Original subtitles

Just two months ago, I was in China

attending the Shenzhen International Audio Show, or known

as SIAS 2024.

You might have seen my video on it

and you might also have seen that I

have stumbled upon a very peculiar device, a

portable DAC-M, which is this AuDirect Team 1

here.

Have a look at that.

Very peculiar, right?

And I brought it back home with me

here.

I have been using it for quite a

while.

Later on, I found out, actually, this Team 1

here is a very special edition, soon to

be released in December this year.

And it is, the original form of it

was this, AuDirect T1 here.

You can find AuDirect T1 in AuDirect's official

AliExpress store, priced at $265 in this box

here.

And it also comes with this nice-looking

leather case.

Let's talk about these two.

Let me just quickly show to you what

you're gonna get for $265 USD, the AuDirect

T1, the basic version.

So this one here, inside the box, you

see here, the accessories being included, this premium

-looking cable here, USB Type-C and USB

Type-A, and of course, this very special

thing here.

Let me just show you.

It is quite thoughtful of AuDirect to include

this USB-C to Lightning, to be used

on iPhones, all the iPhones, I mean.

What you're gonna find inside here, this AuDirect

T1, already switched on, very simple interface, four

buttons on the sides here, okay, which is

the on and off, and also the gain

switch, volume up, volume down, and play and

pause button.

And of course, you would notice that at

the back here, these are the jacks, audio

jacks, for 4.4 mm balance and 3

.5 mm single-ended.

And at the bottom here, or should I

say at the top here, this is where

you plug in USB for charging, which you

can attach to any quick charging type of,

you know, for mobile phone and stuff like

that, it will work.

And of course, this is where you connect

the USB Type-C for data transmission, and

you would notice here an additional port, 3

.5 mm single-ended.

Now, the special thing about this AuDirect T1

is that it is also capable of attachment

to a Bluetooth module, which I don't have

in my hand, so I will not be

talking about that.

You can attach the module here through the

AUX, which literally transforms this T1 into a

Bluetooth device.

As I mentioned, this is volume up, volume

down, and changing the gain is like this.

Okay, very simple.

Double-clicking the same on and off button

or gain button, like this, you're gonna get

this screen which shows filters selection.

There's a few to select from here, and

my only comment, after using this for quite

a while, it does not seem to be

quite effective at changing or influencing the sound

itself, even on different type of listening device,

and this is the same type of behaviour

which I have observed with many other portable

DAC-M as well.

So, what's the difference then of this original

AuDirect T1 with this gigantic sibling of AuDirect

T1 as well?

Both of them similarly named, except that this

one also offers MagSafe connection, hence the bigger

size.

And also, have a look here.

By the way, internally, both of them are

identical, using the same DAC, same amp, except

that, of course, as you can see here,

there's a battery inside.

It has much larger battery, offering double the

capacity, and I will talk about it after

this, when it comes to usage.

As a result of being bigger than the

original T1, let's just have a look at

the weight.

The original T1 is at around 65 grams,

more or less, okay?

And this one, heavier, at 142 grams.

So, more than double.

Literally, we are talking about weights of this,

two of this, for one of this.

And this is how I use my T1

here, connected to my phone as a portable

device.

Obviously, it is connected using this MagSafe connection

here, and I would just simply say a

few things about it.

Used as a portable device, I get the

most runtime out of this T1 MagSafe version,

because it offers double the size of the

original battery of the T1.

And the original T1 was only able to

give me in excess of around, perhaps, seven

hours, and this MagSafe version here offers me

in excess of up to 17 hours, which

is super impressive.

So, which means that I was able to

use it the whole day long, and pretty

much it died on the battery almost at

the same time as my phone.

And on top of that, this thing here

does not emit any kind of RF interferences.

These two here, T1, the normal version, and

the MagSafe version, they are practically identical.

The difference being is that, of course, this

one comes equipped with additional battery.

So, when we talk about sound and performance,

these two are identical as well.

And let's talk about the performance itself.

Let's talk about the power.

This T1 here comes equipped with 5.6

VRMS of power from the 4.4 mm

balance in high gain.

And I have tested it extensively with this

Sennheiser HD600 here, which is rated at 300

ohm.

No problem at all driving it.

I was able to use it to something

which I would consider as proper listening loudness

for my ears at around 57 out of

100.

And the sound itself is on par to

many entry-level desktop DAC amps.

So, that is super impressive.

On the other side, on the other spectrum

of it, being so powerful, how does it

perform with something which is super sensitive, something

like a hybrid or multiple drivers?

I have also tested it quite extensively with

this FiiO FA19 here, which is just rated

at 10 ohm, multiple BA and some electronics

inside.

And I wasn't hearing any kind of floor

noises, which is a very positive thing.

And on top of that, despite cranking the

volume slightly higher than normal, I did not

hear my FA19 sounding shouty at all.

When it comes to sound presentation, these two

here perform similarly, being highly versatile and adaptable.

So, what do I mean by being versatile

and adaptable?

Let's just take some example.

I have thrown different type of listening partners

attached to this Timuan here.

Anything from this magnetic planner of mine, which

is Ledsure S12 2024.

And also this Sivga Nettinger here, my favourite

magnetic planner.

And of course, this FiiO FA19 here, multiple

BA drivers, and my headphone.

The kind of output which I am getting

is something which I would consider as being

truthful and transparent.

Truthful means that there's no hint of colouration,

there's no hint of anything being added or

reduced.

I get to hear the supposedly sound signature

from each of these listening partners.

So, that is transparency.

You can expect excellent resolution, excellent ability to

render macro and micro details, and excellent ability

to handle complex dynamic transients.

So, whichever type of music you throw at

it, anything from lo-fi to DSD type

of performance, you can expect the highest form

of resolution can be expected from a portable

DAC amp.

And while being analytical and detailed, how about

the musical element of it?

Because we know that sometimes, ESS able tend

to be kind of a bit too clinical,

sometimes when it projects the details.

So, for example, I have tested it with

this FiiO FA19 here.

And if you have watched my review on

this FiiO FA19, it does not score really

high on the element of tonality and the

timbre, because it does sound balanced and mature.

And when I connect it to this, surprisingly,

it does not sound metallic at all.

I do admit that some of my DAC

amps does sound a bit more natural and

organic, but being an ESS able tuned to

be analytical, it is quite impressive already that

this combo here does not sound sterile.

And of course, the same can be said

when I subject it to listening to this

S12 2024 here, which can sound a bit

metallic if I were to attach it to

something which is, again, sterile and clinical.

But these two?

Perfect.

And the best output is, of course, when

I combine it with something which is a

bit warmer sounding, something like this SIVGA 19L

here or even this Sennheiser HD600.

First and foremost, it sounds wide and open

with the soundstage itself, something which is very

airy.

And on top of that, the resolution of

this SIVGA 19L and even this HD600 seems

to be improved.

Improved because this is quite capable with details,

especially macro and micro details.

In a world dominated by dongles, non-battery

powered dongles, you might be wondering where does

these two fits into the picture?

This Audirect Team 1 here and also this

even heavier Audirect Team 1 MagSafe version.

They are heavy, heavier than most other dongles

which I have tested so far.

One of the key reasons you would want

to have these two is because they represent

an actual portable desktop DAC-AMP.

That is the kind of power that they

offer.

Remember that 5.6 VRMS and capable of

driving 600 Ohm of headphone?

That is no joke, okay?

These two are for real.

I have tested it with different type of

headphones.

They are that powerful.

So if you want to carry around your

desktop DAC-AMP, you have to consider these

two.

Being battery powered means that it will not

drain your phone battery because they rely on

their own internal batteries and even more so

for this MagSafe version here which will literally

run up to 17 hours.

And on top of that, they are free

from RF interferences when attached to the phone.

If you are an existing user of dongles

like me, especially if you are running R2R

dongles or very powerful dongles, you will get

that RF interferences from your 4G signal from

time to time to a point that it

became very annoying.

I have not gotten any RF interferences at

all from either one of these.

And on top of that, it does not

run hot at all.

I have tested it the whole day out

even with this MagSafe version, 17 hours and

it does not emit any kind of heat

which I would consider as worrying.

So is there a market for these two?

Definitely.

You just need to understand your needs.

If you like what you're hearing, what you're

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And again, thank you so much from the

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