#donglemadness 

Yeah my heart dropped. But it seems like you have a plan and I will be right here for you no matter what!

Okay I respect your decision Andy..but don't stop ranking of iem please 🙏🥺

For me, you are the most credible IEM reviewer out there, easy to understand, never over exaggerate on anything like "this iem need 500kWh dongle to drive it bla bla bla", and last, spent hours, literally hours analyzing IEMs and dongles. Great work Andy! 🔥 And again, this is pure my subjective preference, go ahead to disagree.

the honest and the most credible reviewer in my opinion!!! respect your decision champ! 🙏

End of an era. You have done a great service to people looking to buy a dongle. I stopped watching your dongle videos after Onix, which I bought. I needed 1, made my choice, and I'm happy with it. And won't buy a new 1 unless the Onix blows up. So good luck with your future endeavours. And thanks for all your reviews. It's been a trip.

You are the best in what you do, thanks for all the shared wisdom. All the way from Colombia ill be waiting to see whats next in the path of Andy's Audio Vault.

Ranking system including IEMs and HEADPHONEs with different frequency response with a particular DAC sounds perfect. We are looking forward for the new ranking system.

I have brought UA4 & tpz 50 from your recommendations, and it didn't disappoint me. Thank you

Dear Andy , thank you for your precious work and all the help you gave us in choosing the perfect dongle! Kind regards!

I respect the decision, and still respect your opinions and impressions of gear! Things don't have to have numerical rankings, but reporting on generally well implemented sound, features, and being bug-free are good things to know for consumers. Cheers Andy

Andy, thank you for the work you did, it was very difficult, we understand you. Such parameters as richness of sound, details, it is very difficult to determine when dealing with almost the same thing. Dongles have reached a new higher level, it's true. Many of them sound like players from $ 300 to $ 700 and even they differ from each other very slightly

Thank you for your help over the last few years! You have guided me and I love the sound of my system. Your time is very much appreciated!

Andy, thank you - you are a major dude - doing what you do - Mn

I will respect whatever decision you make , Thank you Andy. ❤😊

Thanks so much, I had the same concern after buying M12i which was under my budget and according to your ranking, BUT I have AFUL PERFORMER 5 and I am not sure whether it would sound as you described or not. I am looking forward to your new ranking system and new sets of iems, BECAUSE your TRAINED EARS and your EXPERIENCE will help us make the best decision.

The amount of work you put into this project is both crazy and very much appreciated! I especially dwell in the budget range and have enjoyed those comparisons especially. Thanks for all you have done, and I look forward to whatever perspective you bring into the future. Thanks much Andy!

Interesting Andy, you seem honest to me. You have helped many people, including myself, when selecting or buying a dongle. Normal users cannot afford to buy everything, which is why your advice is so welcome. I hope you find the "formula" to continue reporting in this impartial way Andy. I understand that there are many commercial interests in the way of many reviewers, I hope you do not abandon us and continue with this hobby and giving us good references of products from our community, thank you very much.

my suggestion is to make a video compiling dac dongles that you have that support inline microphone. Not all manufacturers clearly inform if they support a mic or not maybe make a series about budget microphones since is kinda crazy how some cheap microphones or inline mics can sound pretty decent for the price

I've never forgotten watching and participating in your live and q&a and it's very comfortable talking with you

Hey Andy, I'm with you, respect your decision and I will always be your spectator no matter what comes next. Tank you Sir.

I totally understand. I stopped reviewing on head-fi many years ago because I did not like assigning numeric scores to portable gear that some people would like and other people would not like. Instead I did some RU-vid reviews for a while where I tried my hardest to describe the audio gear and say who I thought it was for. Maybe you can take a similar tact because your views are much appreciated in the community

Andy Regardless of your decision, keep up the excellent review work! 👏

I do respect your decision. You are the guy. Cheers

I agree 100%, because there were some errors on the ranking, where some really good dongles which measure extremely well, were rated lower than I had expected.

I am always happy to see your reviews for dongles especially and iem next. The note for new video make my day really! Even if I know that the changes can be minor. But I believe that also that dongles needs improvements in some areas that can be reviewed. Such as more sound knob such as DC07 PRO, and more power especially to 3.5mm, so especially power performance especially at 3.5mm is a factor for me. Also the EQ ability that dongles can offer. So the Ranking system can change such as to this of the iems, I can say that your ranking system if can be made more advanced it would be grateful for all of us! I would love to see comparison with dongle and headphones synergy. And I would like also very much to see you review over ear headphones and not only iems. And how can be really be driven from dongles. That is my biggest hope. So as to see how much improvement has been made so as to have a dongle to drive our Over ear headphones. Thanks you for all! And keep going!

i have bought dc03 dc04 onix-alpha mp145 and 80% of my audio gear based on your video. and never regret it. your honest-unbiased opinion is really needed in this hobby. thank you for all your review andy

Excited to know what else in store Totally agree on your point that finding those minute details sometimes is a headache, especially when you have multiple review units lying around and 10 in mail. Whatever you bring will be great I’m pretty sure 🙌🏼

I respect your decision Andy, with how many dongles are competitively priced nowadays that I find it difficult to pick which one would work the best for my own use case. I think that is a good problem though

it's a best decision. Now days dongles are raining from sky and price is also very competitive. hardware and sound quality are very much similar or close to each other. So eventually it comes to the budget price for everyone's pocket to buy which is more budget friendly to one.

Keep up the good work Andy, you're the best !

You are the best Andy! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the future...

I love watching your reviews.

Well done Andy. You said it right. Different dongles with different headphones sound different.

Phew I thought you were going to scrap your reviews! Your reviews are great: informative, clear and enjoyable. Perhaps there's a different way of comparing rather than relative rankings. For example using spider/radar diagrams which several dimensions for comparison but that's a lot of work! I got the Onix alpha after listening to your review (I have the chord mojo 2 which I prefer for it's versatility and sound but the alpha is great and smaller - and provides something different compared to the chord mojo 2. And love your IEM reviews, I hope these continue! I keep thinking about the Sviga Nightingale and even keeping an eye out for a second hand Shure kse (I had the Shure 846 for over 10 years and absolutely loved them).

I really appreciate your candor in regard to this subject and your expereinces. Your integrity sets a a positive example.

Your ranking sytem was the best. You are the most dependable reviewer in yt. Respect your decision and wish you all the best ❤

Thank you for your work & integrity Andy. A job well done.

Creo que ya llegaste al punto donde caemos muchos audiofilos (me incluyo), llegar al punto donde visualizas una meta, un reto y ningun dongle te satisface, ahora todo te suena igual y cada uno tiene lo que el otro necesita, se que es frustante, pero empieza de cero, y en cada cambio de auriculares, pausa en silencio total por un o unos minutos. Toma en cuenta que tus oidos ya crearon memoria y tambien se cansan. Dales un tiempo para descansar a tus oidos. Exelentes tus videos y tus reviciones, me estan ayudando a elegir un buen dongle. (que aun estoy buscando para unos Bayerdinamic 770 pro, 32ohm.). Saludos y felicidades por tu canal.

Can't wait to see/hear about your new approach. It would be a shame to lose your insight on dongles totally so I'm guessing you have a plan!

Thanks Andy for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Wow! Tough decision to deal with. The upside is you can concentrate on other things you like.

Sorting or describing products by their characteristics would be sufficient for me. I recently bought the DUNU DTC480 based on your review. I wanted at simple, natural sounding dongle that's more efficient than my others. Genre related choices are helpful too. I enjoyed your video on dongles for metal music. In fact, it'd be interesting to learn about your music tastes and collection too. Of course, cameos of Geoff and Oreo are always welcome. Thanks, Andy!!

Feel for you mate. Thank you for your amazing hard work.

ONIX has caught my interest because of its filters that noticeably change sound. This could be a great universal dongle that with specific settings could bring out the most of each IEM.

Realest video boss. I bought the VE Megatron because of your review on WordPress. Amazing unit, powers my BAs and Planars well. #donglemadness never dies 🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️

Initially i was kinda surprised to see the video's title, but i was laughing and watching it and in the end, i totally feel you. It makes sense and i agree with you. But please keep reviewing the iems and headphones (wired and wireless)! And thank you for the great effort you've put in #donglemadness 💯

Thank you for putting in the time for testing them all. I hope you had some fun along the way

Hail for Kingdoms of Dongs. Hail Andy

Hi Andy! I'm also looking forward to IEM collaborations between you and IEM makers. Please make it happen! Also, regards to Geoff!

It is good news when Tools to do a specific job, all perform so exceedingly well that to tell the difference between one or the other is based on one's own subjective preferences.

Agree. Save your precious time. Well done up yo this point. Great rimesbto b in the hobby. ❤

No Andy, sigue es tu trabajo y pasión, por ti he decidido que dongle comprar, eres muy analitico en tus revisiones como ninguno.

And nobody has mentioned the cinematography... Gaddayum! that aside, Synergy is what most music lover and audiophiles are chasing.

I had the luxury of moving to a city that has an audio store with lots of dongles/DACs/Amps available to try out, and I found it almost impossible to tell the differences between dongles anymore. Using the most resolving headphones I have (the heddphone 2), I feel like I'm sometimes just imagining the differences (assuming they have enough power). For iems especially, I feel like it really doesn't matter anymore; just get something with a good build quality and a mic-input if needed.

Ok. Well, Andy, it’s ok. You are correct. I’ll cry for a few days. Please supply the tissues. I’ll be sick too. But in the end, I’ll use my hands and feet. So thank you for all your effort. ❤

I have KA17 and it is perfect!

Respect to all your hard work Sir!

It's Your world boss..... Please keep sharing your Opinions on IEMs. Take care and God bless 💖😇

Wish all the best for you Mr. Andy, I already got the best dongle thanks to you 🤝

This is madness, dongle madness.

Great fair reviewer. I love that you are open about this.

You will always be known as the king of dongs

Good decision. I totally understand your point. Focus on synergy if discovered is also more valuable for us, as it was already difficult to actually image the sound by the figures. And if we talk about different music, the synergy topic takes a new dimension. Even the preferred volume has an impact on the performance and the personal perception of the sound. Amazing topic 😅

Thanks for all your reviews!

As measurements show, most modern DACs/amplifiers have a flat frequency response and extremely low distortion, much lower than the human audible level. Therefore, they will all sound the same, and audible differences arise due to the imperfection of the human hearing system. Changes in blood pressure, fatigue, and so on can affect the listening result. And what sounds different in reality are headphones/iem...

Still useful ranking for me :D. I need a PC dongle for my laptop when I travel and I can get the Onix for cheapest, then the yuki then the cayin RU6 and finally the most expensive is the Hiby. I like the look of the yuki the most :D.

My onyx a1. Is perfect. Thanks for that review. Took months to get but it is fantastic

Lots of respect for your decision.

Good job andy, i strongly agree about synergy, what the user can ear is the synergy magic iem plus dongle today. I feel the same for iems ranking that can behave very differently depending on the source, with the extra variable of the music genre. Very honest decision you took.

Atleast have a list of ur top 10 dongles that u own and use Andy. It would be enough

It's been a few months since I last contributed a comment to the discussion. However, I've hardly missed anything under the "donglemadness" heading since the beginning of the year, and I've read a few discussion posts from time to time. I've been most interested in reviews of models ranging from the Questyle M12i to the current Akliam. I hereby thank Andy for his really comprehensive reviews, which I have always looked at with great interest!!! My experience with debaters' questions to Andy is that they are primarily about comparing models to each other. And because of this, Andy's Ranking system was excellent, but apparently not everyone "grasped" it properly, not paying enough attention to the review itself and overly perceiving only the numbers. This is evidenced by the nature of the questions.. often Andy answered several people with stoic calmness to the same question! This is absolutely insane.. Hypothetically, if Andy were to completely do away with the Ranking system, I fear an exponential increase in just this type of question (which of the two models has the better sound etc..). Personally, I put most emphasis on the passage where Andy verbally describes the sound characteristics with different types of headphones. I will then put this in context with the final Ranking. It's also useful to look at other reviewers, put the whole thing in context and eventually I'll answer that imaginary question myself and not have to bother Andy with it. Otherwise, at the end of the day, some discussant will come along with the fact that Cayin's RU7 "stomps" the iBasso DC07Pro under the black ground... In this case, it's good to remember that comparing the sonic qualities of two models is not so much about an instant subjective conclusion that I like some sound better, but rather about knowing the recording perfectly for the sake of distinguishing reality from coloration. This is what gives Andy the most to work with, and where I see the greatest added value of his reviews. The form of the post is also important... personal experience with a particular type of headphones instead of a clear conviction that one of Andy's dongles with the same ranking is sonically much better... Such a post is in my opinion instant and unserious!!! I don't want to influence Andy, I just think this Ranking system was good and sophisticated. But then again, I'm sure if Andy wants to redesign it, it will be worth it!🤞👍

I bought the ONIX Alpha XI1 based on your review & recommendation. I'm very satisfied with it & happy with it's performance! I'd say I trust your judgment & taste. Cheers bud😊

Very good decision Andy and you are right.

I understand your point and i think you are right, you have to know that your reviews are not just reviews, this is kind of way of life for you and for us, thats hobby, i bought few dongles because of your reviews, like onyx, or hiby fc7 and i love them, im only trying to point that your opinion matter a lot for many of us, i cannot buy every gear and test it by myself so i really value opinion of someone who know what he is doing, try to stay with us if you can, im sending you much love, brother, also i want to thank you for what you have done already

I respect your decision Andy! Although I haven't reviewed nearly 1/5th of the dongles you have reviewed. I completely agree with you as to how the dongle DACs nowadays are so good! That even the most decent one is really good. And this is also the reason I dont have an official ranking for dongle DACs and even iems 🙂

Godspeed!

Dongles are just that Spider-Man meme pointing at each other nowadays 😂.

I look forward to going with you on this new journey!

Greetings from Russia! No, that's not going to work, almost all reviewers refused ratings, and I think that's exactly what makes you unique. After all, many people like to look at ratings and signs. And yes, they almost all already sound very similar, but still you have to look and find out why this particular DAC is better.

Hah. The moment has came 🙃 Sorry to hear you come to such difficult situation. Maybe you can do just kinda unboxing and impressions and not extensive review and probably people come in here to see what’s new and they want to see the aesthetic the built and feature (take some aesthetic shots) of it and just end the video by a chop [Approve by The Dongleman] Or unless maybe you have bigger plans 😉. Hope to see your up and coming surprises.

I discovered Glenn Gane Audio channel, he just shows sound demos of different IEM. That's the real deal! 👍

I agree with you Andy. Overall, $50 dongles are good and ones using the same DAC sound very similar if not identical to each other. You don't need to spend much time testing them but it's still helpful if you may classify them as analog sounding or digital sounding or halfway. That's the main difference between them as I think. $10 dongles are also acceptable but they are not safe blind buys due to compatibility issues as I have encountered.

Andy the ranking system helps alot Trust me dont delete it or remove it keep it and keep evaluating on its spectrum It helps alot Dont worry about the bad dongles or everything is 10/10 some region have some company wwhile others dont so the comparision works thats why every dongle you review gets views Every one knows game is subjective and sound is subjective and spectrum shows analog or hifi sound gives the end user idea what he wants and what he want to get in the end every user would want to get the highest ranking stuff but thats how everything works usually in every industry Relax everything is perfect and works thats why you have views IT HELPS

You started with a heart attack 💔😢

😢😢 your great sir. Hope you still keep working on this channel with different topics about Music and sound

Dang, I was hoping you would review the ifI go blu with cs chipset..? Thank you for the update.

I agree 100%. This hobby is very subjective and synergy between gear is definitely something worth consideration. I feel like technology has reached its limit when it comes to sound production. When an $80 dongle sounds almost as good as a desktop amp nowadays there is no point giving them a numerical rating. Better pay attention to features, efficiency, size and weight.

vov. great video

Sad, but I understand why you are stopping the ranking. Hope to see the videos on dongles still. I have had total 3 dongles so far, and all have been recommended by you. I'm happy with my purchases. I'd like to come to your videos again for future purchases as well. Thank you for the information!

I hope you can review the Alba. Just ordered DC07 Pro.

Perhaps switch to a rating system of performance divided by price. This brings VALUE back to the foreground since outright performance is starting to narrow.

Subbed for the dongle but stayed for Andy. 🙌

For your next iem review, can you do the new Simgot ew300, I'll like your opinion on it vs the Simgot Supermix 4

I agree, dongles have become too good to rank properly. In the end you just end up with a list of your preferences, not rankings. And that's kinda pointless for others.

Goodnight Ladies 😮

"no more dongle madness ranking system" that's your final message with sly smile. I assume you will do the reviewing, but not the ranking. Your FC from TH.

Hey Andy, I agree with you, mate! But keep up the good work with the IEM and Headphones, huh? 😊

Youre right andy.. even the simple 7hz 71 sounds great on certain iems.. likewise the onix.. must be the tuning of the dongle thats matches with the tuning of the iem..but for me the fc6 still sounds as good as the others. Just my opinion.

I will miss this series :c A question! Which are you favorite DAC chip from all the dongle tested, AKM, CirrusLogic, Sabre ESS?

Thank you so much Andy for your madness❗️✌️btw I still love the apple dongle😆 just taking it for vacation to Greece with Dita Project M..🙋‍♂️❤️