before i even start this review as usual, sorry for my broken english and grammatical mistakes
disclaimer :
Unboxing & Pictures :
there are actually manual and cards under the foamies
output power specs inside the manual :
Build :
it has metal body with white matte paint on it, the build quality of it is not the best, and the cable is non detachable
Companion APP
if you use Android, DONT download the Google Playstore Version, instead download the one from Moondrop website, the Playstore version is somehow very very buggy
Items used for testing :
Redmi Note 9 Pro, DAWN 3.5, E1DA 9038D, 9038S G3 for comparison.
Source : Apple Music Lossless
IEMs / Headphone : Hifiman Sundara, Moondrop KATO, Moondrop Stellaris
MOONDROP DAWN 3.5 Sound Impressions :
Overal sound of the DAWN 3.5 out of the box with default Filter "Fast Roll-off Low-lantency filter" is pretty neutral with boring and fast decay, after i leave it for some "burn in" period and change the Filter with "Slow Roll-off Phase-compensated filter" the DAWN 3.5 atleast to my ears sounds still pretty neutral BUT now with just a hint of analogue warmness.
Bass has a rather blunt presentation of bass, its tight,, a hint dry It has fast attack , but have short sustain / decay, definition and separation of the bass is pretty good
Mids presentation has decent weight and sounding a hint of analogue / touch of warmness to it. Especially on female vocal, It sounds lively on Anisong tracks such as &Z by nZk (feat. mizuki)
Treble of the Dawn 3.5 is well extended, has a great amount of micro details, but sound smooth at the same time, its a joy to listen Moondrop Stellaris and my Sundara using the Dawn 3.5
STAGING
its small, probably the weakest points besides the build and non detachable cable of the DAWN 3.5
on nZk - Cage at minutes 1:00 sounds somewhat crowded
Detail Retrieval
in terms of detail retrieval of the DAWN 3.5 in my opinion is pretty good, its almost as good as my E1DA 9038S Gen 3, though the 9038S has the edge in terms of detail retrieval over the DAWN 3.5
Dynamic
it sounds lively, doesn't try to make things sounds super dynamic, but at the same time it doesn't present sound in a boring way
Power:
on the manual said it has 89mw @32ohm and 13mw @300ohm but it can power both my IEMs and Sundara pretty well.
though it depends on how loud your listening level, so your mileage may vary.
Pairing:
the DAWN 3.5 in my opinion can be paired with all kind of IEMs / Headphone, it doesn't really change the tonality of the IEMs / Headphone you use with it, though it might be a good pair for brighter cans because how the DAWN 3.5 presents the treble rather smoothly
Battery Consumption :
plugged in to my Redmi Note 9 Pro, the DAWN 3.5 didn;t really consume that much of the battery, I'd say its safe for portable use, also the device is only tad warm when in use
Comparison
VS E1DA 9038s G3
the E1DA 9038s G3 noticeably has A LOT more power and sounding more expansive in the staging department with better detail retrieval compared to the DAWN 3.5 tonality wise its almost identical, though the 9038s has more longer decay / "wetter" sounding than the DAWN 3.5, BUT, you need to purchase balanced cable to use it (extra cost)
VS E1DA 9038D
the E1DA 9038D also has more power and sounding even more expansive than the 9038s and DAWN 3.5, also has better overall technical performance, sounds rather analytical and a bit bright BUT the 9038D has noticeable flaws, it picks up RFI 2G and 4G signal pretty badly and, so for portable usage with smartphone i CANNOT recommend the 9038D
WHY THE DAWN 3.5 Exist ? Why don't I just purchase the 4.4mm for better performance?
in my opinion especially on budget categories, purchasing balanced DAC / AMP adds more cost because you need to purchase multiple balanced cable for your IEMs / Headphones, it defeats its purpose in the first place: bringing the most VALUE for money
Conclusion / TLDR ;
pretty good dongle for its price
+Recommended for users who needs good price to performance ratio DAC/AMP dongle without needing to spent extra cash for balanced cable
- Not recommended if you didn't have any budget limits to purchase extra balanced cable (purchase the DAWN 4.4 / Moonriver 2 / whatever dongle you want its up to you)
disclaimer :
- I purchase the Dawn 3.5 with my own money at around $65 USD
- I won't start another debate on whether "burn in" and changing "Filter" affect sound / not, it's up to you
- I tend to listen not very loud in terms of loudness, so max pushing power of this dongle can be rather subjective on how loud usually you listen to songs
- Playlist I listen consist of J-Pop, Anisong, J-Rock, EDM, Metal, Jazz
Unboxing & Pictures :
there are actually manual and cards under the foamies
output power specs inside the manual :
Build :
it has metal body with white matte paint on it, the build quality of it is not the best, and the cable is non detachable
Companion APP
if you use Android, DONT download the Google Playstore Version, instead download the one from Moondrop website, the Playstore version is somehow very very buggy
THE UI is pretty basic
on my Redmi Note 9 Pro, everytime i open the Link App - USB Device, i need press allow the apps to access the DAWN 3.5 after that this screen will pop up, then press back then press again the USB Device button to access the settings, quirky things
Check for updates by pressing the Version button
Settings that you can change :
Filter selection :
Gain selection :
you can also turn off the LED
255 volume steps on the Link APP
on my Redmi Note 9 Pro, everytime i open the Link App - USB Device, i need press allow the apps to access the DAWN 3.5 after that this screen will pop up, then press back then press again the USB Device button to access the settings, quirky things
Check for updates by pressing the Version button
Settings that you can change :
Filter selection :
Gain selection :
you can also turn off the LED
255 volume steps on the Link APP
Redmi Note 9 Pro, DAWN 3.5, E1DA 9038D, 9038S G3 for comparison.
Source : Apple Music Lossless
IEMs / Headphone : Hifiman Sundara, Moondrop KATO, Moondrop Stellaris
MOONDROP DAWN 3.5 Sound Impressions :
Overal sound of the DAWN 3.5 out of the box with default Filter "Fast Roll-off Low-lantency filter" is pretty neutral with boring and fast decay, after i leave it for some "burn in" period and change the Filter with "Slow Roll-off Phase-compensated filter" the DAWN 3.5 atleast to my ears sounds still pretty neutral BUT now with just a hint of analogue warmness.
Bass has a rather blunt presentation of bass, its tight,, a hint dry It has fast attack , but have short sustain / decay, definition and separation of the bass is pretty good
Mids presentation has decent weight and sounding a hint of analogue / touch of warmness to it. Especially on female vocal, It sounds lively on Anisong tracks such as &Z by nZk (feat. mizuki)
Treble of the Dawn 3.5 is well extended, has a great amount of micro details, but sound smooth at the same time, its a joy to listen Moondrop Stellaris and my Sundara using the Dawn 3.5
STAGING
its small, probably the weakest points besides the build and non detachable cable of the DAWN 3.5
on nZk - Cage at minutes 1:00 sounds somewhat crowded
Detail Retrieval
in terms of detail retrieval of the DAWN 3.5 in my opinion is pretty good, its almost as good as my E1DA 9038S Gen 3, though the 9038S has the edge in terms of detail retrieval over the DAWN 3.5
Dynamic
it sounds lively, doesn't try to make things sounds super dynamic, but at the same time it doesn't present sound in a boring way
Power:
on the manual said it has 89mw @32ohm and 13mw @300ohm but it can power both my IEMs and Sundara pretty well.
though it depends on how loud your listening level, so your mileage may vary.
Pairing:
the DAWN 3.5 in my opinion can be paired with all kind of IEMs / Headphone, it doesn't really change the tonality of the IEMs / Headphone you use with it, though it might be a good pair for brighter cans because how the DAWN 3.5 presents the treble rather smoothly
Battery Consumption :
plugged in to my Redmi Note 9 Pro, the DAWN 3.5 didn;t really consume that much of the battery, I'd say its safe for portable use, also the device is only tad warm when in use
Comparison
VS E1DA 9038s G3
the E1DA 9038s G3 noticeably has A LOT more power and sounding more expansive in the staging department with better detail retrieval compared to the DAWN 3.5 tonality wise its almost identical, though the 9038s has more longer decay / "wetter" sounding than the DAWN 3.5, BUT, you need to purchase balanced cable to use it (extra cost)
VS E1DA 9038D
the E1DA 9038D also has more power and sounding even more expansive than the 9038s and DAWN 3.5, also has better overall technical performance, sounds rather analytical and a bit bright BUT the 9038D has noticeable flaws, it picks up RFI 2G and 4G signal pretty badly and, so for portable usage with smartphone i CANNOT recommend the 9038D
WHY THE DAWN 3.5 Exist ? Why don't I just purchase the 4.4mm for better performance?
in my opinion especially on budget categories, purchasing balanced DAC / AMP adds more cost because you need to purchase multiple balanced cable for your IEMs / Headphones, it defeats its purpose in the first place: bringing the most VALUE for money
Conclusion / TLDR ;
pretty good dongle for its price
+Recommended for users who needs good price to performance ratio DAC/AMP dongle without needing to spent extra cash for balanced cable
- Not recommended if you didn't have any budget limits to purchase extra balanced cable (purchase the DAWN 4.4 / Moonriver 2 / whatever dongle you want its up to you)
