At this point, might as well just sell the Cayin and get a smaller DAP to pair with the Lotoo 
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I thought about that but I’m liking the massive battery of the n6ii…like I get over 3 days out of a charge with many hours of use each day. Time will tell though.
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Neat setup. Puts in to perspective just how tiny that Paw is.
I was thinking about the N6ii with the T01 module as a new DAP but now Im starting to think, assuming this is as good as stated, that the only considerations now are simply physical size, storage size, and battery life. Could get away with a really compact setup.
I very much liked your IEM reviews and will be curious to read if/when you post re the sound differences between the Paw and the N6ii modules.
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Was reading this thread and became intrigued with the Lotoo Paw S1 (“what’s in a name”?). Yesterday I purchased one from Amazon along with their “other people have bought this USB-C to Lightning Cable”. The cable didn’t work and is going back to Amazon tomorrow. MusicTeck, the distributor sell one from Lotoo that actually works, but for double the price. In the meantime I am using an Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter > USB-A to USB-C connector > USB-C to USB-C cable; yes it is a kludge, but it works until I get the correct Lightning to USB-C cable from Musicteck.
I have had several dongle dap/amps (Cozoy Astrapi, Dragonfly Black, Dragonfly Cobalt) and this one is the best: absolutely black background, great detail presentation, more than enough bass, low power consumption and a set of equalization settings that are the icing on the cake. I am using it with an iPhone X and 64 Audio U18T iems and it is a real pleasure to listen for hours on end. I have finally found a great mobile system that will fit in my pocket and deliver near-desktop performance.
Just for fun, I just tried it driving my Focal Stellias, and it is surprisingly good: not as good as my desktop setup, but certainly great for its size and weight.
This one’s a keeper. Thanks for the thread. It’s the reason I like this forum so much, always learning something new.
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Hadn’t noticed this before … but the PAW S1 is rather susceptible to EMI/RFI.
To the point where, just laying over another USB connection introduces spurious, low-level, noises (unless oriented at 90 degrees). And having it oriented in certain ways when connected to an iPhone results in the same sorts of noises.
Also, the 4.4mm connection is REALLY fussy compared to most others. Don’t move the connector much while listening or it’ll cut out (tested across half a dozen different 4.4mm plugs).
It’s still the best sounding “dongle” DAC/amp I’ve come across, and the most feature-rich, but it does have some niggles.
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I actually noticed that too, but thought it was just the new 4.4 mm cable I purchased. I ended up exchanging the cable for a new one from the same company, and I don’t recall experiencing any drop outs afterwards, including when I twisted the connector around (which would cause drop outs with the previous cable). But I’m certainly open to believing it was a problem with the S1 all along…will pay more attention the next time I use it with a 4.4 mm cable.
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The Dragonfly Red to me isn’t enjoyable. It has this glare in the treble and I find it annoying/uncomfortable listen. With my SA6 I’d rather use the apple dongle. Would the AKM chip in the Lotoo Paw S1 be a more enjoyable signature? I think the ESS in the dragonfly may be the cause of the glare I don’t like. Sorry for an confusion, it’s hard to explain sounds lol.
It may, or may not, be down to the AKM chip vs. the ESS, but I’ve found the Lotoo Paw S1 to be the most enjoyable dongle-DAC/amp I’ve heard. Doesn’t hurt that the S1 can do balanced output, and has built-in EQ profiles.
Definitely prefer it to the entire DragonFly line-up; where, subjectively, I think the Cobalt is the best sounding DragonFly, but it’s clearly technically inferior to the Red, and it has power issues with lower-impedance or hard to drive stuff, if you’re using an iPhone.
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Have you tried the l&p w2?
Nope.
Main reason is the fact it can draw more power than an iPhone can supply, which has always caused issues for me (it was a cluster with the AQ DF Cobalt too). Beyond that, there’s the firmware update fuck-wittery - I have no time for such customer-hostile nonsense.
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Well, same reasons for me. Ah well.
I’ve largely stopped looking for alternatives.
I’d say 98% of my iPhone driven listening is now just with either the AirPods Pro or Max. That’s mostly because in the situations where the iPhone is my music source, environmental considerations (ambient noise level, distractions/interruptions etc.) mean there’s no mileage to using anything better than the two AirPods.
I occasionally will take the S1 and the Odin and just the phone/laptop. But usually if I’m going to get enough listening time, in suitable environments, to warrant taking proper IEMs, then I also take either the SP2000 or Hugo 2.
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There was a time I travelled even more than I do now (and when I say “now”, I mean “pre-COVID”).
Back then, I took a HeadRoom “Traveller” Bag everywhere. In which there was the best portable CD player available (at the time, that was a Panasonic unit), a HeadRoom “Supreme” amplifier, a set of Etymotic ER4-S, a 20-CD holder, and a HeadRoom 4x D-Cell battery pack.
The battery pack was necessary as the “Supreme” would chew through 4x premium AA cells in about 55 minutes.
And then I had a pair of HD 580 in my carry-on for when I got where I was going (this predated the HD650 by some 8 years or so).
How times have changed (me) … now I can barely be bothered to carry a dongle the size of a pack of gum and IEMs that’ll fit in a mint-tin.
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