Verdict
The Rhodium DAC take a great difference to music but it grow out to be not quite enough . Not everything it attempts to do is entirely plus , and accordingly it ’s not as easy to commend even in spark of its small price .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
‘ Wireless ’ may be the word , but not everyone is betray on the construct . Some people understand that the ripe pound - for - pound carrying out to be had from a pair of headphones , for object lesson , is from a hard - cable pair .
But the mass of a earpiece socket on a smartphone is becoming rare , and half - decent phone from the phone socket on a laptop is rarer still . So what ’s to be done if you ’d like to hear what your pumped up earpiece are capable of ?
Periodic Audio of California want to help . Its little Rhodium DAC / headphone amp is small and light , remarkably specified , and has a USB - C stimulation at one end and a 3.5 mm analogue socket at the other . So it can turn your smartphone into a source for wired earpiece , and/or make a grownup improvement to the audio of your laptop computer , without cost a fortune .
That ’s the theory , anyhow .
The Periodic Audio RhodiumDAC / headphone ampis on sales agreement now , and in the UK it ’s price at £ 49 . In its native America the price is $ 49 , while Australia customers should expect to part with AU$79 or thereabouts .
You hardly need me to guide out this is not a lot of money . true the Rhodium is not a lot ofthing , but if its effect on the sound of your headphone is half as label as Periodic Audio take , then it ’s move to be one of the most price - effective upgrades you ’re ever probable to make .
It ’s quite a big ‘ if ’ , though , is n’t it ?
Design
As befit a product designed to sit between the USB - vitamin C outturn of your medicine storage gadget and the 3.5 millimetre socket of your earphone , the Rhodium is diminished , light and operable .
At one end there ’s an atomic number 13 USB - C plug ( there ’s a small USB - C / USB - A adaptor in the Rhodium ’s somewhat medical - look promotion ) , at the other there ’s an Al 3.5 millimeter parallel input . In between , there ’s 63 mm of braided line .
In short , then , the Rhodium is a useful design , which is precisely what a product like this should be .
Features
Almost all the Rhodium ’s meaningful feature are concealed inside the bantam aluminum casing that houses its USB - nose candy socket . And by ‘ features ’ , what I really mean is ‘ characteristic ’ .
Here ’s where the digital - to - analogue converter is kept . It ’s a Realtek ALC5685 system - on - fleck system , just 6 x 6 mm in size and capable of conduct with PCM digital audio data file of up to 32bit/384kHz declaration .
Periodic Audio is make up some bold title for the Rhodium ’s performance , include frequency response of a super - low 5Hz to a pointlessly high 160kHz , signal - to - noise proportion of 108dB and full consonant torture of a vanishingly low 0.007 % , as well as very low tycoon consumption .
It ’s secure to say that if any of those figures are accurate , the Rhodium will perform beyond any naturalistic outlook you might have when the price and shape of the product are guide into report .
Sound Quality
The Rhodium ’s 3.5 mm stimulant is used to join a brace ofCampfire Audio Andromedawired in - ear monitors at one closing , and its USB - carbon socket attached to anApple MacBook Pro(2020 ) at the other ( because it ’s ready to hand to contrast the DAC ’s operation to that of the laptop ’s 3.5 millimeter analog socket ) . It ’s also hooked to aSamsung Galaxy S21smartphone from 2021 ( which , of course , is socket only way to practice wired headphones with this ( and most other ) smartphones ) .
From both sources , theTidalapp is used to drive home digital audio – Big Thief ’s Shark Smile and Low Lightby The Soundcarriers in particular . And no matter whether it ’s the laptop computer or the smartphone I ’m listening to , the Periodic Audio Rhodium prove a stable , uniform and remarkably upfront hear .
The laptop computer is the most helpful gadget here , of course , because it ’s potential to hear to its internal DAC and headphone gain directly against the Rhodium . And while every laptop owner understand its audio circuitry is generally footling more than an rethink , the difference the Rhodium makes is nevertheless quite startling .
compare to the single-handed sound of the MacBook Pro , the Periodic Audio is an altogether more direct , more upfront and more self-assertive listen . It extracts and keep a lot more midrange information than the laptop , which mean voices are well more informative , more characterful and more nuanced , which is basically a long - lift room of saying ‘ more enjoyable ’ .
There ’s greater punch and solidity to low-pitched - frequency sound , and a big , better - defined soundstage on which all the action pass . And dynamics ( both the broad ‘ quiet / LOUD ’ poppycock and the more subtle consonant variations in each individual strum of a guitar ) are improved – or , more accurately , more obvious in their effect .
Control , as it relates to the blast and decay of item-by-item notes or hits , is much ameliorate . Rhythmic expression is pretty enough , too , thanks to those punchy - yet - controlled lower frequencies . Tonality , specially from the bottom of the frequence to the point where ‘ midrange ’ becomes ‘ high frequency ’ , is wider - wander in its magnetic variation , more assured in its musicality , and superior where both timber and grain are concerned .
It ’s at the top of the frequency range that the Rhodium overplays its handwriting pretty . All of the improvements that are evident elsewhere over the single-handed sound of the laptop – greater item retentivity , good active variation , more space and ‘ delicacy ’ are apparent , but the unshrinking way this DAC attacks treble sounds is quite wear .
There ’s a relentless quality to the way the Periodic Audio serve up the top end , a determination to sink its teeth in even if it ’s not appropriate , and as a event the highest frequencies have a hardness and an edginess about them that ’s tiring at restrained volumes and almost afflictive at bighearted storey . ‘ Lively ’ is all well and good where sound is concerned , ‘ intransigency ’ not so much .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
This is an affordable and effective way to open your rootage player up to wired headphone .
The Rhodium ’s high - end reproduction will tire you out sooner rather than subsequently .
Final Thoughts
Ultimately , being tiny and affordable yet making a self-aggrandizing difference to audio execution turns out to be not quite enough . For £ 49 the Periodic Audio Rhodium can have a remarkable outcome on the sound of your laptop computer ’s earphone output – but it ’s not entirely positive , and therefore it ’s not especially easy to advocate the outlay ( modest though it is ) .
Trusted Score
How we test
We quiz every DAC we review thoroughly over an extended period of time . We habituate diligence standard test to compare feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a ware .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
To make the Rhodium compatible with iOS twist you would ask the Apple Camera arranger , but Periodic say that compatibility is not guaranteed with iOS products .
Full Specs
Sustainability
Trusted Reviews ’ contain the fact that world-wide heating is not a myth as a core time value and will ceaselessly endeavour to help protect our planet from harm in its business practices .
As part of this mission , whenever we review a merchandise we send the company a serial of questions to help us gauge and make crystal reset the impact the machine has on the environment .
We presently have n’t have answers to the questions on this product , but will update this page the mo we do . you may see a elaborate equipment failure of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability information page .
