I just purchased the L&P W2 portable DAC/AMP for an admittedly fairly expensive $299 (relatively cheap vs L&P’s DAPs) and connected it via included lightning connector to my iPhone and then jacked in my Kinera Nannas via the 4.4mm jack. I was absolutely floored streaming Apple Lossless music how good that sounded. At least as good as my A&K or Lotoo DAPs. Simply amazing. I can only recommend that set-up for portable streaming of Apple’s new lossless offerings which cost no more than Apple Music charged for its prior lossy formatted music.
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Any idea how the L&P W2 portable DAC/AMP compares with the Lotoo PAW S1 DAC/AMP dongle?
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W2 has nearly double the power of the s1.
The only reason I don’t own the w2 is because it can draw more power than iphones allow. So it will generate that dreaded accessory is drawing too much power message with harder to drive headphones. 
This is a problem with the iphone, not the w2. On android, this thing would have shot to the top of the list.
I am even thinking about it for laptop use. I love me a cirrus logic 43198 so far. That and the signature’s burr brown have been my favorite sound.
Anyone know of a connector that would allow me to get power separately from data for this?
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Thanks. That is really helpful.
It should be noted that the w1 does not have this problem. The difference is only one dac to power instead of 2. But effectively the same amping.
Whether the sonics are different enough to matter, I don’t know. I am thinking about buying w2, w1 and s1 and doing a show down.
Another thing to note: some of these only support firmware updates from windows. This is an issue on the btr5. And I think may be true of l&p as well.
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Just got the W2 a couple days ago. This device has been hyped like crazy, and is often compared to the S1, which I have heard and thought was good. But the hype is justified in this case. No, it is not better than the Gungnir MB, which is my primary dac. But for a dac smaller than my thumb, it is way better than I would’ve thought possible. It is comparable in sound quality to my m11 pro, but differently tuned. If it had a little more power, it might even be slightly better. Its good enough to make it hard to resist turning it up, so I probably listen too loud. It’s really pretty stunning. I also have a Fiio btr5, which I also really like for bt playback (especially ldac, ofc). My phone is supposed to support ldac, but aptx (non-hd) is the best I can get out of the phone. But using the btr5 wired via USB, the w2 puts it right back on the truck. This should not be taken as denigrating of the sq of the btr5, just how good the W2 is. $300 is mucho dinero for a dongle, but just based on sound quality, build quality and design, and features, I think it is a bargain. I think dongles are best with iems though; while the W2 drives the Elex satisfactorily, neither is at its best, the hd6xx and Sundara even less so. But with iems, especially the Blessing 2, this thing is pretty special. Is it 3x better than Fiio’s new KA3? Who knows, it is not out yet. Or the S1? Don’t know, I haven’t had them together. But I doubt both propositions. Diminishing returns and all. But I am happy with the value proposition in terms of sq/$. Please ask any questions you may have. I’m not much good at writing reviews (obviously) but i can certainly give my opinion if I have one. But don’t ask how it pairs with any iems over $500, because I don’t have any. Cheers.
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