Audiophilepure

As for the question of whether R2R DACs are more musical but less detailed than Sigma-Delta DACs, I was not able to reach a conclusive verdict because, during my audition, the EF400 delivered both micro details and a sense of musicality in the same way as I have heard from amplifier DACs that sported more than twice the price of the EF400.

I have heard amplifier DACs that sound better than the EF400, but then they not only cost twice as much as the EF400 but some of them do not even offer the same bullet proof build quality as the EF400. What that means is the if you are in the market for an amplifier DAC in the sub $1000 range, you would be hard pressed to do better than the EF400.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/musical-fidelity-m6x-dacheadphone-amplifier

Move along if you’re after a networked DAC for your system, but demand an audition of the M6x if you can handle a little cable clutter. Musical Fidelity’s latest converter is a winning combination of foolproof usability, wide file compatibility and accomplished performance that favours any musical genre. Add in the eminently sensible price tag, and this full-width DAC has serious X appeal.

About Underwood HiFi: Founded in 1999 and still run by Walter Liederman, a 50-year audio industry veteran, Underwood HiFi was one of the first online-only audio dealerships, and is dedicated to providing extraordinary products at terrific prices, allied with unmatched customer service.

About Living Sounds Audio: LSA is one of three brands owned and sold direct by Underwood, with the others being Emerald Physics (speakers and electronics) and Core Power Technologies (AC line conditioning and cables). Elimination of middle-men enables these brands to be offered at amazingly low prices, backed by the reputation and service of Underwood Hifi.

I mentioned it a couple of times already but I have to tell you that I am in love with the design of the M15 once again here in this closing section. The M15 offers one of the most sophisticated designs in the industry and it is an absolute eye candy with its stellar build and material quality.

It is a capable, great-sounding little device that can dish out a serious amount of juice into demanding cans despite its small size. Overall, I am really pleased to see Questyle implementing their CMA technology into a pocketable device and I recommend you to give it a listen if you are in the market for a dongle.

Hifiman EF400 Review

As promised in the product sheet, the HiFiman EF400 is absolutely dead silent, even with super sensitive IEMs like my Onkyo IE-C3, or the FiiO FD7. To be sure, I tried various sources to check if EMI shielding was okay too and 99% of the time, I was pleased to hear the same pitch-black background. As I said, I had some parasites, but those were not ground-related, and once I rebooted the device, everything went clear.

Last but not least, I did some comparisons between the single-ended ports and the balanced one. The brand recommends choosing the 3.5mm and 4.4mm Pentaconn to drive high-sensitivity in-ears, and stick with the 6.35mm and XLR 4-Pins for low-sensitivity headphones. So I did the opposite, see how the amp behaves, and… quite frankly, it works well.

The amount of bass is a bit bigger than in a fully neutral amp. Bass has a great kick and punch, and the delivery is with good impact. Bass control is good, and bass reaches down low to sub levels with an excellent rumble down low. I don’t find the bass to be overly present, but it can’t be ignored either, luckily the quality is good.

The mids, as said, are spacious and airy and the vocals here are slightly more focused and too the front, but not too much. Mids perfectly connect to the bass section for what body is concerned. The mid presentation has that lovely tube smoothness but not too much. It makes the mid timbre really addictive and special.