Top Five Portable USB Type-C DAC/AMPs April 2021!!

2021 has been a fantastic year for audio lovers, we have got plenty of new gears including IEMs, Hi-res Players, DAC/AMP’s, Portable USB Type-C DAC/AMPs, and more. The market for Portable USB Type-C DAC/AMPs is growing rapidly as the latest gen smartphones are dropping on the 3.5mm jack. These Portable USB DAC/AMPs are pretty handy, as you don’t have to carry another device(Hi-res player or something). They bring Hi-Res music enjoyment right with our smartphones. Nowadays they feature not only single-ended 3.5mm output ports but also more like 4.4mm or 2.5mm balanced output ports. Another benefit with them is that their usage is not only limited to smartphones now, they can be connected to your Windows/MAC PCs or laptops, some even support the Nintendo Switch gaming console. They kind of cover all the different sources one might have and provide Hi-res sound performance with it.

Are you in the market searching for a decent portable USB Type-C DAC/AMP but can’t decide with all these models?? Well, we got you covered, today we are bringing you the top five latest USB Type-C DAC/AMPs that are equipped with the latest features and provides excellent performance with their quality. So, let’s begin.

Shanling UA2:-

Price: 85$.

First off, let’s begin with the latest Type-C portable DAC/AMP from Shanling, the UA2. It is just released a few weeks back coming as a successor to the widely famous UA1 DAC/AMP. The latest UA2 improves over the UA1 with a variety of new updates such as an advanced ES9038Q2M DAC chip, a dedicated Headphone amplifier chip(RT6863), Hi-Res decoding support(up to 32-Bit/768kHz, Up to DSD512), and many more features. It is actually one of the only few Portable USB DAC/AMPs that supports DSD512 and PCM up to 32-Bit/768khz decoding. The UA2 features not only a single-ended 3.5mm headphone output but also a balanced 2.5mm headphone output port. It supports exchangeable cables, Users can switch with Lightning to Type-C cable to pair it with iOS devices. Also, the UA2 supports Hi-Res music output with a Nintendo Switch gaming console.

So, the UA2 checks all the boxes for a HiFi device and comes at a very attractive affordable price of 85$ making it one of the top five Portable USB DAC/AMPs in the market today. You can order the UA2 from our store today, check more details here.

Hidizs S9:-

Price: 109$.

Hidizs S9 is the flagship USB Type-C DAC/AMP from Hidizs. It features AKM’s AK4493EQ DAC chip with its patented Velvet Sound technology. Hidizs S9 is capable of decoding Hi-Res audio up to 32-Bit/768kHz and DSD up to DSD512 natively. Similar to the Shanling UA2 the Hidizs S9 also features two headphone output ports, one single-ended 3.5mm and another balanced 2.5mm. It also features swappable cables allowing it to be paired with iOS devices too. You can also buy a variant of S9 where you get both Type-C and Lightning connector cables in the package.

Hidizs S9 is a high-performance device with an output power rating of up to 125mW. It provides excellent performance with quality audio signal decoding. We are pretty sure it will be a nice companion in your portable music chain. The S9 has a price tag of 109$, you can check out more details here.

Ovidius B1:-

Price: 149$.

Ovidius B1 is a well-built simple portable USB Type-C DAC/AMP featuring a high-performance 24-Bit AKM DAC chip and an independent amplification circuit. It houses a premium 4-Channel Desktop Device DAC Architecture that provides excellent Hi-Res audio signal decoding with low-distortion and noise-free background. It supports headphones with impedance up to 600 ohms and is made using a high-precision CNC machining process. The input interface of Ovidius B1 is a truly digital OTG interface. It takes the raw audio signal from the source(smartphones) without any hardware or software decoding in the source device and works as a standard DAC similar to big professional desktop-grade DACs.

You can grab the awesome Ovidius B1 for just 149$ and take your musical experience to an all-new level. Know more about the B1 here.

Lotoo Paw S1:-

Price: 165$.

Lotoo is a premium HiFi audio brand mostly known for its High-quality music players. Last year they released their very first portable USB Type-C, the Paw S1. It is an excellent product with exceptional sound quality and features such as Parametric Equaliser/ATE options that are not found anywhere else in the segment. The S1 houses a high-performance AKM DAC chip allowing Hi-Res signal decoding PCM up to 32Bit/384kHz and DSD up to DSD128 natively, It houses the latest 4.4mm Pentaconn headphone port along with the standard 3.5mm single-ended port.

If we have a budget of up to 200$, the Lotoo Paw S1 would be our favorite choice. Feel free to check out more details here.

Luxury & Precision W2:-

Price: 299.99$.

And yes we saved the best for the last. You all must have heard about Luxury & Precision(Commonly known as L&P), a HiFi premium audio brand manufacturing some of the best devices in the industry. Quite recently they launched their latest Portable USB DAC/AMP, the L&P W2. The L&P W2 is a flagship device housing a flagship-grade Dual DAC chip featuring two CS43198 DAC chips along with a dual high-power amplification chip for powerful, clean, distortion-free sound output.  The L&P W2 is equipped with top-of-the-line professional audio chips collaborating on their specialties to bring an authentic true-to-life high-resolution audio experience for its users. It features a balanced 4.4mm headphone output port with an output power rating of up to 230mW @ 32 ohms. The W2 also features the standard 3.5mm single-ended output.

The Luxury & Precision W2 is a high-performance flagship-level USB DAC/AMP that provides a tremendous sound quality boost over your regular smartphones. You can check out more details on our store here.

A Few Words:-

Well, this is it, these are our current favorite picks among the wide range of Portable USB Type-C DAC/AMPs. These cover different price segments too, so you will be easily able to decide on your purchase based on your budget. We hope this blog helps you :)