Dethonray Clarinet Pro USB DAC & AMP - High Resolution Portable Headphone Amplifier for Audiophiles | Perfect for Music Studio, Gaming & Travel

Product Description

The Sketch of Clarinet Internal COAX/Opt Interface:

If you use a DAP or digital interface to connect clarnet, the source is not a standard RCA or optical cable. You need to customize a cable for clarinet.The interface definition of clarinet is shown in the following diagrammatic sketch

Review

The Clarinet is easy to work with, on the top of the unit is the On/Off volume knob, which is silky smooth and the volume adjustment experience is very good.  Meanwhile we can see a 3.5mm single-ended output, and a 4.4mm balanced output. As well as a Coaxial/Optical input. On the bottom of the device we can see the high and low gain toggle knobs as well as two separate USBC ports. These provide charging and data transfer functions respectively. The dual USB ports are designed so that the charging and the transmission functions can be carried out at the same time, making it convenient for music lovers to enjoy a long listening session.

In terms of sound, the clarinet manages to hold on to the delicate, highly resolved, musical sound of the Dethonray, while maintaining a certain amount of thickness. The Clarinet is equipped with AKM’s latest 4493s chip, which provides an excellent level of musicality and detail resolving quality, delivering a high level of immersive sound and pure timbre in the digital-to-analogue conversion process.

Thanks to Dethonray's exclusive DPPU (Desktop Plus Power Unit) power supply system design, its digital and analogue circuits are isolated from the power supply design, making the background darker and bringing out the details of the music even more. At the same time, this unique power supply system avoids low-voltage to high-voltage transitions and maintain high circuitry efficiency. The compact body of the Clarinet contains a powerful driving force.  In the High-Gain mode, the Clarinet is able to handle some full size headphones or planar driver IEMs that require certain amount of power in a decent manner, with excellent sound and musicality, and you can hardly find rivals in this price range.

Before we get into the details of the sound performance, it is important to point out the great variety of scenarios in which the Clarinet can be used. Thanks to the Coaxial/Optical inputs, in addition to pairing with a digital audio source through the USBC port to use it as a DAC/AMP, you can also connect some front-ends with Coaxial outputs or some old CD players with Optical outputs to the Clarinet. Clarinet has adopted a professional-grade chip from AKM, the AK4118A, to ensure that the analogue output is well-balanced in all frequency bands, and away from the digital sound. In this way, we will be able to listen to many of our favourite music collection, as well as enjoy the Clarinet’s high resolution, more powerful sound presentation.

Over some time of listening, we found that the Clarinet delivers excellent sound, with superb resolution. The high frequencies are fine and well controlled, not overly exciting, without any uncomfortable sibilance, and there was no fatigue on extended listening sessions.

The midrange of the Clarinet has that unique flavour of the Dethonray brand, with a delicate and smooth touch. When listening to acoustic music, you can experience the richness and lushness that is not easily to be found in this price range.

The low frequencies are powerful, with a certain diffusion, which ensures a sufficient sense of musical atmosphere, while the bass dive speed is excellent, and there is no muddy, shuffling feeling when listening to instruments or electronic music.

It is worth pointing out that in our opinion, the Clarinet has a much fuller and richer sound when paired with a coaxial/optical input.

As a $200 entry-level DAC/AMP, the Clarinet delivers a sound that far exceeds its value, and music lovers who are interested in the brand's sound shouldn't miss out on a chance to get a taste of what Dethonray has to offer!

                                                                                                                                                                  --Mirin Reviews

After owning most of the Dethonray offerings we at Aural café always wished to review one, for our readers and fellow audiophiles. Somehow, we couldn’t do the same due to one or the other issues, but we are happy to make a start with the solid Clarinet. The sound tonality of the Clarinet – just like the ‘CLARINET – MUSICAL INSTRUMENT’ is quite organic and hits the sweet spot without being overly neutral or musical. The sound tonality itself of Clarinet makes it worthy of its price tag. The sound quality of Clarinet alone can fight head-on with much pricier DAC/Amps thanks to the integration of Dethonray Proprietary DPPU (Desktop Plus Power Unit) Technology within the Clarinet. Despite being a 223 USD DAC/Amp the team at Dethonray seems to have given it all to present a Solid piece of DAC/Amp that exudes a premium body and comes integrated with high-quality audio components usually seen in much more expensive portable sources. The build quality and finish of the Clarinet are top-notch and look premium. The lows, mids and highs are tuned in a very refined manner which we have previously heard from the much pricier DAPs and DAC/Amp, but we would like to add here that we would have loved punchier mid-bass. We at Aural Café would highly recommend a discerning audiophile to try the Coax/Optical Input to get the best out of Clarinet, as it's where the “Magic” starts. The swappable firmware and the separate USB power and data port just add to the versatility of the Clarinet as a DAC/Amp making a Clarinet a one solid and complete piece of hi-fi source. So, if you are an audiophile who has just entered the hobby or one who is quite value-conscious then we at Aural café would definitely suggest you go for Clarinet at 223 USD (At the time of Review). The Clarinet is not another dongle but is a solid piece of DAC/Amp that will cater to most of the needs of an Audiophile without breaking his or her bank account.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ----

Similarly to all Dethonray products, this one is deceivingly portable. Comparable in shape and size to lots of rivals but with unexpectedly large sound, powerful to drive most of power-hungry head gear. The main distinguishing factor for me is its sound signature – smooth, resolving, with rich mids and mellow timbre. It stands much closer to old school tube overtones rather than modern brightness and clinics of ESS-based DACs. Gets even more delightful when paired with real tube amp/preamp before sending it to speakers or headphones. Still, leaves a room for signature change with another firmware if colder sound is a preference. 

Как и все продукты Dethonray, этот обманчиво портативен. Сравним по форме и размеру со многими конкурентами, но с неожиданно большой сценой, и мощностью достаточной для большинства трудных нагрузок. Основной отличительный фактор для меня – это его звуковая подпись – мягкая, детализированная, с текстурной серединой и приятным тембром. Звук гораздо ближе к старым ламповым обертонам, чем к современному яркому звучанию клинических ципов ESS. Звук можно еще прокачать при подключении к ламповому усилителю/преду перед отправкой в колонки или наушники. Тем не менее, устройство оставляет возможность изменить звуковую подпись методом перепрошивки, если предпочитается более холодное звучание. 9 из 10 для этого устройства от Dethonray, где последний бал это отсутствие сценария использования без использования встроенной батареи и отсутствие возможности заменить операционные усилители, доступная у некоторых конкурентов.

                                                                                                                                                                    -- Alexander Pelypenko