u/OfLittleSubstance

Hi all!

Question for people who own a ZD3 or ZH3.

I have the GR70 tube pre-amp, but I am looking for a Fosi DAC to use with it.

I've been looking at the ZD3 and ZH3. I know the ZD3 is a pure dac, but the ZH3 is a dac/amp. Is there is a noticable difference between the two? I like the idea of the ZH3 since I could also use it as a non-tube amp option, but I wonder if the performance of the ZD3 is better since it's a dedicated dac?

I'd love to hear thoughts in either direction before I make a purchase!

Quick question-

I have some loyalty credits on the Fosi website, but I know you generally can’t stack discount codes when checking out.

For their current sales, can you redeem a loyalty discount while also using the sale codes they provide?

I’d try, but I don’t want to waste my loyalty discount if it doesn’t work.

Hey all, this is a little weird, but how have you all faired using your AVR as a headphone amp?

Last night it was late and I was glued to the sofa and wanted to listen to music, but I didn't feel like going to my desk set up and it was late enough speakers weren't really an option.

I grabbed my Meze 109 (which come with that 10ft cable), and plugged it into my AVR so I could stream Tidal connect.

And honestly, I was blown away with how good it sounded. My AVR isn't all that new (Denon s960h), but I still felt like I wasn't missing out on anything and the soundstage was quite large. I guess I'm just surprised that the built in headphone amp was so good (perhaps just a bit quiet compared to normal listening volume when using speakers).

Does anyone else use their AVR this way? Have you had other/better/worse experiences?

A while back I posted about trying out the MD3 dongle and the DS3 dongle side by side at AXPONA, and decided that I liked the MD3 more. I joined the kickstarter, and my MD3 came this last week, and I've been having a good time with it!

I've been trying it out with headphones and IEMs just to see what it can handle.

I tried it with:

• Meze Audio 109 Pro
• Grell OAE1
• Fosi Audio IM4
• Fosi Audio i5
• Moondrop Kato

Starting with the iems, it had no problem powering the IM4 or the Kato (as expected). Both had great depth and tonality. It paired really well with the IM4 (this is what I originally tested it with at AXPONA), but it really helped the Kato sing. I hadn't used my Kato in a hot minute, and it has been my walking around IEM this week. Running the MD3 overriding the source volume (my iPhone 15 Pro Max), I was comfortably listening at around 35-40 (out of 100 steps).

I had a very similar experience running with the Meze 109 Pro. I sat comfortably around 40 volume while doing chores around the house. The MD3's ES9039 DAC chip really pairs well with the 109 Pro, and I have been really happy with this pairing.

Where things got a little more difficult to drive were the Fosi i5 and the Grell OAE1. I had to push the volume to around 50-55 to get the i5 to a good listening volume in a room with an air conditioner running. Also, this was the where I ran into the first issue with the 3.5mm jack. The stock i5 connector was too big to have it side by side with the USB-C cord powering the MD3. I had to flip it around so that the source came in the top of the MD3, and the i5's 3.5mm jack out the bottom. So I guess that is a word of warning if your cables have chunky adapters, you may need to flip it around to make it all fit.

The Grell OAE1 was the hardest for it to power. I had to take the volume up to 65 to get to the same comfortable level of listening. Unfortunately, the MD3 isn't the magic I was looking for to make the OAE1 sing. I'm still looking, but I'm kinda convince this headphone just isn't for me!

Pros:

• Can power pretty much whatever you throw at it
• Sounds great
• Magnetic feature is convenient for pocketing, works even better if you have a mag-safe case.
• Really like the 100 step volume control

Cons:

• Like any dongle dac/amp, drains your battery
• Chunky cable adapters might be too much (for 3.5mm cables, balanced cables probably won't have a problem

Final thoughts:

The best audio device is one that makes you want to listen to music. And for me, the MD3 has been my walking around and commuting device of choice (paired with the IM4 or Kato), replacing my apple airpods pro 3. Yeah, the APP3 is purely the most functional device, but the MD3 makes me want to listen to music, and at the end of the day, that is why I'm in this hobby.

Feel free to ask me anything!

I mentioned in my post on the Luna3 the other day that I was considering getting a phono preamp to give it more juice with my AVR set up
My original thought was to just pick up the X5 as the newest product, but I am kinda interested in getting tubes, so the X2 and X4 are potential options, too.
Does anyone have experiences with these? I'd love to hear some firsthand experiences instead of YouTube reviews!

I recently got an email from Fosi Audio saying that the Luna3 Turntable was back in stock, so I thought I would share my user experience from using the Luna3 for the last six months.

This is not sponsored or anything, I was a backer from the Kickstarter.

Coming in at $350 USD, the Luna3 Turntable is one of Fosi’s more expensive products, but is one of their products I have enjoyed the most.

Some background: This was my first purchased turntable.  I grew up with turntables in the house, but this was the first I decided to get for myself as I expanded my physical media collection to vinyl (usually a CD guy).

In my experience, the turntable works very well, and I have had very few issues with it.  Included are the turntable, heavy acrylic platter, headshell and stylus (an audio-technica VM95E), counterweight, arm, motor belt, power adapter, and dust cover.  Everything was well packaged, and I had no issues with anything out of the box.  I followed the directions and had no issues with getting everything put together.  It took me a bit longer to balance everything out, but I blame that on my really crooked table more than the turntable.

I have mine hooked up to my Denon AVR-S960H. Important to note, the Luna3 does not have a built-in phono pre-amp, so I am using the phono port of my AVR.  I will say that I have to up the volume quite a bit more than I would on my CD player or TV, so I would probably recommend getting a dedicated phono preamp to really bring out the best of the Luna3. This is pretty high on my list of upgrades.

Features:

There is a speed switch on the front that doubles as a power switch.  33 RPM to the left, 45 RPM to the right. Rest the speed switch in the middle and it turns off the turntable.  There is also an auto-stop switch on the back of the turntable, as well as a 12v trigger.  I can’t say I’ve ever used the 12v trigger before, but it is there if that is something you like.  RCA out and a ground round out the back panel (along with a speed control out).  

User Experience:

Like I said above, it took me a bit to dial in the balance correctly, but I think that was more of a user issue than anything to do with the Luna3.  Otherwise, it has worked wonderfully.  I realize I could have probably bought a cheaper turntable from a well established brand, but I figured I’d give Fosi a try here and I have no buyers (backers?) regret.

I’ve played a mix of vintage records and newer pressings, and both have played admirably.  I saw in some of the youtube reviews that early reviewers had issues with the motor being noisy, but I can’t say I’ve had anything even remotely noticeable when it is running but nothing is playing, and certainly no noise when I have a record spinning.

Overall:

I think the thing to remember is that Fosi Audio at the core is a budget separates company.  In that context, I think the Luna3 fits well in their stable of products on their experimental side.  It doesn’t offer a lot of features that other turntables offer like a built in phono pre-amp or automatic tone arm, but was instead a first outing at trying a new product design.  Paired with other Fosi separates (or your existing collection of separates), the Luna3 slots in and offers an affordable introduction to what I think is more akin to audiophile turntable offerings. Honestly, I’m happy with my purchase and can’t see myself upgrading any time soon, but I’ll probably sooner look into a higher end cartridge before I think of replacing the Luna3 whole.

It just… works (in a good way)

(I saw someone else did a review the other day and wanted to share my much less technical experience)

I have been a Fosi fan for about a year now, but I have mostly been supporting their Kickstarter projects.  I haven’t really branched out into their separates market, but the time finally came when my HEOS amp started to kick the bucket and have connectivity issues.  

My use case:

I have small bookshelf speakers set up in my bedroom that I use for listening to music in the evening.  I have been using a HEOS amp (because I have a Denon AVR for my home theater), and I liked the idea of having access to multi room listening.  Reality?  I hardly ever used the multi room streaming features, the HEOS app is notoriously buggy, and the connection was spotty at best.  I had it hooked up to a pair of Jamo s801.  Nothing flashy, just decent sound for a small room.

Based on how I actually used it, I decided I would try out the Fosi BT20A Max.  Honestly, it is probably more amp than I really needed for my little bedroom set up, but I figured I could always use it elsewhere if I needed the power, and I liked the look of it.

Set-up:

This was painless.  You pull it out of the wrapping, connect the speakers to the posts, plug in the power, and it just works.  Like, it was that simple.  Comes with a remote that controls a few other Fosi products too.  I don’t own them, so I wasn’t able to try it switching to other products, but it worked just fine with the BT20A Max.  Volume up, volume down, source switching, play/pause, track skip, mute, power on/off.  Nothing fancy.  Again, it just worked.

Use:

I connected my sony CD player up via RCA cables, and tried out the bluetooth connection.

Bluetooth:  Very easy.  Turn on the amp, press the source select button until it’s on Bluetooth, pick up your phone, and connect.  Took seconds, no hick-ups, no problems.  After the first connection, my phone would automatically connect whenever I switched back to the bluetooth source.

RCA: RCA was just as simple.  The BT20A max has two RCA inputs, so all I had to do was hit the source switch button once, and it changed from bluetooth to RCA.  You can do it via the remote or the button on the amp.

Volume:  Volume is one thing I think is tricky with the BT20A Max.  The amp has a volume wheel built in that turns automatically when you raise or lower the volume with the remote.  Honestly, it is a neat addition and I like it.  But the part that got me was that your source volume greatly affects the overall volume of the amp.  I strongly recommend turning the amp volume low when connecting to your source.  I was able to keep my phone volume around 75% and the amp at a much lower volume.  I failed this when I switched to my CD player and I had the source MAXED OUT and I was temporarily deafened before I quickly turned the amp volume down.  This was very clearly user error, but it’s not going to be a mistake I make again!

Sound: It sounds great.  I’m not the most technical guy and I don’t know how to measure response (advice would be cool?), but I found that the amp was able to drive my small bookshelf speakers to “noise complaint” levels.  Granted, I live in an apartment in a city, so noise is a given, but I would prefer not to get the police called on me.  The speakers sounded great at low and medium levels (where I primarily use it), but also didn’t sound distorted at louder levels.  I didn’t keep em there for long, but I feel confident is saying that if you were using the BT20A max to run a bigger set of speakers at a higher volume, you’d have no problems.  Obviously, check your power needs before you buy.  I did play with the tone controls a little bit.  My s801s are a little bass weak, so they benefitted from the extra bass. I took a light touch with it, but clearly you could crank it all the way up.  There is a switch on the back that lets you bypass the tone controls if that isn’t your thing. I didn’t have a subwoofer connected to try out, but I bet it would work well.  There is also a switch on the back for a high-pass filter if you are using a sub. 

Final thoughts:

I said at the beginning that the BT20A Max just works.  And I mean that in the best possible way.  My old HEOS amp gave me no end of trouble, losing connection, the HEOS app not always seeing the amp, long delays in music control.  I have had none of those problems with the BT20A Max.  I set it up, connected via my phone, and it just works.  No fuss, no issues, no problems.  Yeah, it’s bluetooth and not a wifi connection, but for what I needed, it works perfectly fine.  I guess it’s worth noting that I’m using an iPhone, so I can’t benefit from the other Bluetooth codecs the BT20a Max uses. If I’m being real, I’m not the most savvy audiophile guy, so having a product that just works out of the box with no issues is exactly what the doctor ordered.