[GlenAppleton]

@Shanling Hi, I want to know if the UA4 can power my Simgot EA1000 and Yanyin Canon 2 easily with only the 3.5mm? Also, what are the benefits of the balanced 4.4mm exactly when compared to the 3.5mm? I'm new to this audio hobby, so I'm confused between these two audio connectors. Thanks in advance.

Simgot EA1000 specs: 127dB/Vrms and 16 ohms

Yanyin Canon 2 specs: 112dB/Vrms and 40 ohms

I'll let others comment on difficult to drive IEMs, but as for 3.5 vs. 4.4, I can hopefully provide some clarity. The "single ended" 3.5mm connection on most headphone DAC / AMP gear has a shared ground between the right and left channels, where the 4.4mm "balanced" connection has a separate ground for each channel. While it's not proven to provide any more clarity / purity in the signal, many claim that the separate ground does do so to at least some minor extent. On the gear I have that is fitted with the balanced connection, the sound path is engineered with separate amps for each channel, and therefore provides more power output which helps with harder to drive headphones / IEMs. Typically I use the 4.4mm balanced connection for planar IEMs that require a bit more power to get their full potential flowing.

Hope this helps explain it a little better.

 

[terminatorpro87]

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[terminatorpro87]

Here in the thread we discussed a bit higher noise floor on the UA4 at very low volumes. Further discussion with engineers showed this is unfortunate side effect in using this ESS DAC and how it behaves at different voltage settings.

I got so excited that I ordered the UA4 when they were announced. Took Shenzhen Audio almost a month to deliver to Canada. In the meantime I got to know about the bad noise floor with 4.4 Balanced output.
After using UA4 for a couple weeks, I can say now that the 4.4mm balanced output is almost useless on this dongle. You can hear the noise on low volumes, its ridiculous.
This is what you get with untested hardware.
I cannot even return these now because the shipping cost to return it back to China is more than the dongle itself.
For reference, I have tried these with Moondrop Blessing 3. I tried Tripowin 4.4mm cable, android, iphone, with two different Type-C cables. But everytime I got the same results.
Good thing is the 3.5mm SE output is still usable.
Pretty disappointed.

 

[Shanling]

@Shanling Hi, I want to know if the UA4 can power my Simgot EA1000 and Yanyin Canon 2 easily with only the 3.5mm? Also, what are the benefits of the balanced 4.4mm exactly when compared to the 3.5mm? I'm new to this audio hobby, so I'm confused between these two audio connectors. Thanks in advance.

Simgot EA1000 specs: 127dB/Vrms and 16 ohms

Yanyin Canon 2 specs: 112dB/Vrms and 40 ohms

Both of these models should work without problem on UA4 even with just the 3.5mm output.

Balanced 4.4mm offers higher power, improvement measurements and in our opinion better sound. It's our recommended output on our devices.

 

[Vonbuddy]

Both of these models should work without problem on UA4 even with just the 3.5mm output.

Balanced 4.4mm offers higher power, improvement measurements and in our opinion better sound. It's our recommended output on our devices.

I just bought this and am a little concerned about what I am reading.

 

[pong2541]

@Vonbuddy I was looking more into the debate between 3.5mm and 4.4mm output and arguably 4.4mm can have slightly more distortion than 3.5mm. Source of this claim: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bal...p, transistor,more distortion, and more noise

Hope this eases your concern.

 

[pong2541]

Both of these models should work without problem on UA4 even with just the 3.5mm output.

Balanced 4.4mm offers higher power, improvement measurements and in our opinion better sound. It's our recommended output on our devices.

Gotcha, I'll see how it goes when I order the UA4. Thanks anyways

 

[pong2541]

I'll let others comment on difficult to drive IEMs, but as for 3.5 vs. 4.4, I can hopefully provide some clarity. The "single ended" 3.5mm connection on most headphone DAC / AMP gear has a shared ground between the right and left channels, where the 4.4mm "balanced" connection has a separate ground for each channel. While it's not proven to provide any more clarity / purity in the signal, many claim that the separate ground does do so to at least some minor extent. On the gear I have that is fitted with the balanced connection, the sound path is engineered with separate amps for each channel, and therefore provides more power output which helps with harder to drive headphones / IEMs. Typically I use the 4.4mm balanced connection for planar IEMs that require a bit more power to get their full potential flowing.

Hope this helps explain it a little better.

Ah ok, thanks for the clarification, I'm getting the hang of this haha. I looked further into the debate between 3.5mm and 4.4mm which also reinforces your point, I should be fine using my IEMs then since they're not planar: Yanyin Canon 2 and Simgot EA1000.

 

[Yevelnad]

I got the shanling UA4 today and it sounds just like my Ibasso DC03 pro (the dc03 is bit a tad mild V but its pretty hard to find their differences when blindfolded). They can be called a more polished Ibasso DC03 pro Oled version. When put on exclusive usb mode, UA4 in my ears is "cleaner" sounding to me. In ibasso DC03 I can hear something like digital clipping if thats makes sense. My only gripe is shanling doesn't have the uac app like ibasso does, that bypass andriod audio processor so peasants like us that use youtubemusic and spotify, the output may sound muffled and not as clean as my DC03 pro. And also you can't use them on phone while browsing facebook, you will experience hiccups. These is most likely my phone did not provide enough power in high gain. Ibasso DC03 is free from these issues. IDK if other dongle dacs who have dual op amps will also experience hiccups like these. Difinitely your phone will barely handle this dongle and you can't get it's maximum performance. You need a laptop or PC that is plugged in your wall.

 

[pong2541]

I got the shanling UA4 today and it sounds just like my Ibasso DC03 pro (the dc03 is bit a tad mild V but its pretty hard to find their differences when blindfolded). They can be called a more polished Ibasso DC03 pro Oled version. When put on exclusive usb mode, UA4 in my ears is "cleaner" sounding to me. In ibasso DC03 I can hear something like digital clipping if thats makes sense. My only gripe is shanling doesn't have the uac app like ibasso does, that bypass andriod audio processor so peasants like us that use youtubemusic and spotify, the output may sound muffled and not as clean as my DC03 pro. And also you can't use them on phone while browsing facebook, you will experience hiccups. These is most likely my phone did not provide enough power in high gain. Ibasso DC03 is free from these issues. IDK if other dongle dacs who have dual op amps will also experience hiccups like these. Difinitely your phone will barely handle this dongle and you can't get it's maximum performance. You need a laptop or PC that is plugged in your wall.

Ah ok, in that case guess I'll find another dongle dac amp then. I've been told Hiby FC6 is a good one, so I'll keep researching to see which suits me best. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Saloboy]

I came across an unpleasant feature in UA4. I get tired of overly pronounced, sharp, fast stereo effects. The sound is like a ping pong ball constantly bouncing from one ear to the other. It’s like I’m not listening to music on the couch, but spinning in a centrifuge. This is already too much. Can't this be fixed? Other DACs do not have this uncomfortable effect.

 

[Shanling]

r phone will barely handle this dongle and you can't get it's maximum performance. You need a laptop or PC that is plugged in your wall.

Please what phone are you using? UA4 is optimized for use with phones, all standard Android phones or iPhones provide enough power for it to run correctly, there is no need to be running it just with computers. Running just internet browser of Facebook shouldn't put any significant load on any normal phone.

I came across an unpleasant feature in UA4. I get tired of overly pronounced, sharp, fast stereo effects. The sound is like a ping pong ball constantly bouncing from one ear to the other. It’s like I’m not listening to music on the couch, but spinning in a centrifuge. This is already too much. Can't this be fixed? Other DACs do not have this uncomfortable effect.

What music are you listening to and in what app? Do you have the earphones connected to 4.4mm output?
Because what you describing either sounds like some bad software processing of the sound, or your headphones are wired out of phase.

 

[Yevelnad]

How do you correctly set it to unfold 8x? Based on some reviews it says it can unfold 8x but here its only 2x.

 

[Shanling]

How do you correctly set it to unfold 8x? Based on some reviews it says it can unfold 8x but here its only 2x.

There is no setting on UA4 for MQA, it works automatically with the Tidal app on the MQA playback.

 

[Shanling]

Firmware V1.0.3 released for UA4

Full notes and download link available on our website:

https://en.shanling.com/article-UA4V103.html