Just started yesterday about looking for good dacs and this Video is literally godsend, thabk you very much!

Great comparison video…thank you for your hard work creating this content…

You forgot a good one... Penon TAIL DAC. Only $75, uses 2x CS43131 chips, volume control and sounds amazing! Excellent review nonetheless.

Excellent video, a similar one for more powerful ones with a battery would be appreciated!

Thank you for your recommendation the fc4 sounds great with my beyerdynamic dt770

Thx just ordered the Space!

Thx for the rwview. Just what I needed.

Great review ! Which one provides the most analogue sound and an airy soundstage ?

The intro music was awesome. Listening on my iems

i am so blessed to have access to totl IEMs I see budget IEMs are getting better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better and better as I compare them to my totl

Perfect timing, I am planning to buy dac and your video pop at recommendation thank you

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!

Great list, Dave. I’m surprised the Shio wasn’t in there somewhere honestly. I would love to see the best desktop amps under $350 or something along those lines. Looking forward to the next one 👍

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Great video man! can anyone recommend any DAC and IEM combo good for listening metal?

Space Lite is my go to here. I only use IEM's as far as HiFi sets go.

Hi!!is the moondrop dawn 3.5mm powerful enough for aful p5?

Which sub-100 doolar DAC would you say would pair well with the Letshuoer S12 Pro? (will be used as a general portable DAC for all IEMs)

Thank you for the video! Is the dawn pro the new king under 100?

@mcallisterdrew

8 ай бұрын

I want to know bout this one as well bro

I'm new to this rabbit hole, seriously thinking of returning my OnePlus 12 for a Nord with the 3.5mm jack. Coming from a ZenFone 6 with a very good built-in dac

What was the intro song? Love it

Wow. Nice review! What intro music is that?

@alpinab14

5 ай бұрын

He has been asked that question 100,s of times , no idea why he keeps it a secret , driving people mad

I just recently bought the Truthear SHIO as my first DAC. I'm really enjoying it so far

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Nice, I've had it on my radar. Hopefully I can pick one up soon! Thanks for checking out the review!

@nemureru_tanuki

11 ай бұрын

​@@Gizaudioplease do! i love watching your dac reviews!

What didn't you like about the iFi go link? I currently use one and am considering getting something else for some Ananda Nano headphones since they're pretty hard to drive despite their specs.

I see you have many good ones, but you don't have the Shanling UA2 plus. My favorite one.

What about the best with mic input? I just got a moondrop dawn pro and it sounds incredible but doesn't support mic input...

My BIG requirement would be to have a chargi8ng port as well. So none of these satisfy my requirements.

if I have a budget around 500-ish what is letshuoer ej07m a better option thanks

I wander what this list will look like now that the moondrop dawn pro is out there

I love moondrop CLICK dac.

Any of these can be used with a combo jack (headphones + microphone)??? thanks

Just after seeing the intro I had to leave a like!

Song is muita calma by martin landstrom

Your review had really nothing to do about how they sounded over one another and why you chose it for "sound"... Your explanations seemed all based off of convenience, shape, or output voltage. But how did they sound? What DAC chips are being used? Not saying this wasn't an informative video... but it had very little to do with how the DACs actually performed.

What's the track in the intro? Total banger!

I’m a complete noob when it comes to audiophile gear, but I have my eyes set on a pair of Modhouse Argon’s Mk3s, but I’ve heard they are a power hungry set of cans, so my question is would the added power of the FC4 over the space lite make a meaningful difference when trying to drive such headphones?

@alphaone2548

7 ай бұрын

I don’t have the Space Light or the FC4 but I have the exact same headphones and I have been using it with the Moondrop Dawn(4.4 balanced version) and it powers it really well(around 70-100%% for intense listening) it goes loud enough. So as long as it’s a balanced with good power like the moondrop dawn. You should be able to power the headphones. I use the headphones with a THX 789 AAA amp with a E50 Dac and it offers 85%ish of the performance for a way smaller and cheaper package. After this point just think about how your sound is outputted as the music quality you’re playing from really matters. Tidal and Spotify offer really good music quality and adds another layer to most songs compared to youtube or youtube music but I still use youtube music cuz I’m a cover lover. (If you love the original artist then tidal or Spotify will be really good) Don’t ask me the value as value is subjective for either one as is good. TLDR: Other than power and detail doesn’t improve much further than this even if you spend a lot more on your amp and dac. The extra 15% is not really worth it as you only notice the difference if you actively listen. But if you chilling and just enjoying the music do not spend too much on the amp and dac and spend on the source and pirate more high quality audio.

@alphaone2548

7 ай бұрын

Please keep in mind a 3.5mm jack will not have the resolution(Detail)or power output of a 4.4mm Balanced jack. So just keep it in mind when trying to find things to power your cans

@ConsecDesign

4 ай бұрын

i own t50 and t60 argons. it's true that they do scale well with more power, and they can handle a lot of power, but they're actually fairly easy to drive. i've used them with e10k, xduuo xp2 pro, zen dac, smsl 793 mkii, shanling up4 (balanced), M2 macbook pro... none of these are powerful, but they all work. you're gonna love the argons, btw... i tend to reach for the T60s with suede xenon pads.

Have you tried the dunu dtc 500?

Is fc3 a good option if I get it for 30 dollar ? Also how much the difference between fc3 and fc4 ? Would be very helpful for me, TIA.

@d0nj03

6 ай бұрын

FC3 is cleaner by far since it's practically just a DAC chip with volume control and some connectors. It gets to THD+N=0.000125% and its auto high-gain mode for >150 ohm headphones (or when used as a line source) goes to 1.9 Vrms. By contrast, according to Professor Wolf's measurements (L7 Audio Lab) the FC4 gets a shocking -81 dB THD+N, meaning you could hear the distortion if listening at night in a quiet room, it doesn't even satisfy NwAvGuy's basic audibility threshold of -85 dB. And its max rated power of 340 mW comes with a whopping 10-11% of distortion, everyone would hear that easily, it's a bad joke of a design. Just skip the FC4, it doesn't belong in the current era, it could've been considered interesting maybe a decade ago or earlier.

EPZ DAC It is also outstanding

Would you recommend the FC1, reviews are better than the FC4 and way cheaper, need an amp/dac for my IEMS crinacle Zeros, thanks

@d0nj03

6 ай бұрын

FC3 is better if you can afford it, has lower distortion and automatically switches to a 1.9 Vrms (100 mW into 32ohms) high-gain mode if you plug something with over 150 ohms impedance into it. But FC1 can be fine as well if your IEMs are low-impedance and high sensitivity, and its distortion+noise of -110 dB can't be heard in the vast majority of real life situations (the improvement to -118 dB of the FC3 might become important only if you plug it into another amp that might amplify that distortion along with the signal).

Hiby fc3 vs moondrop dawn pro? Which one should i get?

hi. I'm using technics eah a800 as my headphone. it is wireless but it has a 3.5 cable jack. which of these usb dac is compatible for my headphones? thank you.

which one is able to work with iPod 5 gen? thx!

I picked up the Tanchjim Space Lite based on this review, however, it is not recognized by my Galaxy S24 at all.. When plugged into my PC it operates as expected, but I'm at a loss to try and get my smartphone to detect anything when it's plugged in. Anyone here have any advice? The Apple USB to 3.5mm adapter works with my phone and is immediately recognized when plugged in, but I can't stand how muddy the sound is with it and I'm in dire need of something better.

Have tried ka3, space and fc4, and Truthear shio is my best pick! Ka3 is the worst as it’s getting super hot after using for a while, and the sound is completely different on iPhone and usb c devices which is much worse

@meatballman4329

4 ай бұрын

I love the sound of my ka3, and heat has never been a huge issue with me. The deal breaker for me, though, is it's very noisy and has a lot of audio artifacts when using it. I was wondering if you've run into similar issues?

@StevenL717

4 ай бұрын

@@meatballman4329 mine has been sold ages ago but in my memory it’s not an issue to me. But it sometimes did lot cracking sounds like dac is not dacing properly and scared shit out of me especially in a quiet night

Another great comparison 👍

Which best dac dongle for oldies music?

Which dac produces the deepest bass?

Truthear Shio at $70 best bang for the buck imo.

where's the hiby's FC1? it's a little beast

Was hoping to see FC1

What about the Dawn Pro?

You forgot something that regularly goes below 50usd during sales, the Akliam PD4. :)) I personally find it better than most Hiby's, Fiio's and HIdizs' offerings.

Hello, I have some S12pro, but I don't know which dac with battery to buy, they tell me that it must be greater than 300mw because they are planar, help, my budget is 120 dollars

Can i connect bookshelf speakers to these to my pc

can someone tell me whats the best to use for iphone with lightning port.

What about dragonfly black?

First. Also no truthear shio?

Hi! Will the Tanchjim Space Lite work well with the Koss KSC75?

@Joe_DeSantis

6 ай бұрын

Yes, it should have more than enough power to drive them.

about to get my first dongle DAC. How important are removable/replaceable cables?

@lifeisinserthere

2 ай бұрын

Just in case you're still wondering, in my opinion it's a very big deal because those built-in cables no matter how well made tend to start falling apart and causing audio issues within a few months. I wouldn't trust one to last much longer than a year at best. With removable cables, you can simply replace your cables whenever they are an issue (which if they're decently built, a USB C to C cable should last quite some time). Good luck hope this helped!

Please ! Choose 200~300 the 5 best usb dac~~~

Lets be real ..power output is overrated most of us dont have good headphones.. we use budget to mid range iems ( costs under 500$) .. we dont need that much power .. but we care about sound quality

BTR3K?

Anyone knows what pairs well with the Sennheiser HD600? I know it is a neutral headset and I like a little warmth if that matters...thanks!

@LeedsSTL

4 ай бұрын

Came to ask the same thing!

ifi uno?

hmmm I'm between the hiby fc4 and moondrop dawn

is there any DAC/AMP that acts like a standard 3.5mm to usb-c dongle? By this I mean a DAC/AMP that supports the inline microphone of a headset and actually allows to make phone calls with your headphones on.

@justprey411

Ай бұрын

I think hidizs s3pro does, but double check, it's also a very good little DAC.

Wheres my Shanling UA2 Plus at

Will the moondrop dawn power the Sennheiser hd600?

@TeSp00kie1

11 ай бұрын

yes, as long as you're not trying to damage your hearing.

I love my Qudelix 5K

@diyaansworld4731

7 ай бұрын

Is it good for iphone hi-res what is highest bit rate when it is with iphone

@ravantgarde1899

7 ай бұрын

@@diyaansworld4731 highest is 24 bit 96 kHz

@ravantgarde1899

2 ай бұрын

@@diyaansworld473196K

which ones do mic passthrough?

@jackal8858

11 ай бұрын

I think none of them

@TeSp00kie1

11 ай бұрын

@@jackal8858 oof

@redgopnik2227

11 ай бұрын

hiby fc3 has mic passthrough so small chance the fc4 does as well... but in general, dongles with 4.4 just dont bother to have mic passthrough in 3.5

Man, nobody wears shoes when they're relaxing indoors, putting their feet up. Good video though.

Why is the apple dongle not here. It is incredible for its price

@TheArpage

5 ай бұрын

Because for $3 more, you can get an Ikkolot USB-C dongle which power T50RP’s with ease. An Apple dongle cannot.

Where are graph

Man i cant believe this is what phones use now....

Qudelix 5k

waaaaaait how about the truthear shio

Where is the Fiio Q11?!

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

I was going to throw it in the mix but in the end thought it was just too big.

Under 100$ without ibasso dco3 pro ?? Im surprised

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Don't own it unfortunately. Hopefully I can add it to my collection soon. Thanks for watching!

Dang everyone missing the Shio lol

@jackal8858

11 ай бұрын

lol

@aldo-tn

11 ай бұрын

imagine not using space frfr also hi danny lol

@ImAWSMDanny

11 ай бұрын

@@aldo-tn heyyyyyyyy

Great review!! I wonder how does Truthear Shio fit into this....

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Hoping to get one soon! Thanks for watching!

Shouldn’t the SHIO be in here somewhere..?

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Don't own it yet. Hopefully I can add it to my collection soon though. Thanks for watching!

Where's Shio?

@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811

11 ай бұрын

Literally the only one worth buying in this range. Basically a Moondrop Moonriver 2 for 36% of the price. Makes everything else irrelevant.

@t3floz

11 ай бұрын

Whats the full name of the dac?

@ishraquenoor

11 ай бұрын

@@t3floz Truthear Shio

@randomdrifter

11 ай бұрын

He'll be picking it up somewhere down the line

@benmacdhui

9 ай бұрын

​@@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811 Exactly. The Shio is better than all mentioned-so is the iBasso DC03 Pro for that matter. My best of the very smallest of (yet quite powerful) dongles is the iFi GO Link

For my tastes, ka3 wins hands down.

Apple Dongle DAC. Add audio jack to USB adapter. 🤌🏼 (sorry Timmy told us to comment Apple DAC on any video about DACs 😂)

@zengerz

11 ай бұрын

and you like to disrespect yourself by following orders like a beta cuck?

@zengerz

11 ай бұрын

(mental) slaves follow orders ;)

@Lishtenbird

11 ай бұрын

At least hybrid BT/USB DACs provide the additional feature of wireless convenience for the price, unlike the purely wired variants.

@Shyvorix

8 ай бұрын

​@@LishtenbirdI feel like a wireless dongle/DAC is still worthless since you still need a cable in the first place. Now the systems that turn, say, your IEMs into a true wireless with the third party modules are awesome, but LDAC would be great. As for headphones....well... I'll withhold my opinion on those for outdoor use...

😮 Wait, where is the Truthear Shio?

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Don't own it yet. Hopefully I can add it to my collection soon though. Thanks for watching!

@pmdthewizard

11 ай бұрын

@@Gizaudio Will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them

Dawn pro doesn’t work on iPhone FTR.

@sumanthparakala2005

6 күн бұрын

What a shame nobody mentions it

Someone using ibasso dc03 pro? :3

@AishaMansion

10 ай бұрын

I do have it

Do u have a custom in-ears? Of not, why/why not?

Wow, this video got old even before it started. iBassos, Shio, EPZ, Penon?

@Gizaudio

11 ай бұрын

Still a lot I don't own but hopefully my collection will grow! Thanks for watching!

it's still frustrating how we are forced to buy these things now just to plug a headphone to our phones instead of phone companies improving their built in 3.5mm headphone ports to the extent of removing it totally.

@lifeisinserthere

2 ай бұрын

LG were the only ones holdin down the aux port. Even Samsung gave up after pretending to be committed to it. RIP LG phones. Still absolutely love my LG V50 ThinQ as an Android DAP. Seriously old LG phones if you can find em for cheap on the gently used market is the way to go imo

@dovafinn3594

2 ай бұрын

@lifeisinserthere personally, it's just annoying to have a dongle sticking out from my phone in general it's extra bulk, awkward, and ugly.

@lifeisinserthere

2 ай бұрын

@@dovafinn3594 that is a good point!

wait. whos this

Meanwhile Ibasso DC 03 pro be like:- Am i a joke to you? DC 04 pro:- PATHETIC

those cirrus logic chips are not true dac's they are just codec chips ;/

@AishaMansion

10 ай бұрын

No, they make codec chipset too but cs 431313 is a full fledged dac chip.

@Jamy4ya

8 ай бұрын

What a Moron comment. This particular chip even ain't a CIrrus Logic but a real Wolfson Chip under the hood since Cirrus Logic acquired the Wolfson company.

Misleading title, should say around $100 to under

Apple Dongle number 1

@hrezzatimdapcpphd2

Ай бұрын

are you missing some neurons?

@hrezzatimdapcpphd2

Ай бұрын

are you missing some neurons?

@drewxx8527

9 күн бұрын

Bruh that ain't no apple DAC, also apple DACs are quite awful due to volume that has been lowered

@ahmadhusaini8420

9 күн бұрын

Yes like a few years back. Apple dongle is decent but now it's trash with the current era.

@jgizzy

Күн бұрын

Well he obviously drinks the soup that's given him. I bought the Apple Dac dongle and it was the worst out of the four that I've owned. So for him to say it's the best I literally could have laughed out loud reading that

Shoes inside house wtf

All of these answers are the wrong answer. I could have saved everyone about 13 minutes. There is only one acceptable answer- Qudelix 5K

@Shyvorix

8 ай бұрын

If you don't use EQ though the 5K isn't exactly super worth it.

@04yellowjacket

8 ай бұрын

@@Shyvorix As long as you are using it with IEMs, the amplifier portion is great. It just does not have enough power for most over-ear, full size headphones. I use it mainly with my 64 Audio Tia Trio and that is a great combo.

...and the TempoTec BHD Pro beat all of this bunch! 🎉

Ibasso dc03 pro & akliam pd04 might beat all of those for around 55€ / 60$

@_Pretender

11 ай бұрын

...and the TempoTec BHD Pro beat all of this ibasso! 😅

@fid7715

11 ай бұрын

No, i have ibasso dc03 pro, its not good at all, just sound "Clean", with boost but for layering, separation, soundstage, etc not really good.. and the stock cables is suck..

@zengerz

11 ай бұрын

@@fid7715 Stock cables always suck... if you know 'audiophile' gear this is a non factor in buying equipment. What other dacs did you compare it with? and on what headphones or IEM's? curious about this since the ibasso dc04 pro is clearly not bad at all and not too dar off dc03

@enjoshi-godrez8775

11 ай бұрын

You know the qudelix caps on all of these for obvious reasons. "Just use wavelet!" the brain rotten man shrieks. Can't be used with Tidal, its buggy as all hell, can't use the eq over any device you want. You need to have severe brain drain syndrome not to choose it. All headphones and iems benefit from eq, there is no exception to that rule.

@equilibriumbumbshellmichae7761

11 ай бұрын

​​@@zengerzow is dc04pro compared to Akliam pd4?

There is only a one answer to this - Qudelix 5K

@OwlyEagle

8 ай бұрын

Even above the k3?

@DCer0

8 ай бұрын

@@OwlyEagle the price and Parametric EQ are the selling points for 5K. Yes you can find it better, but pricier. Or you can find DACs with similar value, but without PEQ

@mickyj8412

8 ай бұрын

Heard amazing things about this. Must try

@Cujobob

8 ай бұрын

@@OwlyEagle the cool thing about the Qudelix is that it has preset EQ set up based on the recommended settings that major headphone reviewers suggest. Those features set it apart from everything else. The battery management and everything else involved is also really well done.