Customer Reviews
Excellently built, with superb sound and lot of features.
The best)))))))
For me it has been a pain finding DAC that 1) has good features, 2) no background noise with sensitive IEMs and 3) supports mic input at adequate level (being loud and clear). I use DAC both for mobile phone (it has no 3.5mm port, only usb type-c) and desktop pc use (listening to music, gaming, conference calls etc).
I have tried questyle m12i, hiby fc3 version with screen as well as other manufacturers that explicitly claim mic support. And they all failed (mic volume was too low and if I artificially increased mic gain through e.g. 'Peace' software, that would add distortion to mic input).
This DAC fully addresses my needs and I expect it will also meet expectations of majority of users.
I am using this DAC with 64audio u12t and shure se846. Now I can finally put my search efforts to end.
I own a few sets of headphones including the Sennheiser HD650 and HD580, AKG K240 Studio and K371 and the TRUTHEAR x Crinacle ZERO pair of IEMs and tried all of them with this DAC. The results were exactly what I expected. That is to say, the unit sounds as good out of the box as it should for the ~150€ price point.
Unfortunately, at first glance, other options that are often on sale and more readily available make this a difficult sell for the average buyer. There are however some saving graces that make this DAC punch above it's weight class.
The NConfigurator utility that comes with it is a lightweight, no-frills program that makes configuring everything from the behavior of the screen and the tap controls to the DSP functions easy and intuitive. It includes a parametric EQ, has a crossfeed filter and, best of all, a precompiled list of FRC presets for most popular headphones. Moreover, it allows you to adjust and save a selected preset (either precompiled or one you made yourself) on the device itself which is a very important feature as it allows you to do away with equalizer software running in the background, especially when using it with mobile devices (although do note that as of the 15th of July 2024 it is only available on desktop systems). I believe this is what saved this product for me.
The headphone jack is compatible with the CTIA standard for media control and it also accepts a microphone input which the DAC exposes as a digital input to the device it's plugged into which is a nice addition for people with gaming headsets and some cheaper IEMs that sometimes come included with cables that have an inline microphone.
Lastly, the size and the design language make this a beautiful little thing to carry around compared to other brands' flashier, "louder" designs. The edge-to-edge curved glass front and aluminum back make it feel premium and serious which I appreciate and it really feels like it was put in the smallest possible package.
Overall, if you have your own EQ of choice already set up and don't care as much about looks, this is an offering comparable to others on the market. On the other hand, I do enjoy the small form factor and sleek appearance and the built-in DSP settings are something that, after playing around with, I will find hard to replace.
P.S.: I want to add that this review has been altered from it's original state after discussion with the developer. He was very open to listen to some issues I was facing with the product that initially made me be more negative and even elected to fix them in a timely fashion.
Thank you very much for unique Neutron HiFi DAC V1 Portable audiophile USB DAC and Preamp with DSP! I like it very much!