Caylynx Coffee - What's your Bag?

The Calynx Coffee DAC / Headphone Amp is 1970's hi-fi, par excellence. We picked it up on a whim at Headphone Bar, as we were carrying a bag of nice Espresso.  $199 is about the same as a Nespresso ‘50 - an entry level bargain.

You know right away when you see something whether or not you want a thing. In this case, the matter was simple. We needed a better volume control for our PC, and the owner was wearing a nice shirt, so we picked up the unit on the spot. Now it's a funny thing to say you want the owner's unit, but in this case we just had to; Vancouver is a dreary backwater filled with little to interest us, but before us we saw a glittering unit of coffee and gilt (gold plate).

Looking inside, you will likely see the source of the rattles that have vexed other reviewers. In our case, the item itself was a rattle or pacifier, if you will, to give us continued interest in music and life. We received it in a handsome box with a USB cable included, so it took a day or so to actually hook it up, given the presentation.

Going between a Rotel 980BX amplifier and a single PSB Stratus Gold speaker, we noted a dynamic, full and visceral sound right off the bat. Compared to a FIIO D3, the sound was lively, and regained some of the joy we had when listening to music. Our HP PC was vastly improved with a working volume control, we found, and I wouldn't be wearing out any analogue potentiometers, or blowing my ear drums, I discovered, with the Coffee in the loop.

My initial visual complaint was that there was not an external power jack on the DAC, which would lead to reduced dynamics and drive, I figured, over a unit with an external power supply, or mains supply vs USB as in the case with the Calynx. Other than that, the unit was in ship-shape, with RCA line-level outs which would survive over the mini-jack that the Dragonfly (AudioQuest) and others supply.

A mini jack was provided for headphone use, but we discovered it would not adequately supply drive to either our Sennheiser CX 500 in-ear headphones, or our Sony MDR-V500 DJ style ear monitors. Our Etoymotics we "out" just due to their pinch-ability, so a follow-up is due to assess the headphone output, likely with a pair of decent every-day headphones, such as the Sennheiser Momentum's which would visually match the Coffee, quite nicely.

Regarding sound quality as we assessed it, aurally, this is 1970's all over. Be prepared to be taking a ride down memory lane with increased grit (noise, grunge, distortion), granularity, and gratuity - you can't get something good for 'nothing. It would be worthwhile sampling the similarly packaged AudioEngine D1 DAC ($169) as well as the Fiio E10 Olympus ($79.95) in this price-level.

We have tried the AKG K550 ($299) with best results for on-ear comfortable listening along with the Sennheiser IE800 ($1000) for in-ear playback using the HZR 52 ($40) volume balance cable to mimic what we are used to with our Stax SR-007 / 007M class C reference setup. Sound is good, but not excellent.

Our last experiment was the trial of the Ferrari Cavallino T250 Headphones by Logic 3 ($431 CDN @ Ferrari) accompanied by 454 Horse Power by Kicking Horse Coffee. Velvety, earthy, Spirited.

Miles Davis's "Doo-Bop!" Smiles.


Great art, at its best, gives up the present, for a new hope, and a new beginning. In our case, at 50% off MSRP, the Calynx Coffee is rated an absolute steal' as a first-run go-to pre-amp / DAC for movies, rock, roll, and retribution. Whether you're watching Star Wars, listing to Supertramp, or kicking it back to a mix by Quentin Tarantino, via iTunes, NetFlix, or what have you... the Coffee delivery just works!

Kicking Horse Coffee 454 Horse Power

For your very own 8-track, get four@
What could be better?

Calynx Coffee DAC / Headphone Amp - sweet butter

Rating: 5/100

Value: 20/100
Total Points: 25/200 Price: Reg. $199 US,  Purchased: $99.95 CDN + tax

www.calyxaudio.com.au

www.hifiart.ca
www.headphonebar.com

[Note] Now, let's interject a little. On $100.00 CDN. At 3% inflation, that $100 will be worth $91 three years from now. As for the DAC, of course not (maybe 0$), but you'll have fun.

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2013/10/16 JP