Review of the portable USB DACs (Audioquest Dragonfly, Meridian Explorer, Director, iFi iDAC, iDSD, Geek Out, Pulse)

[DM]

LH Labs Geek Pulse & LPS

 

 

The was once the crowd funding (CF) hottest kids for audio. At the time of the CF, it has promised a lot, high tech, excellent value for money, innovative design and caring for the audio community.

 

However, everyone now knew what has happened, product was delayed for more than a year, the look and feel of the actual product is way off the promised computer rendered pictures, serious software bugs and a quite hostile approach to the audio community whenever LH’s short comings were exposed. Nonetheless, all this can be largely forgiven if the audio quality is good, right? Let’s find out …

 

On the spec side, 384kHz and DSD256, quite good, not as high tech as the iFi micro iDSD, but equal to the iFi nano iDSD. The look is … ugly, very ugly, some DIY kits offered in the HiFi World actually looks better. Obviously all the millions of CF funding they have received, they didn’t really spend on the chassis design, or they hired a really awful industrial designer. The silk print on the case can easily be rubbed off, the edge of the chassis is quite rough and the volume control knob has a very flimsy feel, if this is the “Made in the US” quality it claimed, it is an example of how not to do it.

 

I also ordered the Linear Power Supply, came in the same ugly black box but decent weight. (See side bar for the quality of the LPS)

 

Sound

I had high expectation of the Pulse, partly because the very successful marketing campaign they did during the Crowd Funding stage, partly because of the long one-year delay. If they spent so much time on the product, it must be pretty damn good.

Well, first, let me get it out: it doesn’t sound bad. The Pulse has slightly bright sounding, quite detailed, good resolution, but the main letdown is a lacking of soul, the mid-range vocal has a hollow feel to it, the bass is quite big but mushy on an excerpt from Stravinsky's Firebird, the whole sounded like a high resolution version of MP3, just not very musical.

Adding the LPS does help quite a bit, it tamed the excessive brightness and solidify the mid-range and bass, but the overall sound is one that still lacks soul, quite harmless but boring.

 

Conclusion:

I wouldn’t say the Geek Pulse is a lemon, because it is not. However, it is not good value for money neither. I got it at the CF price (close to 50% discount), and even with this discounted price, IMHO it is still not a good buy. It’s ok for some background music, but for serious listening nor enjoyment, with or without the LPS add-on, with or without the CF discount, I would suggest looking elsewhere for better quality and better value. Overall score: 71 (without LPS), 73 (with LPS)

 

 

Side bar: LPS

The LPS (US$500) did improve the Pulse, so it proves again how important is the power supply, also the Pulse is quite sensitive to power supply noise.

 

LPS as a standalone unit, how does it stack up against other power supplies? I did a quick test and pitch it against the iFi iPower 12V (US$49).

 

Just to cut a long story short, both provided a darker background and better separation of instruments and a more open sound stage. The iPower produced a similar performance to the Pulse as the LPS did, they basically ran neck to neck and difficult to separate them.

 

Upcoming:

I finally had my hands on a couple of Chord offerings, the Hugo and Mojo, will post some impression soon.

 

also another group test comping up:

 

For this, I may try to get to a friend's work place where he has access to an Audio Precision analyser for some interesting noise measurements. So it may take a few more days/weeks, hopefully not months

 

DAC Tested

(ranked by score)

 

iFi micro iDSD ............84

Sony PHA-2 ................77

Meridian Director.........75

iFi nano iDSD..............75

iFi micro iDAC.............73

Geek Pulse (w/LPS)..... 73

Geek Pulse .................71

Geek Out....................70

Meridian Explorer........ 67

Sony PHA-1.................50

Dragonfly 1.2..............50

Dragonfly 1.0............. 45

Hdta Serenade DSD......40

[Abee_V]

Thanks for the update.

Great to read your opinions.

[glrtrgi]

Very interested in reading about the comparison of the iFi DSD2 to the Chord products. When I heard the Hugo just as it was released here in the States a couple of years ago I thought it was absolutely stellar. If the iFi comes anywhere close I'll be impressed.

[Blake]

Thanks for the write up on the Geek Pulse + Geek LPS. I completely agree with you regarding the aesthetics. I think the units look very dull. It should be noted though, that the final design was a result of LH Labs forum member input and voting. LH Labs simply implemented what the members wanted. Turns out, that was a bad idea (although a surprising number of members are perfectly happy with the final design- not me). The fact that LH Labs later changed the chassis tells you the original design was not good.

 

With respect to the sound quality, I actually think it is a very strong performer for the price. Fortunately, I have not had any firmware or other operational issues so I can't knock it from that perspective.

 

My Pulse/LPS will be traded in once my Vi DAC Tube is ready. Whenever that may be......