MOONDROP Dawn PRO 2 Decoder Headphone Amplifier 3.5/4.4 Phone Out Dual CS43198 32Bit/384KHz DSD256 Portable USB DAC/AMP

For the price the Moondrop Dawn Pro 2 is a wicked little device that does its job well. Very tiny and seemingly decently built. Small enough to attach a round USB-C cable to it and treat it like part of a headphone cable. I know there are a few quality issues with the buttons on some units but mine seems A-OK. I leave it at one notch below max volume and control from my device. For reference I am a 10+ year experienced audio nut. I have a large collection of over-ear headphones ranging from $20 to nearly $2000, as well as several sets of speakers and amps, a shelf full of high-end DACs I can't bring myself to sell (lol), etc, etc. In short I have good experience with a range of audio gear including lots of budget gear. 3.5mm output has a good amount of power for many IEMs and also runs some of my more sensitive full sized headphones okay. Audeze LCD-X, Sennheiser HD599, and Philips SHP9500 all not too bad from the 3.5mm port. 4.4mm balanced output should be plenty of power for the great majority of IEMs, and decent enough for quite a few full sized headphones. I don't have an XLR adapter but I do have 4.4mm balanced cables for some of my IEMs and it can push them well beyond comfortable with very decent headroom. Moondrop Chu II, Kiwi Ears Cadenza, TRUTHEARS x Crinacle Zero:RED all run great from balanced with plenty of power. It's pretty much maxing out what its particular chipset can do. If you need more power than this there are other options from FiiO, Qudelix, et al. But they also get considerably more expensive than the pocket change this is selling for at the time of writing this review. The Dawn Pro 2's frequency response is overall pretty flat with a slight bass boost. Sound quality is quite solid and whatever tuning or tweaking that may have been done to the hardware is pleasant. It has a nice DAC and better amplification hardware than most phones, laptops, portable gaming devices, etc. However a desktop amplifier this certainly is not. It has clear audible hallmarks of being an AIO chip amp with sometimes digital and etched treble. But for the money and depending on your needs that might not matter much. I got this for my ROG Ally X as it has really lame headphone output and for that particular purpose it excels. Massive improvement and so tiny I can velcro it to the back of the grip case. Also with a 3.5mm to RCA adapter it makes a great impromptu front end for any sound system with RCA input. Much better sound quality for speakers than the 3.5mm jack on a phone or the ROG Ally X. It's not perfect sounding from an audiophile perspective but is still an all around decent sounding DAC that outclasses those in a lot of consumer devices. I have not tried the Moondrop android app and prefer to EQ via PowerAmp or a PC with Equalizer APO. That said this is supposed to have some EQ and gain functionality that can be edited and saved to the device with an android phone. I don't do much with EQ and am pretty satisfied with the stock sound quality of the Dawn Pro 2. What else is there to say? It does what it says on the box and is clearly heads and tails better than the headphone jack on just about any non-audiophile consumer device. It's not going to beat a good quality DAP or an actual portable headphone amplifier with its own power supply, but it's still an audiophile-centric dongle with some solid features and good power. For the price it's a pretty nice performer. Highly recommended.

This little DAC/AMP is brilliant. Everything works perfectly without any issues. The power delivery and clarity are outstanding. I pair it with my Kiwi Ears, and the synergy is incredible. Absolutely worth every penny.

Sound quality and output power is great over the 4.4mm balanced connection, but it is a little finicky plugging in my cable all the way made the audio quiet, pulling it out a bit made the connection seat properly, Moondrop seems to have some QA issues that should be addressed

The moondrop dawn pro 2 is an excellent little piece of audio equipment at a very reasonable price point. I have tried all of my iems with it and it increases audio quality and clarity across all of them. The inclusion of the 4.4 balanced connection is really helpful if you have power hungry headphones or iems. The app for this is excellent with both community support and a built in eq so you can customize the sound to your preferences, although that takes a little practice. The only thing I'm not really sure about is that if you program eq settings, once you unplug the device it reverts back to factory settings. This is slightly annoying if you use the same equipment all the time, but could be helpful if you are going from a high power device to something that is easier to drive. I don't really think it's a con but more of an occasionally annoying but useful design quirk. Overall I would absolutely recommend this if you are in the market for a portable dac amp with some excellent features and functionality at a reasonable price.

Great product, great sound, wish it had an easier onboard EQ but still sounds great, paired with the CHU II the bass is AMAZING! Warm mids n crisp highs

I am not so impreessed by the quality and durability . The sound is good. The connection with 4.4 mm RCA pin is the source of cutting and unpleasant noises.

Good bang for the buck. Having a web personal EQ app attached to this is really a game changer. While I wouldn't say the form factor is as easy to travel with as a standard dongle, being able to hold down on both volume buttons for a couple of seconds to turn on the PEQ is really fun. ​Being able to get a clear signal and play around with different sound signatures really gives an interesting little bit of life to your IEMs. Best of all, while the Android Moondrop app isn't the best thing in the world, the web app is very functional and competent and doesn't require any downloads. Overall, very happy with the purchase. PS if you're like me and worried that it didn't come with a USB-C cable, pull the foam up. It's on the other side.

This Moondrop never fails! It not only have the pocket size but for such a small size it really improve by A LOT the sound of my music or even Gaming!. And all of this doesn't provide just only for my PC but I can have the same quality and Power of the device with my phone to! Just because of the compatibility it can't be hard to recommend this device to my friends! 10/10

I picked up the Moondrop Dawn Pro 2 to use with my Sennheiser HD560S, and the difference was immediate. The HD560S already has great clarity, but this DAC/amp brings out even more detail, separation, and depth. The soundstage feels wider, bass is tighter, and vocals come through with incredible precision. Power isn’t an issue at all — the Dawn Pro 2 drives the HD560S effortlessly. Build quality is excellent, the metal housing feels premium, and the hardware volume control is super smooth. It’s plug‑and‑play, no hassle, and the tuning is neutral and accurate without adding any harshness. Superb value for money.

Awesome DAC. Small and portable. Feels very high quality. Works great with my IE 200's, but have had some issues with the 4.4 balanced ports reliability. Sometimes one earbud does not work or the whole audio feed is unbelievably scratchy and distorted. Not due to the cable. Other than this great product, sounds awesome.

Excelente DAC lo uso con un iPhone 13 Pro y un cable Fiio LT-LT2 y no tengo problemas de compatibilidad. Puedes personalizar el eq desde un navegador y transmitirlo al dac [para activar el eq tienes que mantener presionado por 3s los botones v+ y v- del dac y el led cambia a naranja. Esto lo tienes que hacer cada vez que conectas el Dac a un dispositivo ya que de forma predeterminada siempre está activo el eq de fábrica (led rojo)]. Se siente bien construido y no he tenido ninguno problemas con los botones de volumen en mi caso se sienten bien. Lo he usado en iOS con Lightning, Windows 10, Fedora Linux y Android (puedes usar la app moondrop y cambiar el eq desde ahí) sin problemas. Lo recomiendo mucho.

Great value for the price! This little thing packs so much power in such a small form factor without sacrificing quality. The 4.4mm output is capable of 4.1vrms which basically means I can even run my Sennheiser HD 600 off of this thing! The built in customizable Eq is nice too. You can go to their web interface or their app and upload your own reference measurements and target and have it autoeq for you. Or you can manually do it yourself. One thing I wish could be changed is to make the Eq profile remain as the default even after unplugging. Currently everytime you unplugg and plug it back in you have to hold down the volume buttons for a couple seconds to load into the Eq mode again. Other than that, it has really nice build quality and very good cooling too. Would definitely recommend to anyone. This thing would not only be able to practically run any IEM you throw at it, it would be able to run almost all headphones too!

Very great budget option, sounds super nice with HD560s with balanced out and perfectly well with Truthear zero blue 2 on normal 3.5mm.