Yulong D100 DAC / Headphone Amplifier

[Jason36]

Does anybody own or have they heard the Yulong D100 DAC.

I have been reading a few reviews on this and they all seem to be positive but obviously hard to demo prior to buying a I believe you can actually only get these from either China or Hong Kong pretty much.

Any feedback or input into the sound and how good the headphone amp is would be appreciated.

:cheers:

 

[quadpatch]

I know I practiaclly live on this DAC forum lately but... I have read a lot of great things about this DAC/amp too. I am considering upgrading my Fiio combo to it very soon for my desktop so if I do I will come back and let you know.

 

[Jason36]

Cheers Quadpatch,

yeah let me have your impressions if you go ahead. Are you buying from abroad or have you found a UK distributor?

 

[quadpatch]

Sorry Jason I only found them on eBay. These things almost never show up on Head-Fi for sale boards either so I guess they are either rare as hell or people love em too much to sell them on again. My Fiio is going on eBay in the next couple of days.

 

[Jason36]

Sods law you know.

There was a guy in the UK (London) selling one today on Head-Fi, he wanted £250 for it and it sold within a couple of hours.

Looks like China it is then.

 

[quadpatch]

Hey Jason,

I found that and it was still listed as pending payment so I emailed him but unfortunately he had just handed it over... meh! I'm really torn between the Yulong D100 and U100 now. I am sure they are quite different but I only need a USB in and headphone out so can't help thinking that the U100 will be less of a waste of features. Still weighing it up though, still considering the D100. Would you ever consider adding the A100 to the D100 or would you just stick with the D100? I can't help wondering just how much better the A100 is than the headphone amp built in to the D100 if it's purely for headphones...

Did you consider the Yulong U100 or do you just want the higher quality D100 or need some of it's features?

I have decided not to sell either of my old DACs. The Fiio is great for bass and the CEntrance is growing on me all the time.

 

[quadpatch]

I found a German distributer for Yulong on eBay. He had a bunch of D100's a while back so I sent him an email and he told me this:

"The new version of the D100 will be available soon so I recommend you to wait for that, it will called "D100 II". It has a TE7022L USB 2.0 interface and supports ASIO. The headphone amplifier has been readjusted for a more "plump" sound.I will let you know when it is available."

Well there you go... I think that I will be waiting for this "NEW" version.

I am curious about the "plump" sound, if it refers to more weight on the low end then I will be extra happy as this is exactly what the DACport lacks, as beautifully detailed as it is there is a noticeable lack of "power" at times - especially with electronic music (which makes up about 20% of my collection).

 

[Andy H]

It's on ebay now

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YULONG-D100-ASRC-DAC-DIGITAL-ANALOG-CONVERTER-/220848377341?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item336b96cdfd

 

[Anonymous]

Has it been bought then.....?

 

[quadpatch]

Hey thanks for the link Andy! Oh wow that is so tempting but I think I want to wait for the German guy to get some stock in, especially after it was his information that made me hold off buying in the first place. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't take too long. It is pretty tempting to get it now considering this seller has 100% feedback but that doesn't gaurantee me to not get charged a customs fee.

 

[quadpatch]

I just ordered the Yulong D100 mkII, I couldn't wait any more. I will report back when it comes in and get some listening time in.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, feedback greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jason36]

+1 on the feedback as well mate.

At the moment my choices are the Yulong D100 and the HLLY DMK-IV DAC.....however the newer version of the HLLY does have changeable Op Amps (so I have been informed)....so that may swing my decision....and the fact it is based on the Fidelity Audio DAC (in fact HLLY build the Fidelity Audio DAC for them)

Decisions Decisions

 

[quadpatch]

The Yulong D100 mkII turned up this morning at work, got it home this evening, ripped open the packaging and set it up to see if it was working. Only slight problem was a wierd plug but fortunately it just takes a standard kettle plug so used a computer one that I wasn't using. It powered up fine, recongised the PC straight away, foobar recognised it but needed switching (as always). The display tells you the sample rates of the music you are playing correctly. All is well so far, by far the least hassle of any DAC I have had but none of them have been terrible trouble.

As for the audio, it's very early days of course but... I have only tested it running on the Denon headphones so far but wow! I am really impressed with this sound. So very clear and smooth yet so much power/presence. It's the most enjoyable sound I have experienced thus far. It was difficult to completely like the DACport becasue of it's utter inability to produce strong bass, as nice and tight as that low end was... sorry I mean is, I'm not selling it yet .

The stepped volume dial is lovely although the knob itself is a nasty plastic thing but underneath you can feel the greatness! The second sound mode which gently curves off the treble is nice but so very subtle (I like it this way actually). The two headphone inputs are a nice touch and it seems might add a nice change to the sound too. These headphones (with an impedance of 25ohms) clearly should go in the left socket and they sound great there but stick them in the right one and the sound signature seems brighter, just remember to crank the volume down beforehand though as otherwise it blows your head off .

I will do a lot more testing with this DAC / headphone amp of course but I really don't think my opinion is going to change. I can't recommend it enough so far but I guess I could be lucky with synergy. I will try it more with the cheaper Denons (AH-D1100), Sennheiser HD25-1 II's (before I eBay them) and V-Moda M-80's soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice post quad. Looking forward to more reflections..........

 

[Jason36]

+1 on that as well Quadpatch, especially seeing as I am still seriously considering the Yulong D100 in its MkII guise. Obviously not being able to listen before you buy means you are unfortunately restricted to reviews by people like yourself.

This is why, although the HLLY MkIV DAC also looks interesting, especially with it changeable OpAmps, it is sliding out of consideration as I dont know anybody who owns one and again can only be bought from HLLY in China.

Look forward to hearing your further impressions over the next few days

 

[quadpatch]

I know what you mean Jason. I have not seen any reviews of the D100 mkII yet but I have seen enough of the original to go for this one and I'm really happy that I did. This is exactly what I have been looking for!

I put a bit of listening in this morning before work and this time tried the V-Moda M-80's. The Yulong is still really wowing me! With these phones it was like I'd upgraded to a more expensive pair and they're already really good! It felt like the sound had been infused with energy without it sounding bloated by bass.

With the Denon AH-D7000s the treble seems really smoothed off too but not in a bad way. I was listening to a couple of songs which make me cringe a bit when loud - even thought I love them. Through the D100 mkII there was just no sign of any pain anywhere. I was listening pretty damn loud too. This was with the sound mode 1 too (no treble roll-off). Despire the sound feeling smooth it didn't seem to loose any impact in the upper mid range. I need to do more tests with this but it seems this machine does great things to the Denons - for me at least.

I don't feel too confident making sweeping statement about quality & value for money having only owned 3 DAC/headphone amps so all I can do is describe the feelings I had from the units I've tried so far. Coming from no DAC to the Fiio E7 was a really nice as it cleaned everything up and added bass and a bit of detail. It was fairly obvious that it was an improvement, unlike upgrading from the Fiio to the DACport. I expected another huge improvement here because of the price and I have to say I was pretty disapointed. The bass is just non-existant but after a while of listening and then going back to the Fiio it's starting to become more clear that there is more detail in places over the Fiio. What I get from the D100 mkII is what I was expecting from the DACport! Perhaps I was expecting too much but for me the D100 is delivering it.

A bit more info about the sample rate displayed on the front of the Yulong D100 mkII. It doesn't change when you play a high-def source it seems locked by windows. I didn't know this with the DACport because there is no display telling you what it's being fed so this is nice touch. So just because Foobar tells you you're playing a 24/96 file does not mean it's being played. To make sure this is the case you just have to go to the control panel, select 'sound', then choose the device from the list and click on 'properties' and under the advanced tab select '24 bit 96000 Hz (Studio Quality)' from the dropdown menu.

 

[DIB]

I have read this thread with great interest. There are so many different DAC's around the £150-£350 mark, the choice is bewildering these days. At the present time I have no DAC, so as a stop-gap measure I've got my PC hooked up to my amp with a cheapo cable using the PC's onboard soundcard. Not ideal I know, but surprisingly good, nowhere near as bad as you are lead to believe at times.

Amongst the many options available, the Arcam and TEAC Reference DACs both come in around the £300 mark, the Beresford Caiman around the £200 mark, etc. etc. All have good reviews, and I'm not sure if there is much difference in SQ between them all. There's an Aune DAC/Headphone amp that looks pretty good for £160 if you buy over here, cheaper if you buy from Hong Kong/China

This Yulong interests me, I believe somewhere around the £300 mark? Are they available direct from the UK or do you have to order them direct from the Far East? If importing from the far East, have you been hit with the additional charges for Import Duty, VAT etc.? On a value of £300 you could be looking at quite a lot of additional charges on top, I just wondered whether this was the case.

.

 

[quadpatch]

I first found out that there would be a 2nd version of the Yulong D100 from a German reseller on eBay. He told me that he would get some in stock soon. If you are interested here is his page: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/davelglsshop

However I was impatient and went to an eBayer from HK. I paid quite a bit for shipping which brought the total for the D100 mkII to £313 I think. I didn't get stung for customs/VAT but I did for my previous DAC (DACport), which was a second hand unit from the US. I paid a ton to ship that and they just sat on it for weeks, then held it for ransom - f***ing bunch of criminals!! There is nothing I can do to get my money back for that so I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt for not paying with the Yulong. I just have to chalk this up to 'you win some - you loose some'. I think it's unlikely that you will get charged customs on the Yulong because of the way they package it but there are no gaurantees.

OK back to the Yulong's performance: First I tried out the Sennheiser HD25-1 II's tonight, I thought I had better do it quick as I am selling them in a couple of days. My first thought was to how comfortable they were compared to the V-moda's, I wondered what I had done by selling them but then I started listening, I thought they sounded really boomy on the bass and not very pleasant in general. Have I been spoiled by the Denon's, were the V-Moda M-80's similar? So I plugged them in next and listened to the same track... nope - the M-80's sound fantastic through the Yulong... really, really good. I just keep wanting to say wow with this combo! It's possible that the Yulong doesn't give the Sennheiser's so much of a boost or maybe they're just not so good to start with. It's funny I used to hold these headphones in such high regard. They really aren't as bad as I'm making them seem right now, it's just that the V-Moda's and Denon's are so very good here. Lets face it for the price the Denon should be amazing, it's the V-Moda M-80 that are the shocker here - arghhh if only they were more comfortable!!

Now I am back to listening to the big headphones as I write this (Denon D7000). I am listening to the 'Sherlock Holmes' soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. I am really blown away by the power that the Yulong gives to the D7000. I have always been happy with these headphones. Even the DACport sounded pretty good, it cut the bass down but the Denon's have so much to spare it often doesn't matter too much. This sound however is nothing short of epic! The effect the D100 mkII has on the bass of these phones is phenomonial. The instrument seperation seems improved, the sound-stage feels wider and the treble feels more smooth. Oh I found something negative (sort of)... I stumbled across a 192khz MP3 track with the Denon's and the artifacts were smacking me in the face! I can honestly say I have struggled to tell the difference between lossy and lossless in the past (well top quality lossy anyway) but this was immensely noticable. The same track through the V-Moda M-80's and it was fine, another feather in the cap of the Crossfades. I almost thing this is a feature for the Denons, it's not that they're bad with compression but that much better with lossless or uncompressed, well that's what I am going to tell myself anyway .

I think that's enough wows from me. I don't think there is much more to say about the D100 mkII but if anyone has any specific questions just shout. I don't think there is much point me posting pictures, it looks exactly the same as the first one but with 'II' in front of the name . I can't recommend this machine enough but I haven't tried a ton of other similar devices and I don't know how lucky I am with synegy.

 

[Anonymous]

Good post. 'Epic' is good!

 

[quadpatch]

Good post. 'Epic' is good!

Another day of fun filled listening and I stand by my statement. Apologies for the hyperbole, I was just really impressed. Perhaps expansive would have been better. Hopefuly there was some constructive stuff in there somewhere.

I still haven't tested the D100 mkII with the mini Denons yet (AH-D1100), I will report back when I have tested them and the output to speakers. Wish I had an SACD player to test with it too.

 

[Anonymous]

No need to apologise for 'hyperbole'. Just pleased you find the unit worthwhile and obviously a very exciting sound. Toppie.

 

[quadpatch]

I just bought a pair of AKG Q701 off Amazon for £164 so I am well eager to test those out on the D100 too, see what it is like with some open phones that are more difficult to drive. Sorry still yet to try the Denon AH-D1100, Enjoying the D7000 too much!

Jason: Any thoughts on which one you will go for yet? If you do go for the HLLY please post what you think of it.

 

[quadpatch]

Just a quick update - The Denon AH-D1100 got a modest boost on the D100 but most of my time has been with the Denon D7000 and the AKG Q701 for obvious reasons. Here are some thoughts on those two great headphones with through the Yulong D100 mkII:

The AKGs sound really stunning! So airy and with really tight/fast detail. Great with classical, interesting for vocals. Probably about as opposite from the Denon D7000s signature as possible but both get driven really well through this DAC. They are a great couple of headphones to own as they can be chosen easily depending on mood. For any slight aspect that the Denon lacks the AKG fills in the gaps, the soundstage extremely impressive but bass is just not there (compared to the Denon of course). With the Denon I can honestly say there is nothing it doesn't do well, this is not so true with the AKGs although if you had nothing with great bass / presence to compare them to you could live in blissfull ignorance. If I was to choose one to live with on a desert island it would be an easy choice in the D7000. The AKGs can be more enjoyable for some music however but you need a little time to really sink your head in to the different sonic presentation (if comparing). I have listened to both of these headphones directly through portables, computers and also a couple of other DACs. Having got used to the sound that a dedicated DAC can provide I would not want to go back to not using one, especially for great headphones like these two. The Yulong is by far the most entertaining sound that I have experienced thus far. Lots of detail, a clean and smooth sound with plenty of kick.

I would love to compare it to something like the NuForce Icon HDP or the Furutech GT40 but to do this I would just have to buy them and I'm not sure how likely I am to fork out the money to try this. I would like another DAC / amp for work to use with the VModa M-80 - that headphone gets a huge boost from the Yulong as well! Maybe I should get the original D100 for work just to compare. Someone on Head-Fi said the headphone amp on the D100 mkII was worse than the original but he didn't say where he got that from.

I have been trying this bit perfect audio stream malarky. I have tried the ASIO and WASAPI driver / Foobar plugin. I'm not sure if it sounds any better, at least you can be sure that the windows mixer is not doing anything to your sound when using it. The winodws volume control no longer works and also no other sounds can affect your music (windows clicks and beeps don't get played on top of your music) which is nice!

I'm still not sure if I want to get an expensive USB audio cable like the Furutech Formula 2 or Wireworld Ultraviolet. It could be argued that this is the weak link in my system but I just don't know if it's possible or placebo. I would like to try one but not in a shop so should I just buy one... hmm any thoughts?

 

[Inter_Voice]

Just got my Yulong D100II. My friend bought me one when he travelled to China on business trip.

On first listening without burning in I found this DAC is extremely good. As to the headphone amplifier I found it a bit on the bright side and may be it will get better after burning in

.