Super Best Audio Friends

Preamble
I have been out of the portable game for a while. The last DAP I owned (and loved) was the iBasso DX50. Later on I tried a number of dongles along with cheap and midrange IEMs and headphones. Most recently I have come to enjoy the iBasso DC-Elite, the iFi Audio Hip Dac 3 and Chord Mojo 2. I will attempt to compare the DX340 to these sources as they are the ones I am most familiar with.

For reference, out of the three dongles, the Chord Mojo 2 and iBasso DC-Elite were my favorite (quite a large performance delta when coming from the Hip Dac 3). The Mojo 2 has a wonderful sense of space, head stage, analog warmth and drive. The DC-Elite has noticeably less driving power, and so loves easy-to-drive headphones and IEMS. It has exceptional resolve, detail and clarity, along with PRAT.

Build and Usability
In regard to the DX340’s build and usability… I refuse to write up a review of the device itself, and want to keep this about the audio quality. That being said, I find the unit to be very heavy, well built and easy to use. I see this as more transportable than portable. I certainly can't fit it in my pocket and just use it at my desk or in bed. I have not had any noticeable issues with it, and I find the battery life reasonable, and the ability to change the gain for the DAC and Amp sections (along with the ability to drive the amp section with a 12v external power supply) to be a game changer.

I know some folks have asked about the Kara and I also know that a few members have already had it in their systems for a period of time. I've finally gotten to it. Honestly, not gonna bother with measurements because they are amazeballs per the Schiit APx555 report.



In a nutshell: Super transparent (way more so than the Freya S it replaces) and provides some oomph (while not as overly rich and colored as prior Nexus amps and preamps). I didn't want to believe it, but high-voltage rails are the real deal.

Three very similar 6AS7 based OTL design headphone amplifiers technical measurements will be compared. Measurement methods and notes can be found in this example post

The three amplifiers:

Woo WA3+ on the left
BH Crack in the middle
Xduoo TA-66 on the right

I began my journey into tube headphone amplifiers with the WA3+ and Sennheiser HD600 headphones. After years of enduring the headphone output of a Benchmark DAC1 which I used for dialog editing I found I could actually enjoy recreational listening when changing to a Violectric V800 and the WA3+. This was a revelation as I would not engage in recreational listening after work for many years. Too much listening fatigue from the DAC1.

I know some of you have been waiting a long time for a review of these and loaner. Yup, Chacha and I bad for holding on to them for so long. Yes, these are going on loaner ASAP.



Notes:

1. Not what I would say great channel matching. Considering the pads appear to be very uniform.
2. Even smoothed 1/9, response is a big jaggy and uneven. Can people hear this? Probably. It's hard to describe.

More measurements in a bit. D2 and D3 distortion surfaces around 8:42 in the video.

What sorcery is this? A couple of guys mentioned this little $250 Chi-Fi gem. OMG. This is not only is high-value Golden Schlong, but gets awfully close to an Excellence award if not outright deserving one.



The only thing I dislike is the clunky volume stepper - honestly I wished xDuoo just used a cheap pot - however I found the volume granularly acceptable with the HD800. Sure, many of us haven't heard of xDuoo because it's some of those oddball Chinese brands, but they've made decent stuff before: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ble-dac-headamp-review-and-measurements.9655/

The CFA Fathom is a 6BA (2 tweeter, 2 midrange, 2 woofer) IEM housed in a black anodized body with rainbow shiny nipple ring things. Like all other CFA IEMS, it features MMCX connectors and comes stock with Time Stream cables in both 3.5mm and 4.4mm terminations. 11.7 Ohms at 1kHz impedance, 94 dB SPL at 1kHz: 6.75 mVrms, claimed.

Per popular request, context here. I have to say that I was curious too, as some readers mentioned, it has been "Wiim, Wiim, Wiim, Wiim" seemingly everywhere on the Internet.



I was a bit shocked that Lindsay, who is hardly an audiophile, came out so quickly against the Wiim in the video. I thought she'd save it for later....

Campfire revamped their limited release Black Star IEM as a collab with Drop, keeping the same driver configuration (1 10mm dual magnet DD for bass, 1 Sonion BA for mids, 2 Knowles BAs for highs), but replacing the DD driver from the Black Star with a new biocellulose version. The Black Star was around $1k and the Darkstar sells for $799, but is currently on sale for $699 at the time of writing.
I got a silly good deal on the CFA Cascara recently, which has the same dual magnet DD as the Black Star and I really liked the bass on it, so when Drop priced the Darkstar down to $599 for Black Friday curiosity got the better of me. I got it yesterday and stayed up way too late listening to it.

TLDR:
A tastefully tuned neutral-dark IEM that is smooth, forgiving, with sweet mids, secretly killer bass, and is a great all rounder that sounds good without just about anything.

Design:
The Darkstar uses the same shell as the Solaris Stellar Horizon, but instead of the two tone color way and awesome etching on the faceplate of the Solaris, we get a sleek all black shell and faceplate with the CFA and Drop logos embedded onto them. There are vents on the top and bottom of each shell. Isolation is average. Fit is decent, not as secure as the Astrolith for my ears, and every so often I have to give them a little nudge further into my ear but overall I can wear these for hours without discomfort or annoyance.

Back then, the problem I wanted to solve was how do I send a digital output from the Apple TV (next to the projector on the back wall) to the DAC and audio setup at the front wall. This time around, I had a slightly different problem to solve: how do I get an analog L/R signal from the surround processor (at the front wall where the screen is) to the surround speakers at the back wall. Also the secondary issue: would another 1Mii doodad work along with the existing 1Mii doodad? The answer is yes and this is how I did it.

I drew up this diagram for noobs. Also pictures make things much easier to understand.

It's about time. I really had trouble for words with this one. The last bit of the video (funny and inappropriate for younger kids) explains more than anything IMO.



The S+ Tier thing is kind of tongue in cheek because you guys know how much I dislike ranking things. However, in a sense it's true. I have been enamored with the Astrolith, taking them with me everywhere. Maybe I will make a radar chart that grades its sonic attributes. I'll reach out to Ken to pay for a loaner if there is enough interest.

@schiit makes a lot of good products over the years. I notice that they sell the Schiit branded Toilet Paper, so I picked up two rolls. I was very curious on their performance to other toilet paper in the market, since we all use toilet paper one way or another. From easy stools to hot pot diarrhea, we need toilet paper in our life.

Some of people’s best time of their lives are on the toilet. So let it flow!

What many of you have been waiting for. Holo Audio Red be going on loaner soon.



The small little rectangle on the desk next to the streamers is an SMSL PO100 USB to coaxial / optical digital out. It sounds like ass, very "digital" with nasty highs compared to both the Holo Audio Re and Pi2 Design Mercury 3. I forgot to mention it in the video.