Sound wise, this CYBERDRIVE I classified as matured and smooth with natural and neutral timbre, no hint of being digital-ish sounding – it is organic and analogue for sure. It is limited up to 192khz which is quite basic by today’s standard. This CS4396 DAC is old and was popular for implementation on desktop DAC/Amps. In fact, I came across only 2 units offered in AliExpress. Not many CS4398 DAC/Amps can be found in the market in this compact USB form factor. May not sound the best with already warm sounding IEMs or Headphones.ĬYBERDRIVE XMOS+ CS4398.The hardware volume adjuster not as tactile, need to press a few times.Separation layers are clustered a bit too close together, the lines slightly hazy.
Dac that uses cirrus logic cs4398 chip portable#
USB-A Jack will require adapter for portable use.Detail’s retrievals fall short of being reference grade.Piano and cello tone not as vivid, natural but somewhat soft edged.A little laid-back dynamic for CS standards.Treble and bass extensions fall a bit short of reference grade.Limited to 192khz, this standard is archaic now.Impressive driving power, runs Planar Magnetic HP with ease.Flagship grade speed and transients, fast attack, handles 250BPM effortlessly.Great soundstage that offers depth and width.Great spatial projection with realistic imaging, spacious.Smooth edged treble and upper mids, natural sounding decays.Fast and snappy Mid-Bass and with decent Sub-Bass presence.Velvety smooth mids with natural texture.Dynamics exhibited matured vibrancy, not trying to overdo it needlessly.Classic sounding tonality all around, airy and no hint of overemphasis.Neutral and natural sound with good coherence level, organic & analogue timbre.LISTENING EQUIPMENT USED IMPARTED HUGE INFLUENCE TO SOUND IMPRESSIONS & RATING Listening Equipment: Etymotic ER4SR, ER2XR, Shure KSE1500, TIN HiFi P1, Monolith M565C PCM 24bit – 192khz DSD256, SNR: -129dB, Power: 40-110mW, USB Type-A Male, 3.5mm SE (Microphone: No), Solid Plastic Chassis I also listened using USB connections and arrived at the same conclusion.DAC Chip: Cirrus Logic CS4398 with XMOS (Single) Streaming sources were internet radio stations via the latest version of moOde audio or Volumio loaded to a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with an Allo DigiOne HAT. Listening tests were done using music files mastered to CD Redbook standards. These include live concerts, CD projects and music from favorite CDs I transferred to a USB thumb drive. If you are looking for a DAC to hook up to a CD transport to playback Redbook CDs STOP and GO there! However, if you need an affordable DAC for your Raspberry Pi, laptop or server, you may proceed.īoth these units use the Cirrus Logic CS4398 chip, a well-respected Delta-Sigma type DAC that was introduced in 2003. But it is the implementation of the DAC chip which sets these two units apart. FM broadcasts just sounds more analog with a human DJ than streaming from the internet.īut I haven't ditched my Raspberry Pi 3B+ set up since it has its purpose.
This installment is long overdue since I got distracted by a flea market find, a Yamaha T-2 FM tuner, which was aligned to factory specs by Punker X, highly recommended tuner tech! Yes, I am eating my words from this past post since I've been enjoying WRTI, WPRB, WXPN, amongst others.