SHANLING UP4 2022 Bluetooth Balanced Headphone Amplifier USB DAC 2 x ES9219C CSR8675 BT Chip 2.5mm Balanced 3.5mm Single-Ended Jack High Low Gain NFC HD Calling for Phone/TV/Tablet/PC/Car

If you're never used a device like this, they can really add a ton of versatility. They let you use just about any headphones you want anywhere you want. This has plenty power in its various modes to drive most headphones you'd realistically use this with, and it sounds audibly transparent to me. I also absolutely adore the knob, it's a really convenient and really granular way to control your volume, which solves the big problem I have with the volume control present in Android/iOS. I have no idea why more robust volume controls don't already exist. Multi device pairing works well (mostly), but the only way I can find to kick it in pairing mode is to disconnect from any devices it's currently connected to. It also has what seems to be a "default" device to connect to, but you can quickly connect it to anything as it turns on and there's no issue.

Lot's of DAC/amps and dongles out there. Can be really time consuming, researching all the possibilities. Had my mind already made up on what to purchase, but then I saw this product mentioned in a review favorably. Well, at less than $80.00 this little DAC/amp rocks! For the price it's a no brainer. If you have $120.00 or more to invest you'll find better...slightly. At this price it has upgraded DAC chips, good power, very good sounding Bluetooth connectivity, and a companion ap. for your phone (android) that controls all functions and also has a basic 5 band EQ. I'm very pleased with this little marvel. Again, for the amount of total investment here, the sound, features, and construction, along with some other unique capabilities, ( like using both DAC chips at once for extra power on non balanced earphone jacks). I recommend you audition this tiny DAC/amp.

The first UP4 I received was not sealed and had a weird sticker on the box, I knew it wasn't new which is what I had purchased. It was also DOA, would not charge so a quick call to Amazon CS was made and they had a new one sent out immediately, which was great service. The 2nd unit fully charged and worked fine, the sound via bluetooth is actually really good. The knob is functional and as a bluetooth receiver/output device it does that really well. As a sound card via laptop usb it is very average, and the output is less than with the BT connection. The dual-dac feature was ok, many dongle dacs run dual channels regardless now so that may be a bit outdated. I tested the unit both with phones and as a line-out to 3.5 input, and it performed well for both. I sent back the 2nd unit as I don't listen to BT on phones much and felt the price was high for my usage. It's decent and well-built and does BT well, but underpowered for most headphones.

I do like the sound of this wireless DAC very much. Perhaps just a wee bit light in the lower end, but I use POWERAMP EQUALIZER anyway to help boost that a bit. The wireless part works phenomenaly well though. The VERY precise volume wheel is fantastic!!! It works EXTREMELY well! Very happy with this DAC...only do wish to get more than 6 hours from one charge though.

I owned the old version (this one is up4(2022), old is non gold knob up4) and while it worked, it had a slight issue of left and right being unbalanced. Compared to this version, it felt slightly less responsive. This version was perfectly balanced left and right, the mode button feels better, the knob is slightly more buttery when scrolling. The old also had an issue of turning on the bluetooth while connected to usb charging, but I specifically do not want it to turn on without me holding the button to turn it on. This new one suits my use case of buying two, one as a simple backup battery to hotswap when the other is used up, without causing more fiddling of having to turn off the old version when charging.Sound wise, it did sound slightly better, but it could simply be the quality control. I had to update the firmware though. Maybe for my specific computer, it had an issue of not having a continuous audio. Update on the firmware to 1.3.2 or 1.3.3, fixes the problem. The connection speed on the new feels better, but just for the price this is a steal. I buy two of the 2022 version for the hotswap as I said.

Took sometime to get firmware updated due difficulty in understanding poorly translated instructions. After that everything was smooth sailing. Excellent upgrade to my old Fiio McKinnley.

Bluetooth audio nearing wired audio quality, the UP4 is small, stylish, and much nicer than, say an apple dongle.Downsides: while it does have a companion app, it does not have parametric EQ like qudelix 5k. While adequate, could benefit from more power output. It also does not include a USB c to USB c cable

I got it for my lower quality IEMs, but couldn't resist trying it with my higher end headphones. It performs so good for its price range! I have to upgrade my IEMs lol. It's packed with features. Great purchase overall.