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

I have three pairs of headphone/in-ear, namely hifiman 400s, RHA MA750 and B&W P7, i solely tested it with the 400s since it does require quite a lot of amplification than others. There are marked improvements with the p7 and RHA albert not obvious in mobile use.Using Hifiman 400s, I compared the Spectra on iPhone with a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic XS on Macbook and the Headphone output of Naim Unitique 2. Firstly, I tested with the Penatone release of the Mozart Violin Concertos Nos 3 at 24 bit 96khz. The Spectra does able to amplify it to a satisfactory level, in comparison with the Dacmagic XS, it reveals more detail, but in comparison with the Naim, it is not that much different.Secondly, I listened to the Room 29 By Deutsche Grammophon, the result is very astounding. Although one is hard to pick up the ‘realness‘ of violin, e.g. at the aforementioned recording, but the human voice is far more easier to discern—with Spectra it is a very visceral rendition, at one point I can detect the slight tremble in the voice, the awkward parting of the lips and the gulping of the throat between stanzas, I didn’t pick up any of those in the listening with Naim of Dacmagic, have to go back to really look out for it.Lastly, I tried it with other various hi resi recording, such as the Rebecca Pigeon 24bit 88.2khz, The Antonio Forcione 24bit 192 khz edition by Naim recording, all sounded remarkably good, plus the Spectra is the only one that works natively with the iPhone, so I can sit comfortably in my sofa without being tethered to a computer or a hifi rack. Overall, highly recommend.

Having tried this across a number of headphones, it certainly provides a noticeable amplification in the music in all situations to an impressive level. Pairing this with my day to day mid range headphones (AKG N60s), it does uncover far greater detail in the music that I didnt hear previously. The Spectra definitely provides a richness in the music that enhances the whole experience.This was predominantly tried with a chromebook, which turned out to be plug and play and set up in a matter of seconds with no hassle. The device is very portable and can easily be carried around with minimal hassle. Considering the cost, i would say it is very good value for money.

I was initially quite sceptical about the NextDrive, however I've been able to use this across multiple devices and the results have been fantastic. In the past I've used the DragonFly and the Cryus sounkdey - this is a notch above. Very portable and easy to carry around, which helps when I'm travelling for work and on the go. I've used this with the AKG N40s and the results have been much better than I expected. The delivery has a great range and impressive balance. The sound quality and depth have given my music a massive lift. Excellent value for money - I'll be buying another one as a gift for my friend's birthday!

This is a fantastic product. I have regular house parties and the sound difference is considerable. Recently tested this amp with a friend in a wide variety of music genres: House, drum and bass, hip hop, pop and country. The amp made a huge difference even with fairly average speakers. Price given the quality is a great value for money. Strongly recommend this product.

I use this in conjunction with my Audeze Isine 20's and my phone. My Note 3 has a terrible DAC and they sound much richer with the Spectra.However it gets rather hot and it draws a lot of power from the phone. I first ordered the micro-USB version. After a month of usage the connection got loose and broke of very frequently.I was able to return it and have gotten the USB-A version instead. Now I can also use it on my laptop and use a micro-USB adapter for my phone. I would recommend getting the USB-A version and using an adapter. Once the cable breaks only the adapter needs to be replaced.Update:The headphone jack of the USB-A version of the Spectra now also has a loose contact. It was mainly used with a laptop. So there theoretically should have been very little strain on the headphone jack.I cannot recommend this product anymore as 2 have broken within less than a year.

Great portable dacWorks great with good and hi res audio quality headphones

Seen this has happened to others in online reviews... - worked fine for a few weeks (although ran a bit warm, and drained the iphone battery a bit) - but has now suddenly gone dead. Won't work with phone, or with desktop. No blue light. Ded.

True meaning of portable DAC amp. Used it to play my Shure SE846, significantly improve the details, the bass, sub bass and highs are now more colorful than it was before.

I purchased this dac for hi rez files on my phone. 32/384 sabre dac would handle all my files, when used with an app that bypasses the android audio system and sends them straight to the spectra - including dsd files. The sound produced was stellar. I was so pleased with the clarity and presence and soundstage and hearing things I had not heard before on very familiar pieces of music. After about 8 months one channel began cutting out, I knew I had a one year warranty so I contacted TrueToSource who sold the dac, and was amazed that they answered in one day and during the warranty process continued to responded in a day. They had me ship the dac to California and send them the tracking number and they sent me a new Spectra dac.I have never had this level of customer service before. If you are looking for a tiny excellent sabre based dacget one of these from TrueToSource. It has a usb-a connection but I purchased a small adapter here on Amazon for about $10 to connect to my Samsung S20. I seldom leave reviews but this experience demanded a short review. And a shout out to Kai whom I corresponded with...John

I have a Pixel 2 XL, and Android phones aren’t typically known for their sound quality, so I opted for a DAC to indulge my inner audiophile. I initially went with a Dragonfly Red, but was very disappointed; not only was it really quiet, but it also didn’t sound that good. Enter the NextDrive Spectra. This DAC supplies the right amount of power to run my 300 ohm Sennheiser HD6xx cans and my lighter-weight ADVANCED GT-3s. Both sound lovely, though I notice this DAC does have a warm sound to it that some might find rather too bass-heavy. I like it because my ears are overly sensitive to high frequencies. It pairs nicely with bright-sounding headphones like the GT-3 earbuds.Form factor is really nice on the NextDrive Spectra. It is much less clunky than the Dragonfly style USB stick. It does get hot, but no hotter I think than the Dragonfly Red. I also like that the cable is braided since it seems like I’ll be using this thing a lot. The only thing I wish they’d thought of is making a USB-C version of this DAC since USB-C is the new standard and it’s a bit of a pain to need an adapter. Five stars for sure.

had 1 of my expensive headphones plugged and this spectra was just lying around. grabbed it to listen next day and one side doesnt work, thought it was my headphones but i plugged in another heaphone and same results. Went to aux plug and both ears work just fine. something inside definitely broke and that was with normal listening, nothing long hours but maybe 30 minutes daily.

It is a nice product but not ready for Windows 10 yet. The driver is not digitally signed so Windows will not start the driver on Windows 10 PC.

I am connecting a pair of Edifier R1280DBs and a pair of Bose Companion 2 III via 2 of this adapter, there's an improvement in the quality of sound that I only managed to perceive after streaming tens of hours through them..