Ever wish you had a tube amp with you everywhere for your headphones? Now you can with this switchable USB-C DAC

Date:
Tue, 11 Feb 2025 14:06:44 +0000

Description:
The iBasso Nunchaku USB DAC lets you switch between two different amp modes.

FULL STORY ======================================================================The iBasso Nunchaku DAC lets you access two amp modes It's USB-powered and houses Raytheon tubes It's priced at $299 and comes with a built-in OLED display

What a day to be an obsessive audiophile. Ive you ever gone to bed drifting off wishing you had an analogue-ready portable amp for some of the best wired headphones , your sweatiest sound dreams have come true. Thats because iBasso Audio has revealed a portable USB-C DAC (digital to analogue converter) with dual amp modes, including a tube amp option, and a fetching OLED display, to really stand out among the best portable DACs .

The Chinese audio specialist recently released the iBasso Nunchaku portable DAC (via Notebookcheck ). Now brace yourself for the audiophile-baiting part. The compact little USB DAC has two selectable amps you can switch between and a pair of Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC chips.

From early glimpses at this little digital amplifier, it screams quality. Not only is its premium-looking body made from aluminum, it also rocks the aforementioned OLED display, with the 0.96-inch screen designed to shield one of the Nunchaku USBs duo of tempered glass sides. (Image credit: iBasso)

Initially available in red or silver, this attractive portable amp has a comprehensive feature set. It supports both high-res PCM and DSD51 music stream, and if you really want to delve further into the sonic weeds, the promised signal-to-noise ratio is 130dB. Adjustable filters also allow you to tweak the sound profiles of whatever audio device you pair with the iBasso Nunchaku.

Switching over to its analog amp, the signal-to-noise ratio measures in at around 107dB, which should create enjoyable audio courtesy of the Nunchakus (wait for it) dual Raytheon JAN6118 tubes, which are tested and paired specifically for each unit. iBasso makes clear there is a likelihood of a 'microphonic' effect from tapping or movement on the case transferring
through the tube amps (there's a reason they're not commonly used on portable devices!), but these will be reduced as much as possible by its Poron polyurethane shock-mounted tubes.

You've got 4.4mm balanced output or 3.5mm headphones connections to make the most of everything here, so it should be a great bridge between laptops or phones and elite headphones.

Considering it has an OLED screen and has clearly been constructed with premium materials, its not surprising this palm-friendly amp is currently priced at $299 (about 240 / AU$475), which seems positively reasonable given the complexity and audio chops. You might also like These luxe wireless headphones stick a tube-amp hi-fi on your head, and offer really hardcore Hi-Res Audio support iFI Go Link Max review: one of the best budget USB-C
DACs ever 3 of the best wireless DACs to upgrade music from your smartphone



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/ever-wish-you-had-a-tube-amp-with-you-everywhe re-for-your-headphones-now-you-can-with-this-switchable-usb-c-dac


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