Sound Analysis.
The sound analysis of 3kT was done using Aroma Jewel, playing a selection of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The Curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So Much Better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love Again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. Since 3kT arrived sealed in the box and considering we are dealing with miniature Tubes here, I had 100 hours of burn-in time before I started analyzing this DAP.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair-ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how it sounds through connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to source comparison using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. This is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it while analyzing the sound of 3kT. You will get a bigger picture of this DAP’s sound performance in the follow-up sections of Comparison and Pair up.
Back when I tried 3kT during CanJam NYC, my sound comparison (to 3k) in OP mode was by memory, while now I had a chance to do a real a/b comparison with 3k. I found them both to have a similar neutral reference sound quality with a natural tonality, though 3k is still “cleaner” and more revealing with hardly any coloring. Both DAPs are capable of precise retrieval of details, though 3k is more resolving, and has an upper hand in technical performance, such as having more holographic soundstage expansion and more vertical dynamics expansion. In comparison, 3kT in OP mode has a more intimate soundstage presentation and smoother sound.
Once you switch to Tube mode, you can hear a difference in sound with a warmer analog tonality that adds body to the sound, including a deeper sub-bass rumble. The sound also feels like it has a slower attack with a more laid-back presentation. It felt like the attack of the notes became slower and less aggressive, and the notes decay was longer which creates a more laidback presentation of the sound. When you switch to Hybrid mode, you can hear a faster speed (like in OP mode) with a warmer tonality (like in Tube mode). It literally felt like a hybrid performance. Plus, in Hybrid mode you have 5 adjustment steps where at ‘1’ it was closer to OP mode, and at ‘5’ – closer to Tube mode, most likely adjusting the mixing level between OP and Tube modes.
Another change I noticed when switching to Tube/Hybrid mode was an improvement in soundstage width and depth, as well as sound becoming more dynamic. While in Tube/Hybrid mode, you will also have access to Current change adjustments from low to mid and high. The change was quite noticeable with the sound becoming more holographic, especially when it comes to the imaging and placement of the instruments relative to the vocals. I also noticed the vertical dynamics scaling up, resulting in improvements in layering and separation of the sounds. When switching back to OP mode, it felt like the sound was a bit more compressed and center-focused (more depth and less width), and then going back to Tube/Hybrid in High Current mode made it more expanded and dynamic.
My favorite setting was in Hybrid mode with High Current since it gave the sound a more holographic soundstage/imaging, analog warmth, improved dynamic expansion, and a bit faster sound in comparison to pure Tube mode. Also, it brought SP3000T’s technical performance closer to SP3000. Perhaps 3kT doesn’t have as black of background as 3k, but it adds a sweet analog texture to the sound, especially in mids, to give it more musicality without compromising on retrieval of details or adding a tube-related distortion. Tube mode was a big surprise since it expanded the soundstage and added an extra dimension to imaging, along with the improvement in vertical dynamics where you can notice more movement in transient changes of sound peaks, making it less compressed and with some improvements in layering and separation of the sounds.
4.4mm/2.5mm vs 3.5mm – When comparing balanced versus single-ended outputs, the sound tonality is identical. The only difference I hear is in soundstage expansion where 4.4mm output is a little wider, while, as expected, 4.4mm and 2.5mm are the same. Another obvious difference is SE being less powerful, requiring me about 8 more clicks to match the volume of BAL output.
Crossfeed – While examining the effect of Crossfeed functionality, when enabled, I hear a change in soundstage width and imaging with left/right channels blending in. As a result, I don’t hear a holographic effect anymore, especially in Tube/Hybrid High current mode, and instead, the sound has a more intimate center-focus which sounds almost mono. It will be up to a personal preference, depending on what you like. I preferred Crossfeed to be disabled since I like my soundstage as open and holographic as possible.
Digital Audio Remaster (DAR) – Testing with DAR upsampling into PCM affected the technical performance of the sound where I’m hearing the improvements in the sound dynamics and the soundstage expansion. But this effect was more noticeable in OP mode, especially with lower-res mp3 (320kbps) tracks, and less noticeable in Tube/Hybrid modes. For me, I left it on permanently.
w/Sensitive IEMs – Not everybody uses sensitive IEMs and some don’t even hear the hissing others do. But the question of the waterfall type of hissing does come up quite often after my reviews, with people asking me how a particular source handles Campfire Audio (Andro and Solaris) or VE (VE10 and Phoenix) IEMs. Thus, I try to include that in my sound analysis and pair-up notes. Using “The Curse” test track, especially at a low volume and while focusing on the first 30 seconds of its instrumental intro, I do hear a noticeable waterfall hissing with 3kT using sensitive IEMs but only in Tube mode.
Comparison.
In every comparison I used Aroma Jewel, volume matched while listening to the same test tracks between DAPs. Also, in this comparison, I mostly focus on the difference in sound as I hear it.
SP3000T vs SP3000 – in OP mode with tubes disabled (3kT), they both have a similar neutral reference sound signature with a natural tonality, though 3k is “cleaner” without too much coloring. Both DAPs are capable of the precise retrieval of details, but 3k is more resolving and micro-detailed. Compared to 3kT in OP mode, 3k has an upper hand in technical performance while having more holographic soundstage expansion and more dynamic vertical expansion of the sound. When you switch 3kT to Hybrid mode and High Current, the soundstage expansion and dynamics become closer to 3k. However, there will be a difference in tonality since 3k is still cleaner, without any coloring. And I also felt like 3k imaging is a bit more holographic. Another noticeable difference is the black background of the 3k which 3kT can’t match. But one thing stood out to me. In my 3k review, I mentioned it didn’t synergize as well with my headphones because the sound was too clean. But I found the opposite with 3kT and its tube coloring which improved the synergy and added the analog sweetness in mids.
The bottom line here is I can’t say one is an upgrade or superior to the other because they offer different sound-tuning flavors, with 3kT offering multiple options when you are searching for a better pair-up synergy with your IEMs and headphones.
SP3000T vs SP2000T – in OP mode, 2kT has a little deeper sub-bass and slightly more zing in treble, while 3kT follows a 3k path with more neutral tuning with transparent tonality. Switching to Tube mode, “warms up” 2kT mids with more coloring and fuller body, and also a bit more sparkle in treble which makes the sound more revealing. 3kT in Tube mode gains more warmth and body in mids, but the treble is smoother and the sound is not as “clean” as in 2kT since I hear more texture in 3kT. I’m well aware that NuTube will not perform on the same level as JAN6418 miniature tubes, and you can certainly hear it when comparing these DAPs in Tube mode. 2kT sounds warmer in comparison to its OP mode, but not as analog or textured as 3kT in Tube mode especially with the High Current setting. Also, 3kT in Tube High Current mode has more holographic soundstage/imaging. I do consider 3kT to be a worthy upgrade to 2kT.
Other DAP comparisons.
SP3000T vs Cayin N8ii – I was curious to check out this comparison after 2kT vs 3kT because N8ii has dual NuTube timbre-coloring, and I was expecting to hear similar comparison results. But to my surprise, the sound difference between 3kT Tube High Current vs N8ii in NuTube mode wasn’t too far off. I did have to switch N8ii to Class A amp mode to give the sound a more laidback presentation, but in terms of the tonality they both had a similar analog warmth in mids. I spent quite some time going back and forth in this comparison. There is a bit more texture in the 3kT sound, especially when switching to High Current which makes N8ii dual NuTube Class A tuning to be a bit cleaner in mids, but the gap in sound difference wasn’t as wide as it was between 2kT and 3kT.
SP3000T vs iBasso DX320 w/amp14 – another interesting comparison between 3kT and NuTubes-based source since I’m using DX320 w/amp14 NuTube amp card. In this comparison, I hear a slightly different presentation of the sound. While 3kT is more neutral in sound signature with a warmer analog tonality, 320 w/amp14 has a sound presentation with more emphasis on mid-bass punch and treble sparkle. Interestingly, mids are very similar, both have a warmer analog tonality, maybe with a bit more texture in 3kT. But when going back and forth between these two DAPs, 3kT is more neutral and more relaxed/laidback while 320 w/amp14 has stronger bass and more energetic treble.
SP3000T vs Sony WM1ZM2 – the imaging between these two daps is similar but I find the soundstage expansion to be a little wider in 3kT. The tonality of 3kT in Tube High Current mode and WM1ZM2 (vinyl processor and DSEE Ultimate enabled) was very similar, both being smoother and warmer, though I’m still picking up more analog texture in 3kT. I did notice M2 to have a little stronger mid-bass punch. And while in my previous comparison of 3k vs M2, I found 3k to have a blacker background, now between 3kT and M2 the background is on the same level. When it comes to operation, even though M2 is based on Android 11, its slower processor makes the operation not as fast as 3kT. Also, 3kT has a more powerful output when it comes to driving full-size headphones.
Page 4 – Pair up, Wired/wireless connections, and Conclusion.
Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4
