Fulla USB Dongle DAC/Amp

I’m no audiophile but I do understand characteristics that make audio gear superb. Many folks will tell you that you need to spend hundreds on a DAC/AMP to make headphones sound to their potential. That is completely false and any electrical engineer will tell you that you get diminishing returns once you reach the necessary power and impedance levels. My point in starting this review on this note is that you shouldn’t be put off by the small size and low price of the Schiit Fulla. This is a FANTASTIC DAC/AMP combo.One caveat, make sure you can drive your headphones with this amp. Anything up to 300ohm will work well. You’ll lack power above that. Also, this will not drive planar magnetic headphones well.I pair the Fulla Schiit with my Sennheiser HD 598. I never pass 50% volume on the Schiit and that’s already reaching intolerable volume levels. All of my music is stored on a 2015 rMBP, which already has a great DAC, pretty good built-in amp, and well insulated USB hubs. I bought the Schiit because I thought I could get a bit more out of the HD 598s and it delivered. The Schiit really smoothed out the mids and highs, while adding a bit too the bass. The HD 598s are quite bass lean in the first place, but the Schiit Fulla really makes the 598s perfect. The Schiit Fulla DAC isn’t noticeably better or worse than my MacBook’s DAC even though the Schiit Fulla has the same chip as the Modi (which is good). There might be a little more clarity with the Schiit, but that could also be placebo. The important thing is, music is CRYSTAL CLEAR and SOUNDS AMAZING. I did not have a noisy USB port problem as many reviews stated. If you have a newer MacBook, I also believe you will not encounter this. The Fulla has a relatively low noise floor, although some black noise can be heard when you’re pushing high volume levels with no music playing. The noise floor is not an issue when you’re listening to music.Some will tell you that you absolutely need lossless files to take advantage of DACs and again I highly disagree with that. I rip my music from CDs to 320kbps AAC files and they are indistinguishable from ALAC files. That being said, AAC is known to be a better codec than the rest of MP3 codecs, but my point is, using this Schiit Fulla DAC will not make lossy files sound bad if you obtained them from a good source. I dare you to do a couple reputable double blind audio tests and unless you get over 95% correct, you can’t tell the difference between good lossy files and lossless.As a comparison, I’ve also tried the Schiit Stack (Modi2/Magni2) with the HD 598s. There is no discernable difference between the Schiit Stack and using the Schiit Fulla with the 598s. Sure with the Schiit Stack, you’ll be able to drive far more demanding headphones, but if you’re under the power limit of the Fulla, you won’t notice a difference. Get off of the audiophile hype train and spend more type ENJOYING your music rather than buying expensive, over-marketed gear with diminishing return.If what you’re looking for is a headphone amplifier with a solid build quality and simplicity, then you can’t do much better than the Fulla Schiit. This DAC/AMP is super light, tiny, and powered directly from the USB. The Fulla fits well in the included pouch with the 4 inch cable making this an extremely portable solution if you plan on traveling with the Fulla.

The sound of this thing is pretty damn good. I A-B'd the Fulla (<$100) against a Schiit Modi 2 Uber that is hooked up to a Woo Audio A7 Fireflies (an $1,150 combo), and found the differences much smaller than I expected. The Fulla is ever-so-slightly grainier, marginally less involving, and throws a smaller soundstage, but it's not exactly night and day. Note that I did my listening with a pair of headphones that is not terribly suited to either setup — my hard-to drive reference, the Hifiman HE-1000. A different set of 'phones might accentuate the differences between the Fulla and the Modi/Fireflies, or paper them over. Depends, I guess.Paired with the HE-1000, the Fulla quickly ran out of headroom; it played loudly enough at full volume, but only just. I'll be the first to admit that it's a slightly comical pairing, though, considering that the Hifiman 'phones will set you back almost $3,000. Couple the Fulla with good-quality, dynamic real-world headphones, or with in-ear-monitors, and volume likely won't be an issue.It's clear that Schitt Audio cut some corners when designing and manufacturing the Fulla, and I mean that literally. The U-shaped metal housing that wraps around the otherwise plastic unit has sharp corners and edges, unpleasant to the touch. The volume control is semi-recessed, making it un-ergonomic to manipulate, and the thing is marred by an ugly little center screw. There's also considerable wiggle to it in all directions. (On the other hand, it's nice to HAVE a volume knob, rather than having to adjust volume in software, on your screen.)The Fulla worked without any fuss when plugged into my 2012 MacBook Air, but it balked at my 2008 MacBook Pro, apparently finding the power from its ancient USB ports insufficient. In such cases, Schitt Audio advises to use a powered USB hub, but that's silly, as it defeats the purpose of having a DAC/amp that's diminutive and easy to travel/commute with. I made the MBP play nice with the Fulla by using an $11-dollar unpowered Plugable two-port hub (really a splitter) as a go-between. For some reason, that solved the problem, although this setup remained finicky at times and occasional re-plugs may be necessary after the computer wakes up from sleep. A more recent-vintage laptop is your better bet.For the Plugable hub, see http://amazon.com/gp/product/B005HKIDF2.

Good concept, poor execution.I have used this DAC for over a year. It has OK sound and is nice and small. There are few issues with it.Pros: Size, no extra power adapters needed, it sounds fine to me.Cons: Rough around the edges, I had to take some fine sandpaper to the sharp edges. Knob is slippery and not easy to get the right amount of grip for fine adjustments. Volume pot has static while adjusting the volume. For me, the volume past bottom 10% of the pot is too loud, but that's what you get at this size.The biggest issue I started having with this DAC is after I upgraded to Windows 10. I constantly have to unplug/replug it to get it to work. I get generic errors like "Unable to reset port". Was working fine under Windows7. Contacted Schiit support and they told me to use powered hub, which I did, but it did not help at all. I was not able to get it to work with the hub once. The last message I got from the support, was that "We are at a loss of what to do next. Sorry."I would not recommend this DAC at all. There is a reason why DACs are expensive, they need a lot of R&D to get right. This DAC is cheap, plain and simple. I'm looking at JDS labs products to replace this junk.