. The outputs are fairly standard: RCA for single-ended and XLR for balanced.

Remote

The ergonomic RC-8C remote handles all functionality with a variety of buttons. It is straight forward to comprehend.

Settings

The SMSL DO200 MKII offers the user a plethora of choices in terms of functionality and sound. The DAC can be set to Pre-amp mode, the inputs and outputs are selectable, I²S mode, I²S iDSD channel, audio phase, and you can change screen brightness or turn it off. You can even change some of the remote’s functionality (“FN key”).

In terms of sound, you can set PCM filters, sound colour and DPLL yielding 450 possible combinations for each input.

The most important setting are explained as follows.

PCM Filters

The SMSL DO200 MKII offers three PCM filters (and no DSD filters), aiming to remove sonic artifacts from the output signal: “Fast Linear”, “Slow Minimum”, and “Minimum Phase”. They operate above 20 kHz, that is above the audible frequencies. But none of them is ideal, each of these has pros and cons, and the opinions about them are as far apart as theory and reality.

In theory, when you read Alberto’s detailed article on digital filters, you would prefer the “Minimum Phase” filter, as it has no “pre-ringing” (an unwanted echo effect before the actual signal). Others consider this pre-ringing as inaudible and prefer “Fast Linear”, as it is the most technically accurate, and claims pre-ringing is generally inaudible.

Then again, there are more variables that contribute to individual sound preferences, so that some prefer one type of filter in one DAC, and another kind in another model.

Try it out for yourself and start with the default.

Sound Color

There are 10 settings for “Sound Color”: standard, 3 “Rich”, 3 “Tube, and 3 “Crystal” by introducing different “harmonic distortions”. Again, you choose the one according to your preference. A good way of adapting the sound to your room.

DPLL

The “Digital Phase-Locked Loop” (DPLL) is a proprietary setting by the chip manufacturer ESS. It is some kind of correction for poorly timed input signal – to avoid signal interruptions. Particularly useful if a TV is the source.

I²S Mode and Audio Phase

The DO200 MKII has rare I²S “eye-squared-ess” inputs in the shape of an HDMI port. I²S is just another electrical serial bus interface standard used for connecting digital audio devices together. This give you the options to match different I²S standards and reverse channels if they are incorrect when streaming DSD.

Audio Phase can be set to normal and inverted. This is useful for correcting phase issues that affect sound.

Sound

I was once invited for an A/B test between two multibit dacs, the $249 chip-based Schiit Modi and the $899 resistor-ladder (R-2R) Soekris dac1421 (both now discontinued) each of them connected to a stereo system with loudspeakers. This in response to a forum discussion according to which some heard a sonic difference – and others didn’t.

At casual listening, there was initially hardly any difference, but with increasing duration, the Soekris revealed better imaging, resolution, and a more organic sound. This was most clearly audible in cymbals, which were much harsher and less natural in the Schiit.

I auditioned the SMSL DO200 MKII for 2 months.

w. Stereo System

The SMSL DO200 MKII offers 450 different settings (3 PCM filters, 10 sound signatures, and 15 DPLL settings). Using two different inputs/cable types (Toslink and coax) yields a total of 900 choices. For time constraints, I therefore used the default settings (“fast linear filter”, standard signature, and standard DPLL). And I A/B/C-ed the DO200 MkII on the fly with the Marantz’s internal Cirrus DAC – and the $799 EarMen Tradutto (also swapping Toslink and coax between the two external DACs back and forth).

Nevertheless, a 100% consisted comparison is not possible because of the use of different variables: cables, filters, and sound preferences (“harmonic distortions”) etc.

I spent a few partial afternoons on this – and report that the differences are rather subtle. The SMSL DO200 MKII performed well to my ears, with good extension on both ends, great composure, great detail, and no harshness whatsoever (no “robotic” cymbals, though it may be a bit more technical up there than the Marantz). It worked just fine with this stereo system. Corners were a bit more rounded with the Toslink compared to the coax – I hope jitter is not the reason for this. But using different inputs made a bigger difference than changing the PCM filters.

Comparing to the Marantz and Tradutto was rather difficult. The Marantz sounds a bit more organic and richer in bass and midrange, but also looser, less composed, and therefore cruder. The SMSL is a technically better, cleaner performer with a superior resolution and separation, but it is also more constrained and flatter in terms of space/stage – and leaner in the bass and midrange.

The almost double-priced Tradutto was also a bit more organic and fuller in the midrange, and more visceral sounding than the SMSL DO200 MKII. SMSL is more enclosed/encapsulated, and Tradutto is more outgoing and more immersive with a bit more depth. But it took some time to figure it out – and you can file this under “diminishing return”.

As alluded to, the differences were not instantly obvious, it takes some time for the ears to pick them up. I double checked all this with the Sennheiser HD 600 headphones plugged into the Luxman amp.

I also checked the SMSL’s timbre extensively with several recordings of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg concertos. It sounded as natural as any good DAC.

Over the holidays, I ran the SMSL DO200 MKII 24/7 with Christmas music (jazz, classical, acoustic rock, pop)…and really enjoyed it.

In everyday application does the SMSL do complete justice to any upper mid price $$$$ stereo system. The small differences between the three DACs tested may answer our question why SMSL offers DACs in essentially every price category. Unfortunately, the potential buyer has the issue of making the right choice for their system. Good luck!

w. Headphone Amp

The headphone test confirmed my findings with the big stereo system. The SMSL DO200 MKII harmonized with the warm >$1000 Burson Funk (price includes Super Charger and opamps) very well. Resolution and extension were very good, there was no hint of harshness, the timbre was organic. And while I was really enjoying this combo, swapping the USB cables made zero difference. I think the two (SMSL and Funk) are a really great combination.

Replacing the DO200 MKII with the EarMen Tradutto resulted essentially in the same difference as experienced with the stereo system: the Tradutto had a bit more depth and a richer midrange, but it took a while until my ears could clearly distinguish the two.

In summary, the transducers made the biggest difference in my tests, that is the loudspeakers and the headphones. None of the DACs used changed the sonic characteristics much. The SMSL DO200 MKII is a fine DAC for my purposes. Unfortunately, I did not have a budget DAC for comparison, but I expect it produces a cruder and harsher sound.

Bluetooth

I tested the Bluetooth sound my the large stereo, A/B-ing two iPhones with the same playlist: one hardwired to the DO200 MKII, the other per TWS. Bluetooth was still very good sounding but not quite as “audiophile” as trough coax and optical cables. The basic characteristics were the same, but the Bluetooth sound has some corners knocked off: a bit less extension at both ends, a bit less dynamics and clarity, and a bit less fullness and depth. The listening experience remained, however, enjoyable.

Bluetooth connectivity was great, no dropouts, and I could walk with my iphone in almost every corner to my 2000 sq ft house without losing the signal.

In the end, the Bluetooth sound is prefabricated by Qualcomm’s SoC (System on Chip), and would be identical between DAC using the same SoC. Bluetooth functionality should therefore neither be a dealmaker or a dealbreaker.

SMSL DO200 MKII vs. SMSL SU-9Pro

SMSL offers a number of DAC models, and the SU-9Pro is just $30 higher priced than the DO200 MKII. While I doubt that there are significant sonic differences (I have not tested the SU-9Pro but I am sure they have a similar if not the same analog output state), there are certainly differences in functionality.

First, the SU-9Pro lacks two of DO200 MKII’s inputs: AES/EBU and I²S.

Second, both have different DAC architectures. The DO200 MK II features two ES9068AS chips with 5 OPA1612 opamps, and the SU-9Pro a single ES9039MSPRO D/A chip with 11 OPA1612 opamps. The difference in opamp numbers is probably a function of the chipsets. The ES9039MSPRO D/A takes over the tasks of 2 conventional DAC chips. Both architectures result in different data handling and functionalities.

The SU-9Pro offers therefore 5 more PCM filters and also 4 DSD filters. Outputs, sound colour, DPLL, and Audio Phase options remain the same between the two models.

Concluding Remarks

The SMSL DO200 MKII is a competent DAC with all bells & whistles, including a great selection of inputs and all sorts of sonic adjustment options. It performed very well in my tests and I will happily use it in the future. I am sure, somebody will measure it and attest it great results on that front, too [UPDATE: exactly this happened 1 month later].

While the SMSL DO200 MKII works well for me, it is up to you to find out how it pairs with your equipment.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

The SMSL DO200 MKII was kindly supplied by AOSHIDA Audio.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

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Gear of the Year: 2022 marks the blog’s fourth year. We collectively published 100-150 articles, mainly product reviews, but also technical information (such as earphone modding). Apart from receiving review units from manufacturers and sellers, we also purchased a lot…and we borrowed from audiophile friends and colleagues.

Our list of earphone reviews is going towards 400, which is a very useful database. And one of the world’s biggest. In the DAC and amplification department we have also reached a respectable 70.

While we shrank from 8 to 6 authors, we essentially doubled our viewer numbers and currently record well over 1000 daily individual blog visitors (1377 on Black Friday 2022). But we remain humble, continue viewing our hobby as labour of love and focus on information for you, the reader, while not selling out.

Another very popular list is our Wall of Excellence, which hosts gear not approved by one of us, but by the whole team. This is a useful filter for you and should give you confidence in your buying decisions.

And yes, we searched for and found an exclusive sponsor in HiFiGo, who help us with our basic operating cost (web hosting). We still chip a lot of our own money in for mailing between us reviewers, import charges etc.

By having a single sponsor (and not Google ads) paying us a moderate flat fee, we don’t rely on viewer numbers. For you, this means no popups and no ads between paragraphs, nothing in your way when reading our articles. All advertisement takes place in the top toolbar and the sidebar. Feel free to check it out.

We also continue refraining from affiliate links as it still leaves a bad taste in our mouths.

As at the end of the previous years, we list our our personal favourites of 2022 – the portable audio we personally enjoyed most. There are no rules, we just tell you what we like. It does not have to be the latest. After all, the gear we use most is the best for us. Between us, the Dunu Zen, 7Hz Timeless, Final ZE3000, and Questyle M15 received the most mentionings. The Questyle M15 appears to be the most highly acclaimed dongle in the blogosphere period and may as well be the “Product of the Year” all around.

We don’t publish any “best of” lists as we have not tested all competitors in each category.

Enjoy this read and we wish you a happy and successful 2023!

We thank

And here we go…that’s what we enjoyed in 2022…

Alberto Pittaluga… Bologna, ITALY

My 18 readers know that I’m much more into enjoying better sound than into getting excited about sidegrades or other small changes from my existing preferences. I am the polar opposite of a marketing hype target individual – on pretty much any topic by the way. I mean: try and sell me a “better” (?) Moka coffee machine…

With that in mind, and considering that I’m not into this since yesterday evening, it’s quite logical that the list of the really significant items out of all those I come across over a year’s time is short. Here’s what I found in 2022 which is worth recommending.

IEMS

Intime Miyabi – a great piece of engineering ticking most if not all boxes for my tastes. Beyond details, one of the absolute best sound delivery experiences one can buy (well… some personal initiative is required to fetch it from Japan) below 500$… spending less than half of it. My report here.

RHA CL2 – I heard quite a few planar IEMs, and not a single one “closes the door” for me. Long story short, none offers me a well-articulated-enough sound experience out of the box, and none carries a driver good enough to be equalised into something I really like. The sole exception I ever came across yet is this RHA CL2 – a dated model indeed, which I had the venture to audition this year for my first time. More on this on my piece about it.

DAC/AMP Dongles

Questyle M15 – no doubt the “best overall quality” battery-less DAC/AMP (“dongle”) at any price. Paired with a small transport easily makes all sub-800$, and most sub-2K$ DAPs pointless in terms of sound quality delivery (some may still prefer “some” DAP for better pocketability convenience or specific features). Firstly reviewed in depth by Jurgen here, you can read my incremental notes here.

E1DA 9038SG3 and 9038D – the M15 is what it is, but it also is relatively expensive (almost 300€ once delivered to Italy). My previous experience taught that me that exclusively higher-tier (and price) dongles are able to deliver sound qualities worth investing in more money than the 9$ price tag asked for an Apple Dongle ($9). Then I found these two gems which fulfill the need for incredibly clean and powerful sound for less than half M15’s price, and 90% of its proficiency.

Biodegraded…Vancouver, CANADA

7Hz Timeless:
Despite a somewhat elevated and loose midbass, these have great overall tonal balance, smooth mids, excellent instrument separation and layering, and speed. Macrodynamics are on the soft side, which might not be for everybody; and the fit will be problematic for people with concha bowls on the smaller side. They work best with warmer, dynamic sources.

Durwood…Chicago, USA

Swimming in dongles I don’t have a favorite, Moodrop Dawn has the selectable gain, others like the Shanling UP3 have single and balanced outputs and controls. Take your pick. I would like selectable gain AND single ended/balanced outputs.

Desktop DAC goes to the SMSL C200 for best value and sound that hangs near the top dogs. I personally prefer separate pieces for the ability to have more connection options and swapping but for near double the price I don’t see double the performance. The SMSL SU-9 is excellent for me I ended up buying one on the second hand market. The SMSL DO100/HO100 is great too and bit more user friendly for the size.

For earphones I still love my Shozy Form 1.4 for the bass tuning, warm signature and superb fitment YMMV. There are lots of excellent performers if just factoring in sound and technical merits including the 7Hz Timeless and Moondrop Kato, but I struggle keeping them in place. For those starting out or not a lot to spend, my budget pick for what is available would be the CCA Lyra.

For TWS, I only have 3 pairs to compare-but if I don’t need ANC, I would pick the Moondrop Alice all day everyday. Review coming soon, they are a wireless Kato and they nailed all the important features (sound, battery life, control, fitment), form follows function.

Jürgen Kraus…Calgary, CANADA

In terms of earphones, I continue liking the JVC HA-FDX1, the Dunu Zen, and the Final E5000. The Zen remain my go-tos. New on my list are the LETSHUOER EJ7M (great allrounders), the Final A3000 & E3000, and the very articulate Dunu Talos. But the earphone I used most in 2022 is the superb Final ZE3000 TWS.

As to headphones, my Sennheiser HD 600 have received company by the Final Sonorous III. On the budget side, I added the excellent KTXPro1 to my Koss selection (Porta Pros, KPHi-30, and KSC75).

I am principally a “portable guy” who used to operate his iPhone with a dongle, mainly the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt. Whilst the Cobalt remains a standard staple of mine, the excellent Questyle M15 (and here too) is a great alternative for my higher current-drawing headphones/earphones – and my personal product of the year 2022.

For driving full-sized headphones and single DD items, nothing beats the Apogee Groove. For Bluetooth DAC/amp, I exclusively use the very mature Qudelix-5K. And for earphone testing, I am still holding on to the totally underappreciated Earstudio HUD100.

The Hidizs AP80 Pro-X has proven a great dap for me, no matter if used alone or as transport with a dongle. The Sony NW-A55 with Mr Walkman firmware also remains in my collection of favourites. And the very crisp sounding Questyle QP1R remains my flagship dap. The biggest surprise for me was the Tempotec V6 dap…essentially a $500 device at half price.

For my desktop setup, I am holding on to EarMen Tradutto DAC in combination with the Burson Funk amp and AudioQuest analog and digital interconnects.

Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir…Munich, GERMANY

Just like that, another year went by. This year was special for me as I got to visit High End Munich 2021 (which happened after a 3-year hiatus) and also got to meet some great reviewers and legends of the industry in person.

Best Headphones: This year, I have slowly transitioned from portable audio into desktop audio. A knock-on effect of that has been my growing headphone collection. What used to be a mere 4 headphones last year, has grown into a whooping 25 now.

Yup, I need another shelf.

Speaking of the best headphones, Hifiman HE-6se V2 got the most use this year from me. I still use the Sennheiser HD650 whenever I feel like relaxing, but for my playlist – the Hifimans absolutely slap!

That being said, they aren’t the best headphones that I’ve tried this year. That recognition goes to the venerable Stax SR-X9000. Still underrated in the summit-fi segment, these overtook Susvara for me in almost every aspect. They are build better, has better sense of space, bass is better defined and slams a bit harder, and of course – the ethereal treble is an absolute joy.

Too bad that the price tag (with energizer) makes these nigh-unobtainable for me. Doesn’t make them any less awesome, though.

Best IEMs: Dunu Zen remains my daily driver, and they scale tremendously with desk sources, so I am a happy camper.

Speaking of camps, Campfire Audio Holocene has sneaked their way into my daily rotation. Probably my most favorite Campfire Audio IEMs, ever. They deserve a lengthy, long-term review, which is in the pipeline.

This year I also had to wade through loads of “meh” IEMs, each mimicking a certain “scientifically perfect” (lol) curve in one way or another, and each sounding boring and unremarkable. But the one IEMs that kept the fire alive was the Softears Turii.

Exceptional in almost every sense, their fit is the biggest concern, but with Spinfit W1 tips (excellent tips btw, recommended) I found them stable enough to enjoy outdoors. Too bad that they’re discontinued.

The Softears Twilight is a spiritual successor of sorts. Doesn’t have the crazy sense of space that the Turii portray, but pretty much beats every other single dynamic I’ve tried under USD $1000 (and I have tried nearly all of the hyped ones by now). So yeah, Softears, take a bow!

Desktop DAC and Amp: Questyle CMA Fifteen takes the cake for the best all-in-one system that I’ve heard. Near-endgame for 99% out there I’d say. Drives almost everything with authority. What’s not to like? Oh yes, the price. Something’s gotta give after all.

As for standalone units, the best solid-state amp I’ve tried: Zaehl HM1. As for the best tube amp: Feliks Envy, or the Feliks Euforia AE. Two very different price-points, but both about the best tube amps you can buy right now.

DACs are a bit difficult for me to judge, and the ones I’ve tried this year couldn’t replace the Holo May L3 I tried last year, so that one still reigns supreme.

Portable DAC/Amp: Questyle came outta nowhere with the M15 (and here too) and seized the day. Nothing else comes close, really. On the higher side of the price, Chord Mojo 2 is an excellent device. For using with IEMs and moderately efficient headphones – that’s all you’ll ever need. The DAC section is kilobuck-level as well.

Surprise of the Year: Final ZE3000.

I do not like wireless stuff at all, mostly because of how poor and compressed 99% of them sound. This one caught be off-guard. I bought them only to review them, fully expecting to put them up for sale once the review is done.

Now, three months later, I carry them everywhere and despite the finicky touch controls, I keep coming back to them. Only the Sony WH-1000XM4 sound as good as them, and they cost 2x the price. To think that Final would come up with one of the best TWS IEMs around – didn’t see that one coming.

Then again, who else would be that methodical?

Loomis Johnson…Chicago, USA

IEMs:

Moondrop Starfield—my default rec to folks who ask me which <$100 phone to buy…big-sounding, with seamless coherence and as lot of PRAT.

7Hz Timeless—polarizing and imperfect (there’s some stridency at the highest frequencies), but technically very accomplished and highly resolving. The more I hear ‘em the more I dig ‘em.

Tin HiFi TWS Buds 3—light on features (no app, no ANC) but beautifully built and a really engaging listen, with very good imaging and instrument placement.

AXS Audio Professional Wireless Earbuds—generic-looking, with a modest soundstage, but probably the best-sounding TWS I’ve heard to date. 

Portable DAC/Dongles:

Xumee USB-C—lots of power and surprising finesse for less than the price of a six pack.

Hidisz S3Pro—a really refined performer which synergizes well with anything under 150 oHm.

Headphones:

1More Sonoflow Wireless ANC—you can pay a lot more for punchier sound or more tech features, but these are an awful lot of headphone for the money, with good noise-cancelling, an unforced natural tonality and fantastic battery life.

Koss KTXPro1—uber-comfortable and musical as hell; for $19 there’s no reason everyone shouldn’t own a pair.

Bluetooth Speakers:

Oontz Angle 3—diminutive, seemingly indestructible cheapo with surprisingly good bass output and an enveloping 3D soundstage.

Edifier R1280DB Bookshelf Speakers—I gave a set of these to the owner of a cannabis dispensary, whose customers rave incessantly about how good they sound even before imbibing.

Desktop DAC:

SMSL SU-6—a more than capable DAC, with excellent bass control and a very detailed (if occasionally overbright) high end; digital preamp and Bluetooth functionality are big plusses. Outstanding value.

KopiOkaya…SINGAPORE

The editor: although KopiOkaya retired a year ago (on his own terms), he keeps his eartips compendium up to date. His list has been a cornerstone of this block and its most successful article. It currently records somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 views.

Best under $50 IEM:

7HZ SALNOTES ZERO

Best under $100 IEM:

DUNU KIMA

Best IEM of 2022:

SOFTEARS TURII Ti

Best dongle DAC/AMP of 2022:

QUESTYLE M15 (here and here)

Best portable DAP of 2022:

TEMPOTEC V6

Best budget DAC/AMP combo:

SMSL SH-9 THX AAA-888

Best desktop DAC of the 2022:

HOLO MAY KTE (KITSUNE EDITION)

Best desktop headphone amp of 2022:

QUESTYLE CMA FIFTEEN

Best eartips of the 2022

SPINFIT W1

Most outstanding audio product of 2022:

QUESTYLE M15 (here and here)

And This Was The Previous Year:

The post Gear Of The Year 2022 – Our Personal Favourites appeared first on Music For The Masses.

A device gets attached to this Wall of Excellence when based on our private and of course subjective experience it performs so well within its technical and price category as to even discourage considering homologous alternatives.

If it ain’t here, WE don’t want it!

Please note that our WoE will not be limited to devices we actually published a review of. Nonetheless, all WoE devices have for long time been or still are part of our operative gear.

We start small and plan to expand our wall according to merit.

This Site is being consistently updated…please bookmark it and keep checking back!

LATEST ADDITIONS: Qudelix-5K, Questyle M15, E1DA 9038SG3.

In-Ear Monitors

Past excellences, now discontinued or superseded

Headphones

Digital Audio Players (“DAPs”)

Desktop Amplifiers

Desktop DACs

Desktop Integrated Headphone DAC/AMPs

Portable Headphone Amplifiers

Portable Integrated Headphone DAC/AMPs

Headphone DAC/AMP “Dongles”

Dongles are little DAC/amps without battery that are powered by their source device.

Past excellences, now discontinued or superseded

Accessories

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The ddHiFi MFi09S is a 10/50 cm long Lightning to USB-C cable claimed to make an obvious sonic difference. This article also generally addresses the contentious issue of sound improvement by digital cables.

Introduction

ddHiFi have been one of the most innovative companies for portable audio. They produce functional, imaginative, high quality accessories, from bags, through cables to adapters, and even a couple of earphones. Their latest endeavour is the Nyx series of audiophile digital cables, which are all share the same wire material and insulation: a USB-B to USB-A, a USB-C to USB-C, a Ligthning to USB-A and a Lightning to USB-C for connecting iPhones to a DAC.

Therefore, today we are…no, that was already last week. And its only me once again. Therefore, in this article, I examine the ddHifi MFi09S Lightning to USB-C, mainly for its sonic capabilities. There are many crying “snake oil” now (and pull out some questionable measurements in their support), but whining is one thing, and listening is another. As we will see, the situation is not as black and white as it seems.

This article also has another purpose: to summarize our current knowledge of digital data transfer in layman’s terms. Although this is presented rather compact, you may want to re-visite this article for the occasional refresher.

Specifications MFi9S

Physical Things/Technology

You have seen the materials used in the specs above. Power line and data line are made with different wires that are well shielded against each other. The connectors are rather large, therefore easy to grip, and they are very rugged. These plugs fit even the smallest phone case. The cable as such feels substantial but it is a bit stiff, which works better for the shorter 10 cm version. You find technical details on ddHiFi’s USB-data cables product page. Overall, this cable is haptically and visually very attractive.

The MFi09’s lightning connector features a decoding chip which draws a small current from the phone. I did not test this one specifically, but all other non-Apple lightning cables previously in my hands have the same power consumption, as tested here.

Company Claims

ddHifi claims that the MFi09S offers a “noticeable sound quality improvement“. They fail to specify over what the improvement would be (maybe their own MFi06 cable?, but it appears obvious that it must be any other such cable.

Physical Theory

Noise and Timing

So what sonic improvement (over what?) can we expect in a digital cable? After all, it transports zeros and ones, right (which are transmitted as voltage fluctuations)? Actually, it carries data and power in two separate lines.

Principally, there is lots of “digital crap” coming out of a phone: jitter (timing errors) and noise. That’s because a phone is not a dedicated music player. I has no proper audio clock and lots of other functionalities that require different electrical components, which are cramped in a small case and affect the outgoing digital signal negatively, mainly by electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), and timing errors (jitter). In some cases, interference is caused by the client DAC, as demonstrated on the example of the EarMen Sparrow by Biodegraded. And noise can also be produced inside the cable (through poor insulation).

What’s in a Digital Cable?

Fact is, there is no difference in incoming vs. received data between expensive and budget cables, bits are bits, and the result is “bit perfect” in every case. So, no sonic difference, right? Stop, we have to examine what’s in a bit: jitter, timing, and noise. Jitter and timing can be measured (and corrected for by re-clocking), which leaves us with noise. It is a bit of an unlucky choice of words, I’d call it impurities superimposed on the digital signal which may (or not) degenerate the sound.

A metallic digital cable is principally a conductor that also transports pre-existing noise (it cannot distinguish between the good and bad things in the data stream) but it is also an “antenna” for near-ambient RFI/EMI, and it generates its own stray/spare magnetic and electrical fields (when carrying a constant current).

So what can go wrong during digital data transfer? When signal voltage is transported, the host and the cable may pick up stray signals in addition to the intended one…just like dirt being added to the bathwater. In addition, host, cable, and client can be on different “electrical” ground levels. Third, interferences during transport may generate time delays.

Timing errors need filtering by decrappifiers such as the ifi Nano iUSB 3.0 and re-clocking, typically not done in the phone host but in the DAC client at the other end of the digital cable. EMI can be minimized or avoided by the use of high-quality, well-shielded electronic components in the phone – and by a good digital cable.

In a well-designed cable, data line and power lines are separated and well shielded from each other (and from outside electromagnetic interference from, let’s say, power supplies), and it is twisted to minimize the contact areas between the two. Material also plays a role for data integrity: for example, in networks, fibre optic cables are not susceptible to EMI, copper is. EMI is important not only for the design of cables, but also for the electronics and the circuit board.

In summary, noise contamination happens in the source and/or during transport through the digital cable. The old rule “garbage in, garbage out” is also valid for digital data. If the data stream leaving the phone is compromised, the cable cannot fix it. All it can do is not let it further deteriorate. It cannot reclock or filter, and therefore not correct for the phone’s EMI/RFI and/or jitter.

Therefore, if the source emits a noisy signal, even the best cable makes no difference, but a bad cable further deteriorates the signal. If the host signal is clean, cables may make a difference. A dedicated music player may generate a cleaner data stream than a computer or a phone.

What Others say

The Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg compared “fancy” optical and coaxial cables with generic, low-cost ones. He recorded substantial sonic differences between the expensive and the generic ones. Steve is a reputable analyst: was he dreaming and putting his good reputation at stake? In contrast, no test of Lighting cables has been conducted yet. Actually, I did test a few in my analysis of the ddHifi MFiS06…and found no obvious difference.

Self-acclaimed “objectivists” claim digital data don’t make a difference. This is based on measurements that do not reflect the quality of the data stream – and no physical connection between them and sound is established. And because the measurement setups are as arbitrary as the interpretation of the results, there is nothing objective about them. Nada. Zilch.

To add insult to injury, such protagonists typically don’t bother testing the gear with their ears they lecture the rest of us about. As we know already from earphones: graphs are insufficient for characterizing the sound of a device. And nothing is objective anyway.

Being opinionated is not being objective!

Whatever the theory tells us is one thing, listening is another. What’s important in the end is sound and not opinion. I have written all of the above before any listening test of the MFi09S cable.

Sonic Effects of Noise

I have experienced and described the effects of EMI and RFI (as well as switching noise, but not jitter) on the example of power supplies, for example the Burson Super Charger or the Allo Nirvana & Shanti and ifi Audio Power X. Contamination muddles the sound, it loses clarity and transparency. In the Burson case, I have no desire to go back to the stock power supply, the difference in the amp’s sonic performance was that huge.

Listening

We have learnt that the ddHifi MFi09S Lightning to USB-C cable is just one piece in the noise puzzle, sandwiched between a potentially noisy phone and a USB noise filter and a reclocker. That’s when the less imaginative audio linguist pulls out the phrase “your mileage will vary”. It is not a black and white affair. If the signal incoming from the phone is clean (just switch the Wifi and cell connection off), all a poor cable can do is deteriorate the signal, whereas a good cable has a high data integrity.

Round 1: iPhone SE (1st gen.) with different Lightning Cables

For my testing, I connected my iPhone SE (1st gen.) to the Questyle M15 DAC/amp with different lightning cables:

• ddHiFi MFi09S
• ddHiFi MFi06
• ifi Audio
• makeshift lightning cable 1: TC28i adapter with USB-C charging cable
• makeshift lightning cable 2: Apple camera adapter with USB cable

I then listened with the Moondrop Katos the Final E5000s. If there is a sonic difference between these cables, it is not obvious…and therefore negligible. In order to remove all doubt, I moved on to round 2.

Round 2: iPhone SE (1st gen.) vs. Hidizs AP80 Pro-X DAP

I listened with the Moondrop Kato’s to the following two setups:

• iPhone connected to the Questyle M15 via ddHiFi MFi09S cable
• Hidizs AP80 Pro-X DAP connected to the Questyle M15 via a generic UGREEN USB-C charging cable

Phone and DAP served as transports only – but both use different music softwares. The Hidizs setup sounds obviously better: richer, deeper, cleaner, with better dynamics and more headroom. I speculate the cleaner data stream and/or the different encoding from the dedicated (and therefore less noisy) player make the difference, but not the cable. The paradox is that a technically superior cable may not matter at all in many cases because of the other sound-influencing factors.

In the two test rounds, I toggled the phones cellular connection, Bluetooth, and Wifi on and off in all possible combinations, which also made no sonic difference.

Round 3: iPhone into Marantz SA8005 with different Lightning Cables

To put the lid on the pot, I played the iPhone through the Marantz SA8005 SACD player into the home stereo – and listened with the Sennheiser HD25 headphone with its integrated headphone amp. The MFi09S did not work at all, neither did the ifi Audio OTG cable – the iPhone was not recognized by the Marantz. Only the Apple Lightning cable, an MFI-certified Startech USB cable, and even a cheaper MFI-certified UGREEN charge cable worked. And no, there was no audible difference either.

Reasoning is the fact that the Marantz, like a Mac computer, requires a bi-directional power line (with charging functionality) to communicate with the phone. OTG cables generally do not offer that.

Interpretation

All cables tested “sound” the same. They appear to be reasonably well shielded against EMI/RFI and the metallic wire material used makes no sonic difference but rather other factors such as the source (software, noise) in the phone’s case.

In other words, the MFi09S is overkill for my applications. It may be as good as intended but cannot show its qualities in my setups. It would make a difference if the client DAC was emitting EMI/RFI, but this is a special case. The other fact to consider is that a DAP without network/general computing capabilities sounds better than a phone, even with a budget cable.

Although the MFi09S makes no sonic difference in my tests, it is still not snake oil!

Concluding Remarks

Whether a digital cable makes a sonic difference depends mainly on the data quality of the host. If my phone emits a noisy signal, even the best cable is wasted on it. On the other hand, even the cleanest signal can be contaminated by a poorly designed cable.

ddHiFi’s series of “audiphile” digital cables connects computers, daps, and phones to client DACs. Phones typically produce the noisiest data stream. The fact that I don’t hear a difference in sound quality between the MFi9S and other lightning cables may lie in the problematic phone source. An “audiophile cable” may simply be overkill for this job.

In summary, the lack of “obvious sonic improvement” as claimed by ddHiFi may not reflect on the cable – such a general claim is simply not tenable as such “improvement” (rather call it “lack of deterioration”) would depend on many other factors, too.

But just as with earphones cables, the MFi9S is a haptically substantial, well-handling, durable cable with quality connectors that also adds a visual “jewelry” effect to your OTG setup. Unless you are keen on the overpriced, white, easily fraying Apple equivalents…And there is still ddHiFi’s lower-priced MFi6 cable.

UPDATE 2023-01-03: I also tested the USB-C version of this cable, the ddHiFi TC09BC, and it does make a difference in my test setup. And there is a good explanation why…

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

THE MFi09S cable weather supplied by the ddHiFi for my review upon my request – and I thank them for that. I also thank Alberto for his input to this article.

Get them it from the DD Official Store

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

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The post ddHiFi MFi09S Digital Cable Review – Fancy Overkill! appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Current-hungry DACs drain our DAP/Android Devices fast – and Apple’s current-draw limit frequently just results in an error message. The solution is an external power bank – which is easy in the DAP/Android case, but still problematic with iOS devices. Here’ s how to do it…with the E1DA splitter (2 kinds) and the Apple Camera Adapter.

This article is based on discussions with Alberto and I thank him for his insights…which have cost me lots of sweat in the meantime. Gordon Rankin or Wavelength Audio pointed the Apple restrictions out to me. I purchased all these cables myself. My testing refers to extreme cases. The E1DA splitters work as advertised as they are optimized for their own products.

Introduction

Dongles are little DAC/amps that draw their operating current from the host, which is either a computer, phone, DAP, or tablet. They have the advantage that they do not subscribe to planned obsolescence as they do not rely on an internal battery that dictates their life span. And they are small because of it. That’s why I like them.

There are principally two kinds of dongles, such that limit current draw to preserve the host’s battery, and such that…don’t (I wrote about this here). The first are limited in their performance, and the second drain the host (too) fast. Remember the 36 hours we got out of our iPod Classics?

Apple adds the “fun fact” of limiting current draw to 100 mA for most of their iOS devices. Reason is their fear of dissatisfied customers falsely claiming battery failure on warranty when their phones’s batteries drain “too fast”. If we connect our dongle with a current draw exceeding 100 mA, we get no music but a cryptic error message instead. Not good.

There are exceptions, when the iOS device is fooled to believe the draw is below 100 mA…by means of fudging the descriptor table in the software (according to Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio). Hidizs S9 Pro and ifi Go Bar (both around 140 mA), for example, appear to get around the restrictions, as both work with my iPhone SE (1st gen.), Astell & Kern’s PEE51 does not.

Luckily, some third-party Lightning cables exist that trick the iPhone to believe the current draw is lower than 100 mA…which is only a short-term solution, as it does not stop the battery from draining fast. E1DA have published a useful spreadsheet that tells you which Lightning cables work with which iPhones with their 9038SG3 and 9038D DACs (which draw above 130 mA).

Android devices and most DAPs are more forgiving – and work even with the biggest current w**res (excuse my Italian). But not for long in each case before you have to hook your device back up to the charger.

Therefore, in order not to run out of juice prematurely – and to entice Apple devices to play through our monster dongles – we need to use an external power source to drive those – and the readiness of the host to accept them.

The theory is simple: just separate power line and data line in the cable connecting host and dongle. As a result, the dongle draws its power from an external 5V power bank (or out of our 5V wall charger), and its data (“music”) from the phone/DAP/tablet. Computers are exempt in our discussion as they always provide enough power to any dongle (USB 2 up to 500 mA).

Stop! The theory may be easy for Android devices/DAPS, but things can be way more complicated for iOS devices, when the 100 mA current-draw limit needs to be circumvented.

What we need for DAPs/Android devices is a splitter cable (with separate data line and power line), an external battery, and the music host. This also works for iOS devices with <100 mA draw, but the Apple Camera Adapter is needed for anything higher. And that’s not all: you also need an MFI-certified USB-A (or USB-C) Lightning charging cable to make it work. Let’s test all possible cases.

DAPs/Android Devices with external Battery and E1DA Splitter

The easy case first to warm you up for things to come. What we need:

• Music source
• $4.99 E1DA USB-C to USB-C splitter cable
• Power bank
• Dongle (here the current hungry, 280 mA consuming, very powerful Apogee Groove…with micro USB to USB-C adapter
• Headphone

We plug it all in – and it works. The source device is not charged during music play and the Groove receives the required current from the power bank. Easy peasy!

iOS Devices with external Battery and E1DA Splitter vs. Apple Camera Adapter

1. Dongles with a Current Draw <100 mA (or a Software Manipulation pretending it is <100 mA) –> E1DA Splitter and Apple Camera Adapter work

Well, that’s smooth when the connected dongle draws less than 100 mA as it essentially works like the DAPs/Android device above. It just need a different E1DA USB-C to Lightning splitter cable that sets you back $19.99. Just in the case above, your iOS device is not being charged during operation.

2. Dongles with a Current Draw >100 mA (and without Software Manipulation pretending it is <100 mA) –> only Apple Camera Adapter works, E1DA Splitter does not

In this case, the E1DA USB-C to Lightning cable does not work. All you get is an error message. The power bank fuels the Groove properly, but there is no chip telling the iPhone it does actually not have to supply power to the Groove. Hence the iPhone reacts as it would without power bank: it does not want to do it. Thank you, Apple.

We still can drive the Groove but need different equipment to do so. Please fasten your seat belt! We need the following ingredients:

• iOS device
• $49 Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter
• Power bank
• MFI-certifed Lightning charge cable
• Dongle (here again the current hungry, 280 mA consuming, very powerful Apogee Groove)
• Micro USB to USB-A cable
• Headphone

This works beautifully. The power bank funnels current into the Apple Camera Adapter with its controller chip that informs the iPhone that it does not have to supply current to the Groove. And the Groove draws its power from the power bank, which is controlled by the iPhone. On top of that, the iPhone charges while playing.

But there is still another hurdle: the charging cable has to be MFI certified to be able to communicate with the Apple Camera Adapter’s controller chip. Lightning cables by Amazon (Basics), Apple, IKEA, Startech and UGreen worked in my tests, OTG cables by ifi Audio, ddHiFi, and OE Audio did not (they are unidirectional “the wrong way” and not designed for charging). No power through the latter – and the well known error message appears on my iPhone. Bummer!

Concluding Remarks

Driving dongles with DAPS/Android devices and power bank using the E1DA USB-C to USB-C splitter cable works universally.

In contrast, iPhones (tested with SE 1st gen. and 13) do not like to draw zero current when they are not told to do so by a controller chip. As it appears, the Apple Camera Adapter draws some current from the iPhone but also from the power bank. E1DA’s USB-C to Lightning splitter works different from Apple’s Camera Adapter as it talks to the dongle and not to the iPhones’s power management. Therefore, iPhone does not charge while being connected to the E1DA splitter.

And I wished E1DA added a chip (as in Apple’s Camera Adapter) to make their Lightning splitter universally usable (Apple apparently makes this impossible for audio designers without an MFI license – and E1DA are probably not an accredited MFI contract manufacturer). E1DA’s USB-C to Lightning splitter is therefore of limited use for third-party dongles – but it works as intended with E1DA’s own DACs. This cable is not MFI certified.

As a rule of thumb, E1DA’s USB-C to Lightning splitter will only work with dongles that iPhone believes are drawing less than 100 mA current. And Apple’s Camera Adapter only works with MFI-certified charge cables. Nothing is perfect.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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The post Driving Power-Hungry Dongles With DAPs/Android Devices and iPhone (E1DA Splitter and Apple Camera Adapter Review) appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The article shows how to customize the sound of your iems by changing the frequency response – without equalization – and in a non-destructive way. That is, the modification is quickly reversible. The results of this earphone modding may vary but you will frequently enjoy an earphone more when modified than right out of the box.

Introduction: Why reversible Earphone modding?

Reversible earphone modding (“modifying”), mainly performed with micropore tape, aims to balance an earphone’s sound to better fit one’s personal tonal preferences. Those audioreviews.org authors who are also subscribing to the “Super Best Audio Friends” Forum, have always been keen on the technique.

In the following, I will summarize the basic principles and some simple tricks & tips in an easy cookbook style to assist you in getting the best out of your earphones. You then can dig deeper into some case studies provided.

Reversible meaning that, after modding, the iems can be easily brought back to their initial stage…no holes poked, nothig ripped off etc. That’s favourable if you want to sell them later…

Modding is required then some iems don’t sound right for some listeners out of the box. They may be too bright (“shouty”) or the may have too much/not enough bass. In some cases, a different cable of different eartips help, but our method is cheaper – and it can be applied on top of all others. It changes the frequency spectrum without equalization.

The idea of “reversible modding” was initiated and pioneered by SBAF/Head-Fier James444. We reproduced his wisdom with his permission on our blog, previously, whilst applying and refining it ourselves over time.

Typically, a sensitive listener wishes to reduce unwanted peaks in the upper midrange (2-4 kHz harshness and hardness area) and treble (e.g. 7-10 kHz sibilance area). And he/she also wants to attenuate an overly inflated bass, particularly slowly decaying mid-bass humps. In short, if the frequency response curve is a U or V with its lowest point in the lower midrange (let’s say at 1 kHz), this shape should open up towards a horizontal line in the eyes of an “audiophile”.

Dynamic-driver (DD) earphones, because of their comparatively simple design, are easier to modify than balanced armature (BA) multi-drivers or hybrids.

Our Success Stories

Our authors have tamed the upper midrange by micropore mod in the following iems – and included the process and results in their respective writeups (each of which gives you insights in the particular modding process) – but I recommend finishing this article first before dipping into the particulars:

• Blon A8 Prometheus
• Blon BL-05 MK1
• Brainwavz Delta
• ddHifi Janus2
• KBEAR Diamond
• KBEAR TRI3
• KBEAR KB04
• KZ EDX
• LETSHOUER S12
• Moondrop Kato
• Moondrop SSR
• Moondrop Starfield
• NF Audio NM2+
• NiceHCK M5
• NiceHKC NX7
• NiceHCK NX7 Pro
• Pioneer CH3
• Rose Technics QT-9 MK2S
• Shanling ME80
• Shozy Form 1.1
• Tin Hifi T2 Evo
• TRN BA8
• TRN VX
• Unique Melody 3DT
• Urbanfun YBF-ISS014

Materials needed

You will find most of these items in your household. The biggest hurdle may be finding 3M micropore tape. Have a look at your local drug mart or health supplies store (e.g try here if you live in Calgary).

1. 3M micropore tape (Johnson & Johnson micropore tape may be too thick; you can also try Transpore tape)
2. Electrical tape or Scotch tape (Tesa Film for Germans)
3. Alcohol swabs (only in rare cases; 2-ply because it is the thinnest)
4. Thin wire (create it from a twist tie)
5. Needle
6. Scissors

One IEM, two Vents: the physical Principles

Typically (but not always), an iem has two vents, one in the front and one in the back. Here the Tinaudio T2 as an example.

Head-Fier James444 explains the functionality of the vents (original Head-Fi post):

Front Vent: making it smaller increases bass. Explanation: the front-mod adds a tiny amount of front leakage which avoids over-pressurization in the ear canal and reduces bass quantity. Attenuation is a bit stronger in deep bass than in mid/upper bass, resulting in a bass-lighter, but slightly more mid-bassy signature. Because of the leakage, isolation is slightly reduced.

Back vent: adding air increases bass; decreasing back vent diameter makes bass roll off. Reducing the air flow through the rear vent by taping it reduces bass (cover up and poke). Explanation: the back-mod restricts airflow through the back vent, resulting mainly in mid/upper bass attenuation. Deep bass remains unchanged and strong. Due to partial blocking of the back vent, isolation is slightly increased.

Both vents: the combination of front and back-mod yields the largest amount of bass attenuation and results in a significantly more balanced signature than stock.

Reducing and increasing Upper Midrange/Treble

Attenuating Upper Midrange/Treble

Is your earphone shouty? This mod can affect the frequency range between 5 and 15 kHz, depending on earphone.

This is done by adding micropore tape onto the nozzle:

1. Cover 80-90% of the screen with a single strip of micropore tape or use two thinner strips and tape over in a cross-like manner. this should do the job in most of of cases.
2. If this does not work perfectly well, try this: cover the nozzle 100%, then take a needle and poke a hole in the middle and four by the edges.If this still does not do the job in rare cases…
3. You can also try covering ca. 80-90% with 2.5 mm square of 3M micropore tape. This resulted resulted in 2-3 dB decrease in the upper midrange of the TRN VX.

Downside: if nozzle is covered too much, micropore can slow down the bass and make it “boomy” and/or compromise dynamics and soundstage in some earphones.

Example on the right: 95% of screen taped over with 3M micropore tape removed an evil 6-7 kHz “sibilance” peak in a Knowledge Zenith ED3.

Increasing Upper Midrange/Treble

Since the human ear hears the whole frequency spectrum in context, you increase perceived upper midrange/treble by reducing bass. See below how this is done.

Reducing and increasing Bass

Attenuating Bass with Micropore Tape

This is a twofold process and involves a bit of juggling between the two. Measuring comes in handy for double checking the results.

1. Taping off the back vent. If bass is too weak now, poke a hole into the tape to dose bass quantity. As long the hole in the tape is smaller than the original vent opening, the bass will be removed.
2. Creating an air-vent (or aid duct) in the front between tip and nozzle: this easy process is described over there. If you prefer a quickie, follow these pictures…

The combination of back-mod and front mod yields the largest amount of bass attenuation and results in a significantly more balanced signature than stock. If there is no back vent, one can obviously only do the air ducting. And that’s how it goes:

Unfortunately, you will never be able to speed up the bass, that is making it less muddy…but, of course, the muddiness will appear less irritating with reduced bass quantity after modding.

Below an example of a successful mod.

Attenuating Bass with the “Gummiringerl” (=Elastics) Method

(German, Viennese slang: “Gummiringerl”…little rubber ring, elastic; name coined and method suggested by SBAF/Head-Fier James444). 

The air-vent mod can also be performed with rubber string/elastic/any other string: pull through between tip and nozzle, then cut the ends off. You can try string of varying thickness. The downside is lack of flexibility in fine tuning, but you don’t have to worry about channel balance and it probably lasts longer. And it is faster and easier.

Increasing Bass with Micropore Tape

Tape off front vent for maximum effect. If you would like to scale it down, poke a small hole. The bigger the hole, the lesser the bass. Measure channel balance after each step, or do it sonically using a sine wave (Online Tone Generator).

Example: The Tinaudio T2s’ bass can be maximized by taping the front vent over. The bass quantity can be scaled back by poking a hole into the tape.

How to add Bass Extension

That’s hit and miss and varies from earphone to earphone. The idea is to reduce the air flow in the back vent. It is a byproduct of reducing bass by reducing the size of the back vent by taping and poking as described above.

Modding Limitations – That awful 3 kHz Peak

3 kHz peaks may introduce unpleasant hardness and fatigue, but they effectively cannot be safely removed with a reversible mod. Some drivers may respond to micropore tape on the nozzle: it is therefore worth a try to either cover the nozzle grille with 80-90% of micropore tape or remove the screen with a needle, tape completely over with micropore tape and poke a hole near the edge…as described in the treble section.

Other published Mods

Successful mods of single dynamic-driver earphones performed and described by James444:

Alpex HSE-A2000 —  balancing reduction of bass and treble

JVC FD01 with DIY filters — dampening with swabs

JVC HA-FX850 — with great explanations of the physics

Pioneer CH3 — treble reduction only

Kopiokaya explains his mods of the following earphones in great detail:

TRN VX — shoutiness reduced

KBEAR Diamond — bass attenuated

Concluding Remarks

The methods I have summarized in this article may help you getting over your dissatisfaction with a recent purchase – by easy, inexpensive means. In the future, just read as many evaluations of an iem as possible to form the most complete picture.

And please, never – NEVER – fall for any YouTube hypsters/salesmen/influencers and order pricey iems on spec. They mostly want your money. We don’t.

Although this article is quite comprehensive, the relevant chapters can be easily selected and accessed from the “Table of Contents” above. All of these methods are easy and can be performed by people with two left hands. I am the best example of that.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

I thank James444 and Kopiokaya for their insights and cooperation. James444’s wisdom is reproduced here with his permission.

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The post The Principles Of Reversible Earphone Modding – Removing Shoutiness and Bass Boom… appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The ddHifi TC35i is a dongle sonically identical to Apple’s lightning audio adapter in a more compact shape with a better shielded and more premium metal enclosure.

Pros — World’s most compact 3.5 mm lightning adapter; good sounding; compact; great design; rugged.

Cons — Pricey.

Introduction

When ddHifi released the TC25i, which is 2.5 mm balanced version of their lightning adapter, they were tight lipped about its internals. But rumour had it they used the same chip as found in the Apple dongle (the one that used to come with your iPhone).

And whilst the rumour solidified, Apple themselves never released the specifications of their own adapter. The TC35i analysed for this article also features the Apple chipset, so that the specs published here may give us insight into the Apple’s adapter design.

ddHifi have been specializing in attractive and well-made accessories (and lately also iems such as the Janus) that blend design and functionality in a way that put the whole company up on our Wall of Excellence.

Specifications

Physical Things and Usability

The ddHifi TC35i is the world’s most compact and most rugged Apple Audio adapter. Yes, it features the same tech components as its Apple counterpart: a microscopic stereo digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a stereo headphone amplifier, a microphone preamplifier, and monophonic analog-to-digital converter (ADC) – and power converters to run the whole.

The big difference to the Apple adapter is that the TC35i comes in a metal enclosure that is not only much sturdier but it also provides better shielding against electromagnetic interference.

Amplification and Power Consumption

The key asset of Apple’s internal dac/amp combination was a very low output impedance of about 1 ohm, which should be indentical in the TC35i. We ideally want a low output impedance for any music player (<3 ohm) for optimal earphone/earphone pairing.

The Apple adapter not only has an output impedance of <1 ohm, it also has by far the lowest power consumption of all the dongles I have tested. Again, this should also be valid for the TC35i. In terms of amplification, Apple/TC35i handle iems and headphones up to 50 ohm impedance with ease. The 70 ohm Koss Porta Pros are marginal.

Sound

The TC35i’s sound is neutral, clear, clean, transparent with accurate and tight bass reproduction. In comparison, most dongles such as the Helm Bolt, Shanling UA2 or the AudioQuest DragonFlys are slightly coloured. The ddHifi dongle works well with even the most sensitive multi-driver items.

Anything the TC35i drives sounds excellent be it phone or computer. The Audioquest Dragonflys actually add bass and therefore colour (“warmth”) whereas the TC35i is more neutral. It is hard to find a dongle that equals or surpasses the TC35i/Apple audio adapter in terms of dynamics, clarity, cleanliness, and imaging.

Concluding Remarks

The ddHifi TC35i is the world’s smallest and most compact Apple audio adapter, improved over the original trough better shielding and a more rugged design. And a more premium look and feel. It may not be the most powerful but will drive any iem up to 50 ohm with ease at a sound quality adapted from and designed by the engineers of one of the world’s most influential tech companies. The TC35i delivers proven quality in a better shell.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

The TC35i was provided by ddHifi for my analysis and I thank them for that. You can purchase it from DD Official Store.

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The post ddHifi TC35i Lightning To 3.5 mm Audio Adapter Review – Big Apple appeared first on Music For The Masses.

The ddHiFi Carrying Case C2022 is a well-made textile-leather carrying case for personal audio gear. It is roomy enough to hold a couple of daps or portable headphone amplifiers plus accessories.

Pros — Spacious, practical, attractive, great workmanship approved by a seamstress.

Cons — Buckles made of plastic (not metal); no shoulder pad.

Introduction

ddHifi have left a big impression on us in the past. The company sparkles with innovation with their adapters, cables, earphones, dongles, and other accessories. Anything they released is not only extremely useful but also optically and haptically of the highest quality. Any premium earphone that went through Calgary on a Head-Fi tour contained at least one ddHifi adapter. It is therefore no wonder that the company made it as a whole onto our Wall of Excellence.

I love storage. Being German by trade, I like to have my gear orderly stowed, but also quickly accessible. ddHifi’s C-2020 case fulfills all these requirements, but it is a tech organizer and a pure storage device, bulky and therefore best suited for travelling in our luggage.

The C2022 is a totally different design – inside and outside – to be worn on the go while playing music – if desired. It therefore has a different functionality. Both cases are complementary.

Let’s see what the C2022 case can do for us…

Specifications

Physicalities

The C2022 carrying case is largely made of double-strand nylon on the outside, with cowhide leather at the bottom and on the sides. The inner lining is of polyester. It comes with a shoulder strap that is also made of sturdy nylon and adjustable in length. It is plenty long for a 6 ft/180 cm guy like me. The velcro straps are of very good quality and so is the zipper.

I showed the C2022 to my sister-in-law who is a seamstress. She approved of the stitching and the ruggedness of the fabric. Not much I can add.

Functionality

The ddHifi C2022 case looks very much like a camera bag. Since its compartmentalization is impossible to photograph, I drew its layout schematically.

• Green: On the outside is a “frontal zipper pouch for small items” (iems, SD cards, batteries, adapters). Too small for iems.
• The main bag is divided into 3 compartments: slim front and rear pockets with double velcro straps (blue) for phone, dap, power bank, dongles etc.
• The middle pocket (red) is extremely roomy and offer storage even for the fattest Discman, Walkman, even a small desktop amp…the sky’s your limit.

There are several loops on the back and the sides for attaching shoulder strap, carabiners or similar and/or strapping the case to another device.

Let’s now have a look what this looks like in real life.

These plastic parts may be sturdy and light but I preferred the metal in the C-2020.

When actually using the C2022 bag on a daily basis, I found it interfering with my arms because of its depth. It sticks out from the body quite a bit. I’d prefer a different aspect ratio: wider and less deep, like a map case (and not so much like a camera bag). I’d also appreciate a shoulder pad for increased comfort considering you can load this bag up quite a bit. But maybe this shape is optimal for you. You can see that readily from the photos.

As to the price, I don’t find $50 particularly cheap, but it is all relative. A Van Nuys bag costs you three times as much. After all ddHifi use real leather. Nevertheless do I find the identically C-2020 bag a better value (with more metal and more leather).

Concluding Remarks

Well, schlepp your audio gear around while listening to it with this well-made, rugged, and practical ddHifi C2022 bag. I am taking it on an intercontinental trip to Europe this July. It may not be the cheapest solution, but when looking at a comparable Van Nuys, Coach, or Louis Vuitton, you may be out a multiple of what you pay for the C2022.

Until next time…keep on listening!

Disclaimer

I thank ddHifi for providing this case for review. I always have fun analyzing “difficult” items.

Get the C2022 carrying case from ddHifi.

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