NextDrive Spectra Portable USB DAC - The World’s Smallest 32-bit DAC Headphone Amp for Truly Mastering Your Sound On-The-Go (Spectra X USB A)

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The first noticeable difference is the higher driving power of the NextDrive Spectra X, which offers more juice if you want to drive your full sized headphones. The second noticeable difference is the overall tonality. The AUDIRECT Beam shows a warmer tonality with slightly more subbass depth and extension. The midbass region of the Beam shows more impact and intensity, while the Spectra X shows a tighter bass response with higher level of clarity and resolution. The midrange of the NextDrive Spectra X has the upper hand in terms of detail, transparency and airiness, while the AUDIRECT Beam is lightly more emotional and musical. The upper midrange and lower treble area of the Spectra X is more highlighted compared to the Beam and offers a higher level of sparkle and extension. Hidzis USB Dac - Smaller than a Spectra X but has inferior sound quality. A better option than using a standard dongle and is very inexpensive. Spectre X provides performance and capacity that is much improved compared to Spectre APS, as shown below. In addition, it significantly simplifies the Spectre use model, thereby making the Spectre APS tuning options obsolete.

The sound quality was a marked improvement over my phone’s internal components and the difference is noticeable right from the get-go. I used both of the iPad mini 5 and iPhone 12 as the source to play my music library through the Spectra X2 and connected to my IEMs.

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NextDrive Inc. is a Taiwan based company which designs & develops portable Hi-Fi products like the Spectra and Spectra X. In the SPECTRE 20.1 release, you'll be able to use Spectre X in Spectre RF analyses. In addition, you'll be able to run a distributed harmonic balance analysis using the Spectre X solver. The Spectre X solver will also be supported in Spectre MS. Watch out for the SPECTRE 20.1 release announcement blog for more information. Earlier in the year, I reviewed the NextDrive Spectra DAC with good marks. Today, I will be looking at their latest model, the Spectra X.

We recommend that you use the latest Spectre 19.1 ISR release to take advantage of the recently delivered simulation technologies. my 2nd pair spectra had been in use for roughly 2-3 months, i used it for about 1-2hours on each working day. the same problem of broken signal on one channel happened AGAIN. now i am very certain it is a design flaw on this product. after a period of usage, probably the glue inside the spectra dissolved a bit, parts loose, and had such problem. The treble are extended well and sound sparkly. The treble are detailed and clear. The upper treble has good amount of sparkle and airiness. It has above average levels of crispness. The detail retrieval and clarity are above the average. The cable that connects the DAC/AMP body to the lightning connector is covered in a fabric sheathe, and the unit generally feels reliable, with no random disconnects or bugs for the time I've been using it. I was able to drive IEMS like QoA Adonis, Campfire Ara, Campfire Mammoth, Earsonics Corsa, 7Hz Timeless, and even some easy to drive headphones like Sivga Robin SV021. It won't have enough power to drive HIFIMAN Arya Stealth, or Avantone Pro Planar.

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So what happened? Well, in term of sound quality, it is still amazing, but when it comes to quality control and company support; it deserves a BIG ZERO! In fact this company, NextDrive, could be the WORST company ever existed when it comes to basic and simple after sales support!