I recently got this headset, and wow is it good. My only issue is when certain people talk on discord, I can hear a really high pitched ringing. I fiddled with a bunch of settings, computer audio and discord, and nothing seems to solve the issue. It is primarily if not all in my right ear only. Is there something wrong with my headset, or was that ringing always there I can just hear it cause the headset is THAT good? I haven't had any issues with any other application, though I have yet to test if I can hear the ringing on a different version of discord, say on my xbox instead of my pc. Only other issue I've had is occasional static, but I can't tell if it's from the headset or the show/game/etc.
Apr 24, 2024
- Good clean cheap R-2R loving. It sounds fairly good right out of the box. It didn't do bad things during initial listening with CTH and HD6xx cans. Handled all the music sent to it at max PCM rate (power of 2) from Roon.
- It does what the specs say it can do. All the I/O work. All the buttons operate correctly. No extra driver required, and verified as working fine on macOS 10.14.5 and Ubuntu 18.04.1, both driven by Roon.
- Has that full sized USB-B instead of the initially planned Micro USB-B. No need for me to worry as much about ripping the bloody micro off the board.
Dislikes:- The USB cable which arrived with my unit was faulty. At least one of the wires/connections has a short. Luckily it is a standard USB-B, of which I have maaaany cables. ( -0.25 stars )
- Lack of display. I do like seeing what the unit is doing. Either a cheap LCD/OLED display or simple strip of LED which indicate the sample rate and bit depths would have made the product better. ( -0.25 stars)
- The brains of this unit appear to be BUS powered. While it isn't the full R-2R board, it still kinda sucks that it draws juice even when the power is off. I'm not a big fan of unplugging things like this between every use... Luckily I've a Schiit WYRD on hand and can use it's hard switch for the USB. ( -0.25 stars)
- Has the same scratch magnet crap paint that all the other MassDrop AMPs and DACs have. I know it is a budget thing, but dang this stuff attracts scuffs. ( -0.25 stars)
I'm a bit nitpicky with the dislikes, but that is just because with a few extra touches, this would have been a top class product. As is, in the few hours I've had it, I'm not unhappy. Continuing Impression 2019.06.20: Spent the day listening through the THX AAA 789. The neutral/transparent nature of the 789 helps show off the warmth and general clarity of the Airist, as well as the flaws. I still enjoy the sound produced, but on the 789 it is much easier to hear the soft pops made by bits falling off the ladder (no, really). It gives that extra analog flavor, sort of like hearing a small crackle or pop on vinyl. Not exactly optimal, but not unexpected for R-2R without parallel/quad ladders and bit correction. I was hearing these on the CTH, but couldn't tell if it was new tube related, or from the DAC. Definitely the DAC, and it is not clipping. I rather like the 789 with any of my sources, and it is no different with the Airist. I did notice that I had to jack the volume up significantly versus when I source from any my balanced DAC/interfaces. Most likely the 2Vrms vs 4Vrms (or higher) thing, no issue there. Overall, still happy with the Airist, but I think it pairs better with the CTH than the 789. Update 2019.07.28 (final): My ZDT Jr. arrived and got added into the stack, immediately being used with the Airist. It works just as good with the ZDT as it does with the CTH, with the main difference being that the ZDT is a better amp overall. I also spent some time with the Airist on the LittleDot 1+ and was not unhappy. I still do not like the Airist on the 789 or the LCX, it is very much too easy to hear the defects. Would I suggest buying the Airist? Yest, but with major caveats. If your amp is tube and single ended, the Airist adds to the retro/analog flavour. By analog, I mean all the random pops and hisses you get from the cheap discreet R-2R. I do not recommend using this DAC on any type of amp that is super low noise (JDS Atom, THX AAA 789, etc.), you will catch all the bad without the tubes to help smooth it over. I give it 4 stars because I enjoy the DAC subjectively, the warmth and something about the sound flavor evokes a bit of nostalgia, not because it is objectively better than any of the other far cheaper DACs I've got.