MOONDROP DAWN Pro Protable USB DAC/AMP Dual CS43131 DAC 32Bit/384kHz DSD256 Decoder Headphone Amplifier

Considering I paid many hundreds of pounds for my previous DAC which I've lost somewhere, I'm stunned how good this is. It sounds as good if not better, it's made from superior materials, and it doesn't cane the daylights out of my phone battery. I use it almost every day for several hours during my commute, I'm very pleased with it.

I bought a hifiman he4xx some time ago and a Hiby yacht10 recently. I was daft enough to use them both with a very cheap dongle-style DAC (with an fiio A3 amp) and the sound quality was still "good" but nothing to write home about. After buying the yacht10 and not really being impressed by the sound, I turned my attention to the DAC and immediately realised what a fool I have been. Upon reading many reviews on the internet (never, ever buy anything based on Amazon reviews. It'll have you believe that a £10 cheap dac is as good as this one with both having a 4.x star rating), I landed on this one and boy, am I pleased with it. The difference it made to the clarity, the soundstage and sound quality of these headphones is something I could only dream of. Build quality seems good, even thought it's a bit on the lighter side and the volume buttons feel fiddle and make a noise when shaken.

Having been forced to buy an Android phone with no proper headphone jack (sigh) I was looking for a convenient way to connect proper, wired headphones. The cheapo dongles I tried didn't sound very good. I have a hi-fi USB DAC which sounds great, but is hardly portable. This device seems expensive to me, but (to me) has sound quality broadly comparable to the full-size DAC, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It works flawlessly on my Android phone, with one minor oddity: there's no way to control media playback from the device, or from a connected headset with controls, not even play/stop. The volume controls on the device don't control the Android device -- they operate directly on the DAC hardware. Since this product seems mostly to be intended for mobile devices, it seems strange to me that it lacks playback controls. That the volume controls operate on the DAC hardware, not on the media player, is potentially an advantage. It does mean, though, that if you want the best sound quality on offer, you'll have to turn the player volume right up, and just use the volume controls on the device. Or, better yet, use a player that just outputs direct to USB, with no volume control of its own. There are only a few Android apps that can do this. As well as Android, I've used this gadget on a couple of laptop computers running Linux. It works fine. The indicator LED is intrusive, as others have noted. However, it can be turned permanently off using a piece of open-source software for Linux. I believe the Android app can also do it, but I haven't tried. The software also allows some control over the volume range and analog filter characteristics -- as a real hi-fi DAC would have. My ears are not sensitive enough to hear much difference in these settings. The device is a bit bigger than a cheapo dongle, and it feels robust. It doesn't have a captive USB cable -- a short cable is provided (well concealed in the packaging). I imagine these cables will have a short lifespan, so its good they can easily be replaced. The device doesn't seem to get hot in use, hardly even warm. Whether it really needs the ventilation holes it has, I don't know. I imagine the metal case dissipates heat pretty well on its own. If you listen with low-quality headphones or earbuds, you probably won't get much benefit from a device like this. I imagine that even a five-quid dongle would outperform budget headphones. It's really a device to buy if you own top-quality headphones, and want to keep using them with a device with (sigh) no jack. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase, and I'm trying not to be annoyed that I had to make it at all, just because phone manufacturers have no regard for their customers.

Cheap, good. I'll be back to edit my review if I have any problems but so far no complaints.

The Dawn Pro arrived in an unusual but cute tin. Inside was the Dawn Pro, a USB C to USB C cable and a USB C to USB A adapter. If you're struggling to find the accessories, remove the foam from the case and it should be on the under side. The Dawn Pro sounds great. Very close to neutral but not quite as it adds a tiny bit of warmth. It's also quite powerful. The only flaws I can really point out is the poorly built app (borderline unusable, not like you need to change any settings though) and the fact that the LED light inside the Dawn Pro cannot be disabled - so when it's plugged into my PC on top of my desk at night, it makes the ceiling blue which is distracting when I'm trying to sleep. The only thing you should really consider when purchasing this product is, do you really need it? I think for most people the answer to this is no. The target demographic of this DAC is IEM users, and IEMs are very easy to drive. Consider looking into a high quality, inexpensive dongle as that will provide a very similar experience for much cheaper. Though a bit pricey, it's hard to fault the Dawn Pro. Personally, I love it - hence the 5 stars.

Works great, powers my IEMs and low impedance headphones fine. Sounds great

I bought this after I realised that my nice new IEMs were doing little more than giving me a clearer reproduction of the hiss coming from my bargain basement DAC. That's how it often is with audio upgrades: you can never upgrade just one component. This device is huge, huge improvement. As far as my 50-year-old ears can tell, the hiss is completely gone and everything just sounds "crisper". And having held it in my hand while it's working, I can confirm the aluminium case is worth the extra cost. Only one problem, and it's a big one: it glitches. Not frequently; maybe once an hour. I can generally fix the glitch by disconnecting it from my phone (Galaxy S23 or S24) and reconnecting it. But when it happens, it makes horrendous crackling sounds that mean I can't just relax with it and use it for background ambience. There was no documentation, which shows admirable confidence in the past of the maker, but it does leave me feeling isolated. If there's a firmware or driver update that will fix it, I'm not aware of it. If yours doesn't glitch, that's great. Enjoy it. But unfortunately, I was travelling when I bought mine, so I couldn't return it within the 30 day window, and I'm stuck with it now. So it goes. 🫤

Purchase in April 2025, now volume button is broken

Non è facilissimo da utilizzare specialmente con cavo bilanciato. Prima cosa bisogna accertarsi che le cuffie supportino il bilanciamento, poi necessita acquistare un cavo in sostituzione dell'originale delle cuffie che abbia jack da 2.5 mm in entrata delle cuffie (le cuffie in questione sono Sennheiser serie hd) e in uscita jack da 4.4 mm. Per chi utilizza cellulare o tablet android e streming Qobuz o Tidal necessita che scarichi da google play l'app hiByMusic, in alternativa l'app certamente migliore UAPP (usb audio player pro) che però è a pagamento e costa circa 8€. Senza gli accessori descritti la qualità del suono non migliorerà e sara uguale come se ascoltaste direttamente Tidal o Qobuz, aumenterà solo il volume. NON utilizzate adattatori da 3.5 femmina e 4.4 maschi perché rischiate di bruciare il dongle, necessita, ripeto, sostituire il cavo delle cuffie. Prima di acquistarlo informatevi perché rischiate di acquistare un ottimo oggetto che però non viene sfruttato a dovere, è come se acquistaste una Ferrari e gli metteste le ruote di un'utilitaria, Gemini può darvi un grosso aiuto. Nota aggiunta oggi 1.1.2026 : Nel giro di pochi giorni è passato da € 52.80 a € 66 pazzesco !!!

Los llevo conmigo siempre, a la escuela, trabajo, salidas etc. junto con mis IEMS y mi celular puedo escuchar música en alta fidelidad en todos lados, es pequeño y práctico

Absolutely great, drives my HS600's on its max setting.

Le boitier est vraiment petit. Le son est vraiment meilleur qu'un simple adaptateur usb-c vers jack avec DAC intégré basique, et on a plus de puissance avec le volume en plus. Testé avec Qobuz en 24Bits 192Khz sur un hifiman sundara 20Ω

評判通り、女性ボーカルや中高音のハリが非常に良く、歌モノやロック調の曲に非常にマッチしてました。 今回ibassoのdac故障からの乗り換えでしたが、全体的にクリアに聞こえることと、ベースの量感も増して個人的には非常に聞きやすくなりました。