This Tiny DAC And Headphone Amp Is Nice Means To Use Wired Earphones On Your iPhone

The disappearance of the jack on smartphones has proved to be an actual nuisance for these of us who like to make use of our favourite pair of wired earbuds or headphones for listening to music. Nonetheless, people are ingenious and this has stimulated the market with the launch of fairly a couple of USB DACs that may plug right into a smartphone and drive a pair of headphones.

You’ll be able to pay something from $10 for Apple’s personal DAC, all the best way as much as one thing high-end like the brand new Chord Mojo 2 which might deliver audiophile high quality music to virtually any smartphone. In order for you a DAC that may work with an iOS or Android, then the Periodic Audio Rhodium mixed DAC and amp dongle is each reasonably priced and a wise little performer.

The Periodic Audio Rhodium DAC is tiny and has a USB-C plug at one finish and a 3.5mm stereo jack on the different. The gadget can both pug straight right into a smartphone with a USB-C port or, should you occur to have an iPhone, the Rhodium can be utilized with a particular Apple adapter.

The answer doesn’t seem like a really elegant resolution, however that is the worth we should pay to make use of a DAC/Amp on an iPhone. Apple has its MFI (Made for iPhone) program which suggests producers like Periodic both has to pay Apple a royalty so the Rhodium will work instantly with an iPhone or the person merely has to stump up the money for one in all Apple’s Lightning to USB Digicam Adapters whereas asking ourselves why we’re so damned loyal to these people over there in Cupertino.

The Periodic Rhodium is a quite simple gadget and doesn’t require a driver. Simply plug it in your smartphone after which plug your favourite pair of wired headphones within the Rhodium’s jack and settle again to benefit from the music.

I examined the Rhodium out on my iMac first. The gadget is acknowledged by macOS though, quite unhelpfully, it reveals up as “Headphones” within the audio output, alongside the present Headphones already listed because the iMac’s personal analog output. The chip used within the Rhodium is a Realtek ALC5686. It’s a small system-on-a-chip designed to covert the digital sign fed from the telephone or pc which is then fed by means of an analog amplifier that drives the headphones.

The Rhodium is a fundamental DAC and can deal with fundamental PCM digital recordsdata. There’s no assist in anyway for MQA, DXD or DSD recordsdata, so should you do have music saved as something however vanilla PCM like WAV or MP3, then the Rhodium just isn’t for you. This received’t matter to most individuals as these different codecs aren’t significantly widespread, apart from MQA on TIDAL’s Masters.

As you may anticipate from a budget-priced headphone DAC, the Periodic Rhodium isn’t overly highly effective and it received’t cope nicely with earbuds or headphones which might be laborious to drive. Nonetheless, for many earbuds or headphones available on the market, the Rhodium has sufficient punch to supply a good quantity stage.

The Rhodium shows very low ranges of distortion and a good signal-to-noise ratio. 113db sign to noise ratio spec as nicely. Energy consumption is kind of modest at 23mA at 1mW output. This implies the Rhodium isn’t going to gobble up your smartphone’s battery and I actually observed that when utilizing it with my iPhone SE 2.

Most individuals will use the Periodic Rhodium with their smartphone. With Android units, there shouldn’t be any issues. It really works completely on Android telephones with OTG. Nonetheless, the gadget is a bit fussier relating to iPhones or iOS units like an iPad, you’ll want a later iPhone that’s working iOS 14.3 at least to work reliably. As well as, you additionally want one in all Apple’s overpriced Lightning-to-USB adapters. It’s a ache within the neck however Apple doesn’t appear to love making life simple for us.

In the case of sound, the Periodic Rhodium turned in a much better efficiency than I used to be anticipating. It produces a pleasant and heat sound with an analog really feel. I partnered it with Westone’s new Mach 10 IEMs and was blown away by the quantity of element within the music. The soundstage was nicely centered, whereas the midrange was pitched properly ahead. General, the tone isn’t bass-heavy, however neither is it light-weight. Treble frequencies are easy and detailed sufficient to create a spatial soundstage.

It’s truthful to say that the Periodic Rhodium has a large tolerance of all genres of music and a presentation that’s relaxed and properly civilized. It actually received’t offend anybody however the headphones this DAC is paired with could have loads of bearing on how the listener appreciates the general sound. Most earbuds or headphones with an impedance of 16Ω will work wonderful with the Rhodium. Because the impedance stage will increase, the amount ranges start to undergo so don’t strive working excessive impedance headphones should you like a good dose of

Verdict: For those who’re on the lookout for an affordable DAC/amp to drive a pair of IEMs or wired earphones, the Periodic Rhodium is an reasonably priced resolution. It’s restricted in what kind of headphones it will probably drive plus it’s not going to have the ability to deal with any outdated digital audio file format you care to throw at it. However assuming you simply need to take heed to PCM recordsdata and also you’re utilizing earphones with 16Ω impedance, you’ll be rewarded with a wealthy and heat sound laced with sufficient element to type a dynamic soundstage. Quantity ranges are good on decrease impedance earphones, however the Rhodium does begin to wrestle to drive massive and higher-impedance headphones. All in all, the Periodic Rhodium is nice worth for cash if you wish to use wired headphones with a smartphone that has no headphone jack.

Pricing & Availability: The Periodic Rhodium DAC/Amp is out there now and prices $49 / £49 / €49 and is out there at Amazon.

Extra information: www.periodicaudio.com and www.hifiheadphones.co.uk

Tech Specs:

• Frequency response: 2Hz to 192kHz, +0/-3dB.
• Dynamic vary: 113dB.
• SNR: 108dB A wt.
• THD: <0.007%.
• Output: 31mW @ 32Ω.
• Energy consumption: 23mA @ 1mW output.
• Cable Size 63mm.
• Weight: 4.4g.
• Dimensions: 117 x 10.8 x 6.9mm.