The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my blog, and now I would like to share it with all of my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: theBit, for Sale on MusicTeck and Amazon.
* click on images on expand.
Intro.
When it comes to audio gear reviews, depending on my schedule I typically have a final write up ready within month or two after receiving a sample. Opus#2 turned out to be an exception. My initial impression was posted almost 4 months ago, and afterwards I continued to feature Opus#2 in all of my reviews as a pair up source or in comparison to other DAPs. I still rank it high, among some of my favorite sources at the current moment, but I never got to a full review until now. This is very unlike me, but I have a reasonable explanation about this delay. Also, I would like to mention that I already covered in depth about theBit, a company behind Opus audio products, in my Opus#1 review, so there is no need to repeat it.
The delay was due to me waiting for the firmware update which suppose to unlock Opus#2 full Android potentials. I believe this feature is still in the works, thus I will update my review later when streaming becomes available. Another reason was due to its little brother (Opus#1) which is still an excellent value considering recent v2 fw update which puts both Opus DAPs on nearly the same level of functionality with an identical GUI, while at the same time widening the gap in pricing after the recent Opus#1 sale, though not sure if it's temporary. When it comes to the latest DAPs, price is no longer an indicator of the product ranking. It's not uncommon for people to accept the idea of diminishing returns where you might end up paying a noticeable premium to get the absolute best in sound and build quality. Of course, the “absolute best” is a subjective opinion based on a personal preference and willingness to pay for it.
I think based on the above reasons, Opus#1 got more attention while Opus#2 with its superior performance got lost in a shadow of its sibling. I hope my review of Opus#2 can bring back the attention this audio player deserves because I definitely consider it to be among the top performers in my current DAP review collection. Every day I still reach for it to use in headphone testing and evaluation or just for listening pleasure. So without further ado, let me share with you what I found after spending the last 4 months with Opus#2.
Unboxing.
Arrived in a plain looking, but still elegant, all white box, the presentation of the packaging has a typical "smartphone" minimalistic appeal with a model name on the front and a detailed spec on the back. There is not even a hint how the product looks on the exterior of the box which builds the anticipation of what awaits you inside, especially considering quite an impressive spec.
With a top sleeve off and the cover lifted, you will find Opus#2 securely wedged inside of a foam cutout. You can't help but notice a large touch screen display dominating the view, and at the same time a few design details which clearly put this DAP above a typical smartphone outline. With Opus#2 out, underneath you will find accessory boxes with a leather case and usb cable.
Overall, first impression out of the box was definitely positive, especially when I felt the heft of a solid aluminum construction in my hand.
Accessories.
Besides already applied screen protector and a quality micro-USB cable for charging and data transfer, the only other accessory I was looking forward to was a leather case. Looks like theBit guys decided to continue their collaboration with Dignis, and this time a premium genuine custom leather case was included as a standard accessory.
Even so all metal body of Opus#2 feels nice in your hand, the 252g of weight and larger than an average DAP footprint (124mm x 76mm x 18.3mm) would benefit greatly from grip enhancement which exactly what this leather case provides. In addition to improved and more secure grip, it also protects the surface from scratches when placing the dap on the table or glass top.
The dark navy leather case wraps Opus#2 tight with a solid back panel which has extra thickness to absorb the shock when placing the dap down. The top of the case is completely open, exposing both headphone ports and a power button. Left side is covered, including transport control buttons, though for my personal preference I wish there would be a cutout because sometimes I have to slide my finger across stamped button shapes to find the Play/Pause in the middle. From my experience of using other cases, exposed rather than covered playback control buttons are easier to feel for navigation.
Bottom of the case has a generous opening for mico-USB port which accommodates even bulky cable connectors. Also, the uSD port is covered by the case. The right side also has a generous cutout in the upper right corner to accommodate the analog volume knob and the guards on both sides of it. Once inside the case, Opus#2 is not easy to take out. To remove it, I usually push it out with an eraser side of the pencil through micro-USB port opening. That's a good thing because you don't want the case to be loose.
Overall, I really like this leather case and think it compliments Opus#2 very well without hiding the design details.
The case.
Design.
I already covered quite a few design details while talking about the leather case. The main focus of this DAP is a large 4” TFT touch screen display with IPS panel (great viewing angles) and a decent resolution of 480x800 pixels. Right now I can only judge graphics by looking at the GUI elements and music cover art, but that is enough to draw a conclusion about the quality of the display. Perhaps it’s not as high res as my smartphone, but it’s definitely on par or better in comparison to my other touch screen DAPs.
The display itself is centered in the middle of the front panel, surrounded by a raised bevel of the metal frame. This is a full metal design, and it feels very solid in my hand. A large display opening could add flex to the device, but I found no such issues with Opus#2. Furthermore, the look of a large display on the front can add a resemblance to a smartphone, while Opus#2 offers plenty of design details to make it stand out as a DAP. The analog volume knob on the right size surrounded by the guards above and below it is definitely a nice touch, though they obviously didn’t reinvent the "wheel" here.
What’s interesting about this volume knob is that it has a little bit of loose play, but if you brush against it or while putting it in your pocket, you don’t have to worry about the volume being bumped by accident. The wheel is not tight and easy to turn with a thumb, and the volume will not change until you hear a click. On the left side, opposite of volume pot, you have 3 hardware transport buttons with Play/Pause in the middle and Skip Next/Prev above and below it. The buttons are metal, round, with a good spacing in between for a finger not to press adjacent buttons by mistake, and with a nice tactile click action. These buttons are easy to feel with you finger, leading to my only gripe with a leather case covering them up.
Besides playback transport buttons (on the left) and volume knob (on the right), the sides have nice metal ridges that enhance the grip of the device if you choose to keep it naked, though I personally prefer a leather case which enhances the grip and adds more security. The bottom of the DAP has microSD slot which theBit specs to support up to 200GB, but I would be surprised if the latest 256GB won’t work (though I don’t have one with me to test it). MicroUSB port is right in the middle, and it can charge the internal 4000 mAh LiPo battery to full from empty using 5V charger in a little under 4hrs. With a mix of 320kbps mp3s and FLACs and some occasional DSDs thrown in the mix, on average I was able to get close to 9hrs of a playback time with wifi and BT off.
Obviously, the same microUSB port is used for data transfer from computer when configured in MTP media device connection mode, just like you would with your Android smartphone. The same port is used for your USB DAC connection (as an external USB sound card connected to your laptop/PC) or OTG USB DAC. I was successfully able to connect Opus#2 to my Galaxy Note 4 with OTG microUSB to microUSB cable to use Opus as an external USB DAC to my phone. Unfortunately, even after installation of provided Windows drivers, I didn’t have success with my Windows 7 laptop due to driver issues with my Windows, but I have read from a few other people who had success with their newer versions of Windows, and also no issues with MAC where drivers are not even required.
Top of the DAP has a metal power button in the upper right corner, nice tactile response as expected, and with a typical functionality of long press to turn power on/off and short press for screen on/off which also wakes Opus#2 up from a deep sleep power saving mode. Next to it you have 2.5mm TRRS balanced headphone port with a common A&K wiring. In the upper left corner, you have multi-function 3.5mm headphone port which not only serves as Single Ended TRS jack, but also has Optical output to drive s/pdif digital data into the external DAC/amp. Furthermore, 3.5mm port also turns into Line Out when selected from within DAP, and this is not just cranking the volume up to the max, but actually working as a clean Line Out output from the internal DAC to bypass the internal Amp for external sound processing. Unlike Opus#1, 2.5mm Balanced output here doesn't need to be enabled, it's always on in parallel with 3.5mm SE output.
I was definitely pleased with a design since lately I have been favoring touch screen navigation over clicking buttons or mechanical wheels, but overall Opus#2 doesn’t have the most compact footprint especially for those with smaller hands. For me personally, I usually hold it in my right hand with thumb controlling the volume knob while I touch swipe with left hand. For Opus#1 owners, Opus#2 is just a little bit wider and longer, and you will feel right at home going from one to the other, especially since after fw 2.0 update the Opus#1 GUI looks identical to Opus#2. The bottom line, this is a VERY solid design with a well laid out ports and external controls.
Under the hood.
When it comes to hardware specs of popular DAPs with touch screen interface, many are Android based and as powerful as smartphones from a few years ago. Opus#2 is no exception running the Lollipop on its ARM Cortex-A9 1.4GHz quad-core CPU with 1GB of DDR3 RAM. As of right now the Android OS is locked, and on the surface you will find Opus own native optimized audio app. Also, both WiFi and Bluetooth v4.0 are supported, where you can receive OTA (over the air) FW updates, sync the time, and use your wireless BT headphones (though, no apt-X codec support). theBit promises in a future to unlock Android in order to allow the use of popular streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal, but it’s still work in progress.
From my experience of testing other DAPs supporting these streaming services, it’s not as trivial as some might think because now you are dealing with a modified Android OS which requires customized audio drivers. It’s definitely a challenge, especially if you decide to open a door to Google Play market where people going to install 3rd party untested apps that have a high potential to crash DAP's OS. I assume that once theBit feels confident in having a solid solution, we are going to see an update, but for now to stream with Opus#2 – just pair it up with your smartphone using OTG microUSB cable.
Regardless of the streaming support, the focus of this DAP is still to provide a superior audio performance fueled by two ESS9018K2M DACs with up to 32bit/384kHz true bit-to-bit decoding. This gives you a power to support most of the lossy and lossless audio formats such as WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, WMA, MP3, OGG, AAC, APE, and native DSD decoding (supporting DFF and DSF). With Native DSD decoding, even though the spec says up to DSD128, I was able to test it without a problem using DSD256 files with 1bit 11.2MHz sampling rate. Opus#2 crunched through them without a problem or buffering stutter. And I was also able to verify seamless Gapless playback.
The internal architecture of the device takes full advantage of the Dual DAC configuration to process separately Left and Right channels with an efficient utilization of both unbalanced and balanced outputs. But don't expect the balanced output to have double voltage swing in comparison to a single ended port. I assume this was done to preserve battery life, and as a result the unbalanced SE output is 2.3Vrms (w/2ohm output impedance) while Balanced output is 2.5Vrms (w/1ohm output impedance). Also, as part of a careful design implementation of balanced and unbalanced outputs, balanced has an improved performance of signal to noise ratio (116dB vs 115dB) and crosstalk (135dB vs 130dB).
GUI.
Since full Android support is not enabled yet, for now you are using theBit native audio app on top of the Android OS running in the background. The app itself is very intuitive with a logical layout and easy navigation which looks great on Opus#2 4” display.
Starting at the top with notification bar, in the upper left corner you will have Playback icon status and loopback selection. Then, moving to the middle you have volume icon with a step value (150 steps maximum), and in the upper right corner you have a battery indicator icon and a system clock.
Typical of Lollipop Android OS, you can swipe down the notification bar to reveal plethora of other controls. When swiped down, the notification area has a time with day and date, battery indicator with an exact percentage, and Setup icon. Below it you have a Brightness adjustment bar, Wi-Fi enable icon with drop-down box to get into wi-fi specific menu, Bluetooth enable icon with wireless Bluetooth menu access, Line Out (to enable line out output), Equalizer enable (which enables the currently selected Preset), Sleep mode enable, Repeat selection (one full repeat cycle, continues repeat cycled, single song repeat), and Shuffle enable. The pull down bar is very convenient because of the smartphone familiarity and also for a quick access to a commonly used functions.
The main screen has upper half of the display dedicated to showing song’s artwork and if none is embedded – theBit includes a collection of music related images which are displayed randomly as song’s artwork. Tapping on the area of the artwork brings up file info with Genres/Composer/Pathname and file type and file size. Second tap brings up lyrics if it’s embedded into the song. Also, with either first or second tap you get in the upper right corner a Star icon to tag the file as favorite and another icon to add it to a playlist which you can create and name on the fly.
In the upper left corner of that display you have an icon which takes you to file browser where you can sort by Folders, Favorites, Playlist as well as more common sorting by Songs, Albums, Artists, and Genres based on metadata of your audio file. In the same menu you can also switch between internal memory and uSD card.
Back to the main Playback screen, underneath of the artwork area you have a playback bar where you can fast forward through the song by dragging a pointer while noting the current time marker position and total song duration. Above this bar you have a counter of how many songs are in the current playback folder and also basic info about the file such as bit depth and sampling rate. Below playback progress bar you have a full song/artist name and also Skip Next/Prev and Play/Pause touch controls.
From drop down notification bar you can get into Settings where you have a typical smartphone selection of controls, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Screen setting with Brightness adjustment and Auto display Off timeout setting. In Audio setting you can enable Equalizer and select one of the 3 available custom presets which you can customized individually (10 Bands with 31.5Hz, 63Hz, 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 4kHz, 8kHz, 16kHz) with an adjustment of audio playback in real time. Audio setting also has Gapless enable control.
Output setting has Line Out enable, Balance (L/R) control, DSP mode selection (Auto, 32bit X-MOS, or 24bit I2S). Gain control let you switch between Low, Middle, High to fine tune your output to accommodate everything from high sensitivity to more demanding earphones and headphones. There is also a Sleep enable with Sleep time setting, but I’m not sure if it’s even necessary since Opus#2 by default goes into Super Power Saving mode. My only BIG gripe in here is that I wish there would be a time to set a delay for Power Saving mode since it kicks in too soon. When your screen is off during playback, and power saving mode starts, you no longer can control playback with hw transport control buttons.
Another setting is USB which selects Connect mode as either MTP (for file transfer) or Charging only connection. And USB DAC mode which starts that mode when you connect Opus#2 to your PC/MAC or a smartphone. Then, similar to smartphones, you have Language and Input selection, Date & Time setting, Storage info to show capacity of internal and external memory, initialize settings (database initialize, settings initialize, and Factory reset), Update (manual system update or to check for OTA update), and Info about the device.
Overall, the main playback screen is very easy to navigate, all the common controls are conveniently located by swiping down notification bar, and the main Settings are clear and self-explanatory. The touch screen swiping interface is very fluid and highly responsive. Also, once you start turning the volume knob, you get a brief screen with a volume bar and corresponding value setting where you can quickly swipe it up or down for a faster adjustment.
Sound analysis.
As I mentioned in the past, sound description of the DAP is not an easy task because in reality we describe what we hear from headphones and their synergy with DAP output power, impedance, DAC, and other components in a signal path. But nevertheless, I will try my best to describe what I hear while switching between a few of my IEMs I’m intimately familiar with (while volume matching by ear) and comparing to other DAPs I have access to.
In my opinion, Opus#2 is a prime example of a balanced neutral reference sound signature with a full body natural tonality. Based on the initial listening with early fw release, I noticed right away that 3.5mm output was a touch smoother while in comparison the balanced 2.5mm output had a slightly faster/sharper transient response with a cleaner on/off transition of the notes. But overall the sound is very transparent, layered, and with an expanded dynamic range. Typically, a full body sound is associated with a warmth which smoothes out some of the details and makes layering and separation of instruments and vocals to be not as distinct. Here, with 32bit DSP mode selected, you have a perfect separation of every note and a sharper transient response where the details just pop out of the background with more clarity. And yet, the sound is not too lean or analytical/bright.
I was very careful in my analysis to make sure I don't mistake signature of headphones and earphones with the signature of the source. Since I mostly use C/IEMs, I was pleased with Opus#2 performance and synergy with multi-BA driver monitors, especially from BAL output. When I tested some of my full size cans, I found better synergy in high gain, and I also noticed that big dynamic and planar magnetic transducers had a little smoother and more musical full body tonality in comparison to a more neutral transparent sound with multi-BA C/IEMs.
After 1.00.03 fw update, to my ears both 3.5mm and 2.5mm ports started to sound nearly the same, with an exception of balanced port having higher output power and a little wider soundstage expansion. Not sure if it was due to a burn in of the caps or my brain burn in or some other placebo effect, but I clearly remember that after the update single ended output caught up with a balanced one.
External connections.
While Opus#2 is a very capable standalone summit-fi DAP, it’s still flexible enough to drive external AMP, or to be used as a digital transport to drive external DAC/AMP, or to be used as USB DAC. Sometimes I feel it’s an overkill, but then I realize that many audiophiles have capable desktop setups to enjoy their hard to drive headphones at home and can still use Opus#2 in the heart of it. And on the move, you can use Opus#2 without any external help and still enjoy high quality sound.
As I mentioned before, 3.5mm HO output is shared with Optical out, and I found its pair up with Micro iDSD to be very clean and transparent, making it a very capable digital transport. Of course, optical s/pdif signal has its bandwidth limitation so don’t expect the highest bit rate/depth, but still I found this particular pair up with Micro to work quite well.
When it comes to Line Out (LO) testing, I was a bit skeptical since there is no dedicated LO port. I thought maybe theBit guys set volume to the max, but when doing a/b comparison with LO enabled vs setting the volume to the max, I can hear a difference where LO mode is clean while the volume output set to the max (150) had a bit of distortion. I tested it using E12A portable amp which I consider to be neutral and relatively transparent, so there is no coloration added.
USB DAC testing wasn’t as successful using my Win7 laptop since I got an error message that drivers (provided by theBit) didn’t pass some signature test. I have read impressions where others didn’t have this problem, so I need to investigate it further why my laptop has an issue. I also read that MAC users don’t even need to install drivers.
When I got to test it with my aging Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, I actually had a lot more success where I was able to connect Opus#2 without any problem using USB OTG cable. Pair up was fast and Opus#2 was recognized by my phone right away. I was able to control the volume from the phone and the DAP, and used it with different apps. While waiting for streaming capability to be unlocked, this is one of the possible solutions, using Opus#2 as USB OTG DAC. But I found the sound quality in this config to be a bit underwhelming with lower resolution and less transparency when compared to listening to the same track straight from Opus#2.
Bluetooth connection is another way to enjoy your Opus#2 with wireless headphones. Even so aptX codec is not supported, lately I noticed that it makes only a difference with cheap budget IEMs, while high end headphones (my current favorite is P7 Wireless) show very little difference even driven from non-aptX sources.
Pair up.
In the following pair up test I will mention the unique design feature of the particular pair of headphones/iems under the test, as well as will indicate MG (middle gain) or HG (high gain) in addition to Volume level.
R70x (470ohm, open back) - HG, V120 - 3D holographic staging, deep extended textured sub-bass with an articulate mid-bass punch, full body organic natural mids, very transparent and detailed, extended smooth treble with a great articulation, not as much sparkle but more on a natural smoother side.
PM3 (planar magnetic) - MG, V120 - average soundstage width with more depth, deep sub-bass with a moderate quantity, a bit slower mid-bass punch with some spillage into lower mids, full body warm lower mids and warm smooth upper mids, smooth treble which is lacking some sparkle. Overall the sound has a very analog dynamic driver type of characteristics, very smooth, warm, a little congested.
EL8C (planar magnetic) - HG, V104 - above average soundstage width with plenty of depth, quality sub-bass texture with a fast punch mid-bass, lean lower mids, bright revealing upper mids reach analytical level of detail retrieval, crisp airy extended treble. No hint of metallic sheen which I usually hear in other EL8C pair ups.
T5p2 w/alpha pads (tesla driver) - MG, V115 - wide/deep soundstage, extended sub-bass with a nice deep rumble, average speed mid-bass punch, warm full body lower mids, detailed natural upper mids, smooth well defined treble. Overall sound is very detailed but not as transparent.
Zen (320ohm, earbuds) - HG, V109, expanded soundstage with an average depth, nice sub-bass rumble, punchy mid-bass, full body lower mids, clear smooth detailed upper mids, well defined smooth treble.
S-EM9 (121dB sensitivity) - MG, V100, no hissing, holographic staging; deep extended sub-bass rumble, punchy mid-bass slam, neutral lower mids, smooth detailed revealing upper mids, crisp airy well defined treble. The sound is very spacious, layered, detailed, and still smooth and natural.
K10UA (115dB sens) - MG, V88, very faint hissing, expanded soundstage, deep extended sub-bass rumble, fast punchy mid-bass, leaner lower mids, revealing detailed upper mids, crisp airy extended treble. The sound is very crisp, detailed, revealing.
Andromeda (115dB sens) - MG, V70, some hissing, holographic soundstage; deep extended textured sub-bass rumble, fast articulate mid-bass punch, slightly leaner lower mids, crisp revealing upper mids with an excellent retrieval of details, crisp airy extended treble. Punchy revealing crisp sound.
U12 w/B1 (115dB sens) - MG, V88, no hissing, above average soundstage width/depth, warm analog bass with a deep slightly elevated sub-bass extension and slower mid-bass punch, warm full body lower mids, smooth laid back detailed upper mids, smooth well defined treble. The sound is smooth and laidback.
UERR (100dB sens) - MG, V101, no hissing, holographic soundstage, extended quality sub-bass (not as much quantity), punchy mid-bass, neutral lower mids, detailed transparent upper mids, crisp well defined treble. The sound is very transparent detailed and layered.
Zeus XRA w/G1 and PWA 1960 (119dB sens) – MG, V75, some hissing, expanded open soundstage, nice deep sub-bass rumble and punchy mid-bass (bass is above neutral with 1960, but still not too aggressive), close to neutral lower mids and very transparent detailed upper mids, and airy well defined treble with a nice sparkle.
Comparison.
While switching between UERR, S-EM9, and ES60 c/iems, and volume matching by ear when going between two sources, here is how I hear Opus#2 (#2) in comparison to other DAPs.
#2 vs #1 - both have a very similar signature, while #2 stands out with wider and deeper soundstage, a faster transient response of notes (transition between on/off state of notes), and slightly better dynamics. #1 has a little smoother tonality while #2 sounds a little sharper, with better defined details. The difference is not exactly night'n'day, and #2 is more of a high res refinement of #1. Both have the same level of hissing with sensitive IEMs.
#2 vs LPG - the sound quality is very close, down to a similar level of transparency, detail retrieval, and soundstage expansion. In terms of tonality #2 is just a little smoother while LPG has a deeper black background which is more noticeable with less sensitive IEMs (cleaner edges around notes, sharper contrast between notes on/off). But with sensitive IEMs, LPG has higher level of hissing which ruins that dark clean background. Also, LPG has a little more impact in mid-bass.
#2 vs AK120ii - similar signature where AK tonality is a little warmer and smoother, while #2 is more revealing and more dynamic. I also find #2 to have better separation and layering while the smoothness of AK makes it a little congested in comparison. #2 soundstage is wider, while depth is the same. Also, #2 has higher level of hissing in comparison to AK with sensitive IEMs.
#2 vs PM2 - #2 sound is more revealing and transparent, while PM2 is a little smoother and slightly less resolving. #2 has better layering and separation of instruments while PM2 sounds a little congested in comparison. #2 soundstage is wider, while both have the same depth. PM2 has a little less hissing with sensitive IEMs, though you can hear it with both.
#2 vs X7 w/AM2 - very similar resolution and layering/separation of the sound, and similar retrieval of details, but the tonality of X7 is leaner and a little brighter while in comparison #2 has more body and sounds a little more neutral with a deeper sub-bass extension. Also, #2 has a wider soundstage. #2 hissing is more noticeable with sensitive IEMs while X7 is almost down to a minimum.
Opus#2 next to Opus#1
Conclusion.
In my opinion, Opus#2 would have received a lot more attention if that was theBit’s first DAP. Despite being in business for a long time, this company came out of nowhere and surprised everyone with Opus#1 release. And to top it off, they had a very impressive fw update and a temporary price cut which is still in effect. As a result, when Opus#2 was released, the focus shifted from its flagship summit-fi sound quality to a price difference where people trying to justify the delta. In reality, Opus#1 and Opus#2 are just like two multi-BA IEMs from the same manufacturer where you have mid-tier model priced lower and flagship TOTL at the top of the price food chain. You can get a regular Opus#1 which is currently discounted down to $399 from the original $599, or get a metal Opus#1 which is available for $899 and uses CNC all metal body and different high end opamps, or you can go for the TOTL experience with Opus#2 for $1599 which not only has a superior build, more resolving sound, and higher end dual DAC architecture, but also expected to receive a fw update with a support of wi-fi streaming.
I know that many people go for the best price/performance ratio, and it will be hard to beat Opus#1 in that perspective. But if you are looking for TOTL performance at a reasonable price in comparison to other popular flagship DAPs that cost more, Opus#2 deserves a serious consideration. And again, I can’t help but to be curious what else theBit is going to come up with. This company surely knows how to design a well build and a great sounding product, and I think if they can bring it closer to $1k price mark – their next DAP release will reach a lot more audio enthusiasts and audiophiles.