Review
First of all, it should be pointed out that this is the first entry-level portable USB DAC/AMP from Dethonray. However, from what we’ve actually experienced, both in terms of usage and sound performance, it’s hard to associate the Clarinet with an entry-level product. We’ll talk about this in more detail later.
The Clarinet has a clean and minimalist design, featuring a finely polished all-metal body that offers a pleasant texture and feel to the hand.
The size of the unit is the same as the brand’s Bluetooth Amplifier, the SG1 series.
The Clarinet is easy to work with, on the top of the unit is the On/Off volume knob, which is silky smooth and the volume adjustment experience is very good. Meanwhile we can see a 3.5mm single-ended output, and a 4.4mm balanced output. As well as a Coaxial/Optical input. On the bottom of the device we can see the high and low gain toggle knobs as well as two separate USBC ports. These provide charging and data transfer functions respectively. The dual USB ports are designed so that the charging and the transmission functions can be carried out at the same time, making it convenient for music lovers to enjoy a long listening session.
In terms of sound, the clarinet manages to hold on to the delicate, highly resolved, musical sound of the Dethonray, while maintaining a certain amount of thickness. The Clarinet is equipped with AKM’s latest 4493s chip, which provides an excellent level of musicality and detail resolving quality, delivering a high level of immersive sound and pure timbre in the digital-to-analogue conversion process.
Thanks to Dethonray’s exclusive DPPU (Desktop Plus Power Unit) power supply system design, its digital and analogue circuits are isolated from the power supply design, making the background darker and bringing out the details of the music even more. At the same time, this unique power supply system avoids low-voltage to high-voltage transitions and maintain high circuitry efficiency. The compact body of the Clarinet contains a powerful driving force. In the High-Gain mode, the Clarinet is able to handle some full size headphones or planar driver IEMs that require certain amount of power in a decent manner, with excellent sound and musicality, and you can hardly find rivals in this price range.
Before we get into the details of the sound performance, it is important to point out the great variety of scenarios in which the Clarinet can be used. Thanks to the Coaxial/Optical inputs, in addition to pairing with a digital audio source through the USBC port to use it as a DAC/AMP, you can also connect some front-ends with Coaxial outputs or some old CD players with Optical outputs to the Clarinet. Clarinet has adopted a professional-grade chip from AKM, the AK4118A, to ensure that the analogue output is well-balanced in all frequency bands, and away from the digital sound. In this way, we will be able to listen to many of our favourite music collection, as well as enjoy the Clarinet’s high resolution, more powerful sound presentation.
Over some time of listening, we found that the Clarinet delivers excellent sound, with superb resolution. The high frequencies are fine and well controlled, not overly exciting, without any uncomfortable sibilance, and there was no fatigue on extended listening sessions.
The midrange of the Clarinet has that unique flavour of the Dethonray brand, with a delicate and smooth touch. When listening to acoustic music, you can experience the richness and lushness that is not easily to be found in this price range.
The low frequencies are powerful, with a certain diffusion, which ensures a sufficient sense of musical atmosphere, while the bass dive speed is excellent, and there is no muddy, shuffling feeling when listening to instruments or electronic music.
It is worth pointing out that in our opinion, the Clarinet has a much fuller and richer sound when paired with a coaxial/optical input.
—Mirin Review
Dethonray Clarinet – Affordable Premium Sound + Tangzu – Yu Xuan Ji
Similarly to all Dethonray products, this one is deceivingly portable. Comparable in shape and size to lots of rivals but with unexpectedly large sound, powerful to drive most of power-hungry head gear. The main distinguishing factor for me is its sound signature – smooth, resolving, with rich mids and mellow timbre. It stands much closer to old school tube overtones rather than modern brightness and clinics of ESS-based DACs. Gets even more delightful when paired with real tube amp/preamp before sending it to speakers or headphones. Still, leaves a room for signature change with another firmware if colder sound is a preference.
Dethonray Clarinet USB DAC/AMP – deceivingly portable
Dethonray Clarinet USB ЦАП/усилитель – обманчиво портативный