The company Yulong knows how to create solutions for fans to listen to music on headphones. Of course, their DACs can be used with large acoustic systems, but almost any of them is carefully equipped with a high-quality headphone amplifier, and it's usually not bad, which is what their products most appreciate. Relatively recently, the company released a new, very interesting model, which received the index ADA1.
If to judge purely by the price, then the new model is younger than their most popular model DA8-II, although by the functions of ADA1 it almost from it does not lag, and in many respects it exceeds.
This newcomer has been built on two AK4490 DACs, which have become a hit of the season, the headphone amplifier uses JFET transistors, offering a very solid 1.68 watts per 32Ω load, and from the unusual possibilities of "Ada" will enjoy the support of streaming over Wi-Fi. Traditionally, the company did not save money and used high-quality components, starting with the toroidal transformer Plitron and ending with a good Saviaudio chipset, which provided support for all modern formats of digital music. SA9227 is used for the USB interface, the SA9800 takes over wireless functions, and the SA8804 serves to filter the digital signal from interference.
Pleased with the fact that Yulong adequately appreciated this model, the version with Wi-Fi costs about $ 800, but it can even be found cheaper.
Specifications
- DAC: 2 × AK4490
- USB interface: SA9227
- Wi-Fi interface: SA9800
- Amplifier: A class on JFET-transistors
- Volume control: digital, 80 steps
- Frequency range: 20 Hz - 30 kHz (-0.15 dB)
- Total harmonic distortion + noise: 0.00045%
- Signal to noise ratio: -120 dB
- Dynamic range: 119 dB
- Channel separation: 120 dB
- Balance output level: 4.2V
- Output power to headphones: 90 mW @ 600Ω, 180 mW @ 300Ω, 360 mW @ 150Ω, 1.68 W @ 32Ω
- Support for SPDIF / Optical / AES formats: PCM up to 384 kHz / 24 bit, DoP64, DoP128
- Support for USB formats: PCM up to 384 kHz / 32 bit, DoP up to 128, Native DSD up to 256
- Support for formats over WiFi: PCM up to 384 kHz, DSD to 128
- Power consumption: <30W
- Dimensions: 248 mm × 210 mm × 60 mm
- Weight: 2.8 kg
Packing and delivery kit
With the box in Yulong did not become particularly bother and used the usual box of recycled cardboard. Inside, reinforced with inserts of foam, there is an amplifier, a USB cable and a power wire. Also in the box there is an instruction in Chinese and English and a Wi-Fi antenna. In general, everything you need for a full-fledged work. Although the USB cable is better to replace with something more qualitative, the same Yulong has a good CU-1 wire.
Design and management
Previously, Yulong was incredibly pleased that they used a similar design for their devices, they were the same size and therefore perfectly combined into a convenient stack. Now the company decided to move away from this tradition and try a new design. The appearance of ADA1 was, of course, stylish, but with convenience there are already questions. The body is now made in the form of a solid and practically monolithic parallelepiped of thick enough aluminum, which certainly adds to the device massiveness and solidity. The front panel is made of glass, there is a screen, three touch control buttons and headphone output. The panel looks stylish, but mercilessly collects dust and fingerprints, so you will have to either often wipe it, or resign yourself to an imperfect look. As in the case of the iPhone 7 Jet Black - it's a payoff for beauty. The touch buttons are the second bit strange solution, I already got used to the most convenient tweeters that the company used to equip its devices in the past, what could be more convenient and intuitive than this control? Now we have only three buttons, which are difficult to press without looking. Of course, it can not be called a big problem, but there is some deterioration in ergonomics.
The screen in this DAC is a single-color LED, and Yulong chose a red color for it and made it soft enough, apparently not to tire the user with extra brightness. In reality, the screen is quite readable, although you can hardly see anything in the photos with the exposed light. The screen is two-line, it displays the selected source, resolution, digital filter and volume. The same red color lights up the buttons. After 20 seconds of idle, ADA1 disables the backlight completely, so as not to interfere with the user.
Since there are only three buttons, some of them perform several functions. Single pressing, as expected, based on the inscriptions, allows you to switch the source of the signal and adjust the volume. Long press on Input switches digital filters, ADA1 has two: sharp and slow, I hope Yulong will add other options supported by AK4490 in the future. Simultaneously pressing the Input and Volume + buttons turns the WiFi module on and off, and the 10-second hold of Volume + and Volume- resets the wireless network settings.
Since Wi-Fi is relatively fresh in DACs, I will briefly describe how to use it. To start, you need to turn on Wi-Fi and press Input to select it, the DAC will switch to the access point mode, and you will be able to connect to its Wi-Fi network. After that, you can launch the utility for the smartphone (for the iPhone it is in the AppStore on the request of "Yulong", for Android it seems possible to download from the company's website, but I did not find it there) and go to the settings. In the utility, you can update the firmware if the company releases updates and configures ADA1 to connect to existing Wi-Fi networks. After enabling ADA1 on your network, you can connect to it via DLNA or AirPlay and stream music there.
The rear panel of the player is filled with various interfaces, which the company has not stinted. Unfortunately, in ADA1 there is no line input, so it will not work in the amplifier mode, but the rest of the "gentleman's set" is present. There are coaxial and optical S / PDIF, USB-input, as well as AES / EBU. From the outputs there is a regular pair RCA and a pair of balanced XLR, by tradition they can connect headphones with a balanced cable and listen to them, this output "serves" the buffer on the OPA1632. The main thing is to use a cable with the correct pinout (described in the manual). Also on the back panel is a Wi-Fi antenna socket, a power switch, a power cord connection and a switch.
By the way, like the other models of the company, ADA1 can work in the "clean" DAC mode, for this you need to set the volume to maximum and again press Volume +, this will turn off the amplifier for headphones and preamplifier. It is worth, however, take into account that the maximum volume is dangerous for both hearing and headphones, therefore, turning off this mode, it is necessary to disconnect all the load. The method of inclusion, of course, is not the most convenient, but better than nothing.
All other surfaces of the device are completely empty, except for good quality rubber feet on the underside.
Sound
The following equipment was used to listen to the device:
- MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 as a source
- Audirvana Plus as a player
- Headphones ZMF Omni, AudioZenith PMx2, Kennerton Odin, VA-1 and others.
- Entries in lossless format
Yulong has moved away from its traditions a bit and made for ADA1 a very pleasant sound with an easy anti-aliasing effect, it reduces fatigue and disposes to long sessions with your favorite headphones. The payment for this is a slight decrease in microdetachment, however, this is not always necessary. ADA1 acts in some role as an "antipode" to a typically audiophile sound with its traditional razor sharpness and emphasis on saturation.
The ADA1's bass is good in speed characteristics, the combine perfectly separates low-frequency instruments and transmits the texture of LF at a very decent level. The bass is well balanced and quantitative, although in some cases the LF in the performance of this device lacks weight, they are slightly relaxed, so fans of powerful blows can be upset. To my taste, the bass is enough for most genres, except for the very low-frequency ones, and slightly lightweight feed is well compensated for by slightly darkened headphones. Because of this peculiarity of feeding low frequencies, ADA1 is often characterized as light, although it is more correct, perhaps, to talk about "lack of darkness".
The middle frequencies are slightly accented, but very good in quality. It is this balance of detail and not fatigue that I like most: the smallest details are smoothed out, since most often there are various disadvantages of recording, but not so much as to lose emotions and really important aspects of the track. Naturally, ADA1 does not have any flaws and problems on the MID, it is the necessary level that any modern device should provide. The imaginary scene is very good in width, the instruments are qualitatively separated and have a realistic volume. The depth of the scene is slightly more than average, but the plans are divided well.
The upper frequencies also fit into the overall concept of "comfortable" sound: they are not sharp, even with fairly light headphones, acceptable (at least in my ear) combinations are obtained. Because of this, the effect of pseudo-volume and contrast of sound is inherent in some devices, therefore ADA1 is not a device for those who want dry preparation of music for component layers. In this case, the level of detail required for a device of this class is preserved, the RFs are qualitatively elaborated and fed without attempting to disguise them. If you cavort, you can note an easy valency of working off transitions to HH / NMH, but to hear it - you have to listen to very long and very selected tracks.
Compatibility
In general, the DAC is very good in terms of compatibility with headphones, a small output impedance of the amplifier paired with accurate digital volume control and low noise make it possible to use it without problems with the IEM. On the back side of the straight line are tight isodines, with which there are no problems either (1.68 mW is not a joke).
Stylistically, ADA1 is also very versatile, the main thing is that you like it. Of course, lovers of "audiophile" records should choose a more detailed device, as well as lovers of percussion, I listened with pleasure to almost all records with this DAC. Separately, I want to note how well the DAC succeeds old records in classical mastering: progressive and art-rock, jazz and everything that was recorded before the heyday of digital media. To the quality of the recording, this combine is moderately critical, scores of 7 out of 10, that is, of course, you will hear a poor level of information, but not enough that it was impossible to listen to.
Traditionally, several tracks in the role of example
iamthemorning - Too Many Years. Often, in pursuit of idols, we cease to notice what is close. So I passed the attention of the St. Petersburg group with a complex name iamthemorning, received this year's award for the best album from the most prestigious Prog Magazine. The amazing combination of fragility and melodism, multiplied by pleasant compositional finds, gives a combination of an album, to which one wants to return constantly. Of course, such a record can not fail to please the quality of recording, so it also turns into a feast for hearing, especially if Yulong ADA1 and Kennerton Odin serve as a serving. And yes, , these are musicians who are not ashamed to support.
Storm Corrosion - Ljudet Innan. And again the project that slipped away in my time from my attention. What if you take Mikael Okerfeldt from Opeth and add Steven "our everything" to Wilson? The result is the Storm Corrosion project, which recorded the album in 2012. Both musicians moved away from the usual stylistics and released a meditative, quiet album full of a sense of light melancholy. No matter what mood you have, after a few tracks of Storm Corrosion, you are sure to reach a balance with yourself and the world around you. Of course, a good source such as the hero of today's review - just needed for this.
From the Law Offices of ... - Ready, Set, Sue. Well, and complete today's selection of another superproject with superparticipants. Levin, Rudess and Minnemann, recording a joint album, it's like Zeus, Apollo and Ares, descended from Olympus to participate in the battle on the side of their admirers. I'm not even going to talk about the inhuman level of these musicians, everything is traditional here: Levin with Chapman's stick, Rudess with your favorite iPad and Minnemann ... just with a drum kit, without straining to take peaks that are not accessible to others. On this project, they also decided to move away from the usual genres and move away in the direction of cosmic sound, characteristic for the early 80's. It turned out brilliantly for them. Every track from this album can be listened to 50 times, and in 51 you still find something new in it, especially if a good DAC helps you. I do not think that you need additional hints.
conclusions
In general, Yulong will continue to confidently and firmly step on the market of stationary sources for connoisseurs of personal audio. Of course, ADA1 is not without some controversial points, but it offers a lot of useful opportunities for fairly moderate money, and a pleasant, slightly softened pitch will obviously find its connoisseurs. Although the company will not be able to relax for a long time, several very interesting models of other manufacturers are on the way, the struggle for buyers in the segment from 500 to 1000 dollars will be hot.
The article is based on materials .
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