W4 Portable USB DAC/AMP Headphone AMP Flagship with LP5108 Core, Native DSD64/128/256, 3.5mm SE/4.4mmBAL Jacks

I'm an audio guy and a headphone junkie. I'm a core member of one of the online headphone forums. I bought the W4 on the recommendation of one of the recognized top experts on our forum, whose ears are measurably better than mine - and mine aren't bad.I've use the L&P W4 for about 5 months now, and am impressed with its quality and performance. I did a more extensive online review on the blog at forum.headphones.com. A few things make the W4 stand out. It's DAC chip is proprietary and excellent, and is implemented well. There is better soundstage and clarity than I get with several desktop DACs costing several times the price.The implementation is very good, not at all fussy on iPhone, Mac, Windows 10 and 11, and Android. I did not test under Linux. The controls are relatively intuitive, and the preset EQ profiles (something not common at this price) are useful, in particular the classical profile.Because it draws very little power for its electronics, more is available for headphones. While limited by USB power, the fact that it has a balanced mode allows it to power headphones better than, for example my AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt, which is only single-ended. I had no trouble driving Sennheiser HD-6xx, Hifiman HE-560, and Rosson Audio Design RAD-0 cans with the W4 to more than reasonable volume levels. Even the notoriously scalable Senns had control in the bass region and were driven with authority.This small DAC/AMP has become my go-to for travel and casual listening. I use it's balanced mode to drive Audeze LCDi4 IEMs (using ROON and the Audeze pre-sets), and get a far better sound with these harder to drive IEMs than with Audeze' own Cipher cable DAC/AMP. Soundstage, clarity air, precision location of instruments, resolution of complex passages, (Mahler, Zappa) all are exemplary.

I barely got a chance to use this dac, after two days I was listening and suddenly heard a click, and a persistent hiss became present in the right earphone. I messed with the settings, used a different cable, nothing fixed it. Terrible QC.

This is the best DAC available that is fully compatible and functional in all aspects with no issues on the iPhone 15 Pro Max with USB-C. It’s also the only DAC that I have tested out of all the ones that were brand named and are well known amongst users that love high quality sound. The Bass and Treble accuracy is the best I have heard and the volume levels are extremely accurate. It also has many functions embedded with in that make the sound to the likings of your ears.Out of the many DAC tested, there is no crackling sounds when changing tracks and no delays when changing to a new song on your iPhone like some others that have had this issue. It immediately with in ms recognizes your iPhone and starts output sound with no delay or weird pops.

It’s pricy but worth having it. I can hear the sound differences.I suggest talk to Andrew, the owner of MusicTeck if you have any questions. He kindly let me test W4 and RU7 DACs.After testing both, W4 had more scores from me. However, I could not get the sound out of RU7 from my ears. They have totally two different sound colors.I ended up ordering RU7 yesterday too.It was a significant investment for Audio Dongles; however, these two are the best ones by far I listened to. I don't think they will not fail. I tried two other named brands, but they failed.I paid extra for the case after testing because it is unavailable at Amazon.com. So, I bought the case from the store and ordered both DACs from Amazon. Same seller.

The LP W4 is the most resolving dongle available today. If you want the most technical and feature packed dongle, money can buy right now, look no further!It’s very expensive but it’s right on the heels of the Chord Mojo2 in terms of performance. It’s also technically superior to the Cayin RU7. However, the RU7 has analog sound that some prefer. I have them both but if I could only have one, it would be the W4 for sure!