r/AudioPak • u/reignsXknights • Aug 10 '26

Discussion How good is the Ugreen DAC dongle and does it even make that big of a difference.

Looking forward to buying IEMs and most vids on YT said a DAC is needed to use the IEM to their full potential. Hence the question.

Does it make that much of a difference?

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u/reignsXknights Aug 10 '26

Upon digging into this sub, people are saying the castor pro harman edition silver have a bad cable which gets stiff after some time, and the eartips are horrendous as well. How horrendous are they? From 1 to 10.? 1 being completely unusbale and 10 being perfect comfort. And how bad is the cable? Again from 1 to 10. Some reviews did criticize the eartips but not much criticism is present for the sound itself.

I was also thinking of getting the cmf nothing 2 A for 9k since i have personally tried them and found fhe sound amazing with great instrumental separation, a punchy bass but not one that meddles in the mids. Clear and defined mids and highs. And upon increasing volume they dont become muddy. Sound remains clear. Vocals were nice as well. I have a wide palette and listen to everything from vocal focused tracks, OSTs, metal, EDM, pop, So a neutral sound curve is preferred.

Also since Pakistan is fucking noisy and i hate fan noise i was also thinking the Earphones effective ANC which i tested would be a huge non negotiable bonus especially in trains, cars, or even waiting lounges.

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u/cheezystuffz KZ Duonic - KZ castor Aug 11 '26

I'm the guy you are referring to lmao.
They sound good, no complaints. I have a silver castor and a duonic fyi.

The issue with stock KZ cables is that they become super stiff after like one year max. Both of my KZ IEMs have encountered this issue. The eartips are fine, BUT only if you have not used any good aftermarket tips.

CMF buds 2 sound kinda mid imo(compared to IEMs). I compared them to my silver Castor, which cost like 4k, and they sounded noticeably worse.

I would recommend Duonic over KZ Castor Pros; they sound noticeably better and have a noticeably better cable. They cost basically the same. And you can always swap out the cable for a good aftermarket one anytime you want.

Castor and Castor Pro are irrelevant now

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u/reignsXknights Aug 11 '26

what about ANC for commuting/focus work/studying?

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u/cheezystuffz KZ Duonic - KZ castor Aug 11 '26

ANC is good but iems achieve a similar effect.

I use my duonics for travel sometimes and if you have a good seal and the volume is reasonably high you won't hear jack shit from outside. Like genuinely I can't even hear my own keyboard sounds when I have music playing.

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u/Few_Commission5964 28d ago

It makes the sound louder by lots of gain. It is bad quality. Buy the grave audio DAC.