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its_clean
90
Oct 26, 2015
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Mini-review: Just received my DACport Slim, it installed in minutes on my ThinkPad X1 Carbon running Windows 8- no problems whatsoever. The sound quality is amazing, and considering the size and price of this little thing, almost unbelievable. I don't have a golden ear by any means, but I do listen for detail. I used to use a Fiio E10K and I still love it…a little on the warm side, but a very full, rich sound and plenty of detail. The DACport Slim blows it away in terms of detail. I used to think the E10K was detailed in giving me the fine guitar finger-picking sounds when listening to Dominic Miller and Neil Stacey…the DACport goes so far beyond this in detail I couldn’t believe my ears. If you like clean detail in your music, you MUST try this thing!
QUESTION FOR CENTRANCE: The one thing the E10K still does better is the background. The E10K’s background is so black and noiseless I almost can’t tell whether it’s on or off. The DACport is not noisy by any means, but there is much more noticeable hiss, and the background is not as clean. It’s such a shame because the sound is otherwise SO clean and detailed. Is there anything I can do about this?
SECOND QUESTION: The supplied guide didn’t cover this, so- do I need to do anything special to use the DACport with an Android phone, or just plug in a male-to-male Micro USB cable? Is there any specific cable you recommend for this? Do I need to run an app or install anything on my phone?
Oct 26, 2015
CEntrance
1156
Michael Goodman
Oct 26, 2015
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its_cleanWhat headphones are you using? If IEMs, make sure the Gain switch is set to LOW. If the issue continues, please contact us by email and we will help.
Oct 26, 2015
its_clean
90
Oct 26, 2015
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CEntranceI am using TTPod T1-E IEMs and the Gain switch is indeed set to Low, as it was when I took it out of the box. I'll give it a little more time and let you know if I need more help.
Also- do you recommend any type of burn-in or break-in period for the DACport? I know people feel differently about burn-in, but I will ask you directly and trust that you know your own product best.
Finally- I asked previously about using the DACport with a mobile device. Will it work with the Samsung Galaxy S6?
Oct 26, 2015
CEntrance
1156
Michael Goodman
Oct 26, 2015
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its_cleanBurn-in may allow it to settle a bit. We are not against it.
Oct 26, 2015
SomeTechNoob
466
Oct 27, 2015
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its_cleanI just got a set of Xiaomi Piston 3s last week, and hooked them up to the DACport Slim. I did also notice that the background wasn't completely noiseless(noticed this before I read your post). Plugging it into my phone or laptop makes it seem like the background is much quieter.
However, once music is playing, I can really hear the difference in quality between the DACport Slim and my phone's headphone out. Kind of surprised considering the Xiaomi Piston 3s are ~$15.
My AKG K553s have a completely black and noiseless background though.
Oct 27, 2015
Theos
26
Oct 28, 2015
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CEntranceLooks like I'm not the only one who notice the hissing. Despite the claims that it does not hiss. Both my units hiss and they have been on use for a good 100 hours now. so I guess "burn-in" will not help.
Oct 28, 2015
CEntrance
1156
Michael Goodman
Oct 28, 2015
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TheosSo we've been analyzing reports of hissing. It mostly happens with very sensitive IEMs and with people who are listening at a very low level. Of course, we could argue you are using $1000 headphones with a $99 DAC and expect it to be dead quiet like a $1000 DAC. It may not be possible to totally replicate a more expensive DAC at this price. Having said that, the noise spec is exceptionally good for this product class and noise floor is in fact pitch black with any overhead cans.
Oct 28, 2015
whatup69
92
Oct 28, 2015
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CEntranceTTPod and piston 3 iems are hardly high end, both are very much cheap entry level products. That said, why are people using such iems with the slim any way? It's just not conducive to your gear. Most people would be using the slim with full size headphones and those who are looking to pair the slim with iems are using higher end multi driver and/or BA in ears that actually do benefit from the external amp/dac and low output impedance due to wild fluctuations in resistance in the case of BA's and the harder to drive nature as well as variable sensitivity of hybrids. Save your cheap and cheerful iems for your smartphone and make sure you know what you are purchasing before you commit, and if it is actually applicable/specific to your usage requirements. I see a lot of folk in these discussions who are misinformed and just fork out for an external amp/dac without a clue as to if they need it or not. A lot of these aforementioned iems people are using are much cheaper than the slim, so why not save your money for better headphones instead? That, plus the slim has a very high output of 450mW from the class A headamp. There is a reason why FiiO came out with the E12A iem edition which puts out just over 200mW at 32ohm vs over 800mW at 32ohm for the regular E12, despite the later having significantly below 1 ohm output impedance. This is due to such a high output that sensitive iems can and will pick up hiss. Most entry level iems are designed to run perfectly from the very weak amp in your modem smartphone.
Oct 28, 2015
SomeTechNoob
466
Oct 28, 2015
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whatup69Makes sense.
I got the Piston 3s for my smartphone. I'd just plugged them into the slim just to see how they sounded.
Oct 28, 2015
SyntheticShotz
9
Oct 28, 2015
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SomeTechNoobIt's generally better to invest in the headphones/IEMs as opposed to anything else (unless you reach a point of diminishing returns). It took a while for me to appreciate sources and amps in comparison to better headphones/IEMs. The hiss on the slim is noticeably higher than my Fiio X5, though it was only bothering for very sensitive IEMs. I plan on using these on the K7xx as opposed to be IEMs anyways.
Oct 28, 2015
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