Helm Audio Bolt Dac/Amp, Usb-C Portable High-End Dac/Headphone Amplifier With Mqa Playback. Mobile S
HELM Audio Bolt DAC/AMP, USB-C Portable High-End DAC/Headphone Amplifier with MQA Playback. Mobile Studio Sound for Android, iOS and PC. USB-C to 3.5mm Audio, THX Certified
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- STUDIO GRADE PORTABLE DIGITAL ANALOG CONVERTOR WITH MQA: BOLT delivers studio sound on the go from any mobile device across all listening formats. Supports MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) streaming for unparalleled fidelity in portable audio. Compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, and PC’s. May require extra adapters or third party apps for MQA support.
- SMARTPHONE, TABLET, MAC & PC COMPATIBLE: USB-C input to a 3.5mm Headphone Output supporting playback of PCM files with sampling rates up to 384 kHz, or DSD files with sampling frequencies up to 5.6MHz. The 3.5mm audio jack seamlessly connects to your wired headphones or speaker system. Note: An adapter is required if you do not have a 3.5mm input jack.
- AMPLIFIED AUDIO OUTPUT & HEADPHONE OUTPUT LEVEL MATCHING: Provides an average increase of +6 dB in devices with combined USB-audio output (where a dedicated headphone audio output isn’t available). Headphone output level automatically detects headphone impedance and sets level accordingly (1V for 150 ohms).
- THX CERTIFIED AUDIO OUTPUT: Exclusively designed for ultra-low harmonic, crosstalk & crossover distortion. Unlike other mobile MQA-DAC designs, the HELM BOLT physically isolates the DAC from the USB connector for improved EMI isolation, and uses a three oscillator design for superior frequency lock with dramatic improvements over single oscillator DAC designs.
- Android 12 Devices: Some Android 12 devices may experience low volume levels using the BOLT. The fix is to upgrade to new firmware found on the HELM Audio Support Page
Brand : Helm
Category : Electronics,Headphones, Earbuds & Accessories,Amplifiers
Rating : 4.1
ListPrice : US $119.99
Price : US $89.99
Review Count : 352
SalesRank : 0
HELM Audio Bolt DAC/AMP, USB-C Portable High-End DAC/Headphone Amplifier with MQA Playback. Mobile Studio Sound for Android, iOS and PC. USB-C to 3.5mm Audio, THX Certified
- This review is for individuals who own quality IEM\'s, earbuds, or headphones. If you don\'t, the Helm Audio Bolt is probably useless.If you plan on using this with your laptop the sound quality boost is worth it - at least it was for mine. I don\'t know if it\'s $100 worth it but it\'s close enough. It definitely made a noticeable and pleasing difference using my Shure SE 535\'s on my Asus: deeper bass, better instrument separation, a bit clearer and a wider soundstage. Using this with a phone is a whole different beast (as it will be for ALL portable DAC\'s) as I will explain now.For Android, the Helm Bolt doesn\'t work well with Spotify - the volume is far too low and there\'s nothing to be done about it. Of course it does work great with Tidal so long as you also install UAPP (full functionality for UAPP with MQA cost about $10) though I have a lot of issues with all this which I will list bellow.1. I don\'t like Tidal. Though they technically have more songs, a large number are simply repeats and if you listen to any genera that tends to have a lot of remixes, Tidal\'s selection is far worse than Spotify\'s. There are other reasons I don\'t like Tidal but let\'s move on.2. UAPP\'s User interface is terrible and you have to use it to get the benefit on the Helm Bolt. This is a big deal as playing music through UAPP is a messy and sometimes frustrating ordeal.3. MQA is no better than Spotify premium\'s highest sound quality. MQA is just another form of file compression and comparing MQA tracks to the same track on Spotify (on the highest quality setting) revealed that most of the time I actually preferred the Spotify track. It can depend on the specific song but it isn\'t any better, it\'s just different and often meant less bass and less \"energy\".4. Whatever you do, DON\'T pay for Tidal HiFi. I cannot stress this enough. It\'s not worth it. MQA isn\'t better, and even if it was, only about one fourth of my transferred library has MQA as an option. Basically, a vast amount of Tidal\'s tracks are not MQA. In other words, you\'ll be paying an extra $10/month for something that (a) doesn\'t necessarily improve how a song actually sounds, and (b) is frustrating because it often isn\'t available for a lot of your songs. If you don\'t believe me that\'s okay - you can use it for free for 30 days and make up your own mind.5. Volume cannot be changed via the in-line controls on my earbud cables. However, I can play/pause and skip songs, which is nice.If you like Tidal and don\'t mind the UI on UAPP, the Helm Bolt does a great job, if you use Spotify it is essentially useless. But if you\'re like me, the only reason you\'re looking for a product like this is because smartphone manufacturers are doing away with the 3.5mm jack. If this is the issue you\'re trying to solve and you don\'t want to switch from Spotify I have a few options for you:1. Buy a Sony Xperia phone - they are awesome phones, they have the 3.5mm jack, and they care about quality sound (I\'m waiting until the Xperia 5 iii comes out and will suffer through it until then).2. Wait for Spotify to offer DAC support.3. Buy a few cheap USB-C to 3.5mm adapters. They\'re not great and only last two weeks to two months but most of them get the job done.4. Bluetooth options - though I\'m not a big fan yet, Companies like Shure and Westone use detachable IEM\'s that can be mounted on Bluetooth attachments.Again, as far as smartphones without 3.5mm jacks go (at least Android), this review is applicable to any higher-end DAC, be it the Dragonfly Cobalt/Red/Black, the Helm Audio Bolt or any other. The sad truth is that at the time of writing this review, listening to Spotify with wired earpieces on a high-end flagship smartphones (except Sony) is, at the moment, a nightmare - period.I\'m going to keep the product as the boost in sound quality on my laptop is just enough to not send it back but I\'m disappointed it doesn\'t do the job I wanted it to. Hopefully Spotify will support DAC\'s soon, if not I\'ll have the Sony phone I want by October of 2021 and will then upgrade to the Shure SE 846\'s. Hope this helps someone!
- I Purchased This HELM Bolt D.A.C. Because When I Purchased My Motorola Stylus 5G Smartphone From Best Buy in October of 2021, I Felt The Audio Quality Was Not As Good As What I Previously Got With My LG V40 Which Came With a Quad D.A.C. Tuned By Meridian Audio. Hooking The HELM Bolt I Achieved The Results I Was Looking For From The Moto Stylus 5G\'s Audio Jack and TIDAL Subscription. The Soundstage Is Much Richer and Louder When I Play It Through My Sennhesier HD599s and In My Mazda CX-5\'s Audio System (J.B.L. Door Speakers/Center Channel Speaker and R.F. 12\" Subwoofer). For a Very Reasonable $100 Price Tab The HELM Bolt D.A.C./Amp Is Well Worth It and Recommended.
- This is the second I have purchased having lost the first on a trip. I am using latest gen iPad Air and the sound quality is fantastic. Be sure to enable Lossless Audio in the Music app settings.I also have AirPods Pro and the difference in quality with a good pair of wired headphones is dramatic.I consider this a must have accessory for the iPad.
- If you want/need better than stock Apple or Android DAC, this is your jam but for the money, you might as well spend a bit more and get the Fiio BRT5. I have both and the Fiio is well worth the small increase in price.
- Love (almost) everything about it. I was upgrading from an Origen G2, which was also great, but this has just vastly superior sound quality. It drove my HIFIMAN Sundaras just fine. The only issue - though this might just be my unit is that it runs hot after listening to for a few hours. Not burning hot, but uncomfortable to touch.
- Fantastic sound when sent through a high end stereo system
- It works well on an Apple device, if the music is appropriately encoded. However the Tidal or similar service is needed to get the max capability out of it.
- I have an iPhone. I converted all my files to Lossless Hi Fidelity. I get this dongle and see on the instructions for setup that in order to enjoy the best sound, a Tidal subscription is required. I already have an Apple Music subscription! I don’t want to have to pay for another service! I wish they would have been more transparent on this requirement! I will be returning this dongle and going with something else or just settle for the basic Lossless audio through my existing setup. By the way, Sirius auto has better sound than basic Lossless on my system.
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