Admin note: edited title to include all dongle dacs and make a general thread. Original title
So far these are 3 of the dongles that have impressed me recently, so might as well do a quick rundown. The main contenders are the Questyle M12, Luxury & Precision W2, and Lotoo PAW S1
So signature wise, the m12 is almost a mix of a more clear yet bodied forward signature, where the w2 sits in a more neutral slightly warmer relaxed leaning, and the s1 sits more toward a cleaner slightly more dry analytical forward neutral.
When it comes to detail and resolving power, the w2 clearly leads the pack, and the lotoo has a bit of an edge over the m12 imo.
For control, I think the w2 easily has the most command and grip, and actually after that the questyle just has a sense of control that the s1 doesn’t seem to which is strange to me (but the questyle is softer leaning).
Dynamically I think the w2 is easily the strongest in both macro and micro, the m12 takes a more micro foucs, but the s1 kinda has it’s weak point here depending on pairing imo but it doesn’t stand out in either regard.
Speed and seperation I’d say the w2 clearly ahead, with the s1 following and the m12 lagging behind a slight bit.
For smoothness, personally I actually find the s1 the smoothest sounding which you wouldn’t expect, followed by the m12, and the w2 after that which ended up sounding a bit raw at times when it potentially shouldn’t have.
Stage wise, the w2 easily has the widest stage and is most coherent in placement and depth, the m12 has a smaller stage but is still very coherent and has reasonable depth, the s1 has a wider but more vague feeling stage than the m12 but not as large as the w2.
For timbre and organicness, I think the w2 still leads but the m12 is not far behind in this case, the s1 noticably lags behind imo.
For impact and slam, I think the w2 again is really good here, m12 is pretty decent, but the s1 feels more limp in this case and feels lacking a bit depending on pairing
For texture, none of them really have all too much to offer but the w2 is getting there.
For noise floor, the w2 and s1 are dead silent with basically everything I threw at them, m12 has a bit of noise with very sensitive iems, but it’s still not in the big problem area or anything
All of these dongles have enough headroom for iems imo, although for headphones, imo the only one that I was able to reliably push and not have run out of steam was the w2.
For some more midrange headphones for pairing:
HD600: W2 easily the best pairing in terms of spatial recreation, dynamics, impact and body, and resolving power, although it could get raw in the treble a bit. S1 had nice smoothness but felt pretty dull and flat overall, likely due to lackluster dynamics and drive. The M12 had great timbre, nice tonal balance, good clarity, but a bit soft and it’s stage was a bit too much on the smaller side
Kennerton GH50: W2 again leads strong, although I do think that it somewhat emphasizes the lower treble boost that can lead to a bit of shoutyness. But plays to the strengths of this headphone for the most part. The s1 leads to a very smooth and soft sound, with good clarity. The lack of dynamics is a reasonable handicap, but I still enjoyed this pairing. For some reason I wasn’t as keen on the M12, it did have a bit more noisy background, and also while it offered good tonality it somewhat felt a bit restrained and too soft leaning for my tastes with this headphone.
Diana v2: was very surprised, the W2 actually handled this well enough to sound decent. Other dongles couldn’t really.
The only reasonably appropriate pairings for iems I still have is the sarda really: w2 easily best performing, actually really nice pairing overall, although treble did get a bit hot. Noise floor non concern. The paw s1 was a bit more smooth and chill, not technically up to par but still reasonable, noise floor not a problem. The M12 did have noise floor concerns, and I didn’t enjoy the softness in this pairing either, so not recommended.
Edit: Also the FiR VxV: W2 clearly leads here, but I actually like the tonality of the M12 more with this one, gave a better sense of organicness (but not on same technical level). S1 gave best sense of neutrality, but lacked the technical capabilities of the W2 and life of the M12
Overall, the w2 clearly leads the pack in most regards and feels like a big upgrade over the other 2, but given it’s price that’s what I’d expect. The m12 to me feels more compelling with more things I threw on it over the s1, although there were some parings where you may want to consider a s1 over the m12. Honestly all three have really changed what I thought was possible for the little dongle dacs, so I do think all three are worth a look depending on what you have. I would find the w2 more compelling than some of the 500+ daps, and the m12 and s1 beating out some of the 300 ish or under daps for sure.
GRIPES:
Questyle - High gain mode is dumb to get working and that sounds better so you have to trick it, ends up draining my battery the fastest it feels like as well
Lotoo - EQ modes suck, and I think it’s slightly missing dynamics and lack of true drive and command hampers the experience
W2 - Honestly really not any problems with it given it’s price for me, perhaps can get a slight bit raw sounding at times but not enough to have an issue
I should also note some other dongles I tried, liked for the most part, but didn’t make the cut for various reasons (but could still be worthwhile too)
iBasso DC04: Actually like this one a fair bit for the money. It has basically all you could ask for at this price point, has good power and impact with reasonable control, good resolution, nice timbre, decent spatial recreation, above average tonal density, a more slightly warmer balanced signature, good dynamics. But I just think that spending a bit more can get you another improvement. But this one is worth a serious look if you want a more budget option
Earmen Sparrow: Enjoyed the sound, a more colored spectrum leaning more towards warmer relaxed and fun, but at too many times it sounded a bit bloated and unrefined, and kinda too dull at times
Hidizs S9 Pro: Higher power output, drives most things well enough, although unremarkable sound but does have clean ish headroom that will “get the job done” for the price. But you do live with meh dynamics, timbre, and resolution.
Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt: Enjoyed the sound and everything, good tuning/voicing, reasonable technicalities, but 300 is steep for what it offers imo, being a worse value put me off from it. Did def enjoy the dynamics, timbre, tonal density, and overall organicness though, with a bit of extra sweetness
UPDATE: New pretty awesome dongles
Got my hands on a few more dongles, Astell&Kern PEE51 (stupid name) and the Centrance DACport HD.
Signature wise the 51 takes a more neutral/lively/exaggerated forward approach, where the dacport takes more a neutral and clean but meaty and full signature (like the questyle)
Speaking of like the questyle, the dacport really kinda does what I like from the questyle, but offers that to a more refined and technical level, to where I’d admittedly pick the centrance most of the time, and as a bonus it comes with lower noisefloor and blacker background. It isn’t as soft and liquid as the M12 but I do personally think it offers a bit of a step up with a similar enough signature. So that might dethrone the M12, at least for headphones though, with some iems I still think the M12 could still be compelling imo. But I do think this just has a bit more to offer
Regarding the PEE51, I personally think it’s an interesting middleground between something like the S1 and the M12. Generally is more lively and forward than both with more sparkle in the treble and more forward mids and bass too. This being said it’s more on the technical side of things, it’s got good tonality, density, and timbre, but there’s something that stops it from feeling that organic to me (might be coherency). Good speed and separation, pretty resolving, almost as black background as the lotoo, very nice seperation. The biggest drawback though is that spatial recreation is meh overall, I do think the lotoo is wider and the m12 is deeper, but the 51 is only ok and average here. Smoothness wise I’d say it’s not as smooth as either but not as potentially raw as a W2. Dynamically very alive, with an equal macro and micro focus that does better than both the lotoo and m12. Basically if you have heard an astell and kern player, the 51 sounds like that and carries most of the traits to it, sounds like a baby sr25 if that gives any reference, pretty worthwhile.