Audirect Beam 2SE

disclaimer:  The Audirect Beam2Se was provided by HiFiGo for purposes of this review.  I have no financial interest in Hilidac or HifiGo and have received no renumeration beyond the deivce itself for this review.    If you have an interest in learning more about the Beam2Se or other Hilidac products please see their website.   To purchase a Beam2Se, please visit HiFiGo.

 

Packaging:

The box is a simple lift top in matte black with red lettering.  The lid is emblazoned with the Audirect name and logo with the specs on the reverse.  Somewhat curiously, the model name is nowhere to be found and there is nothing that identifies the contents as a dongle dac/amp.  One can gather that from the other information provided, but it does leave the consumer to do their homework as the package does little to help sell the product.   Once opened, the dac/amp rests in a foam surround tray with the cables and adapter hiding underneath.  The accessories are well laid out and the result is the package exudes more style and confidence as each cable is housed in a foam surround to prevent damage and scratches.   For a budget item, this is a nice touch as it feels more premium than the price tag would suggest.  Unfortunately no case is provided and other than the unit itself the kit contains a USB Type-C cable, a USB Type-C to lightning cable, and a USB Type-C to A adapter.    Some form on carry case that protects the unit as well as the shipping container would be a nice addition here.

 

Build:

The Beam2Se is well made with metal sides and ends and glass top and bottom plates.   The Top has the audirect logo, this time in white with a single LED immediately below it at the USB Type-C end and the Beam2Se name at the 3.5mm end.  The rear face has the audirect website address and the MQA logo in the same white on black color scheme as the front.   The left side of the unit (Top up with lettering right side up) has a single button and another LED next to it that is used to indicate gain level.   The button is roughly equal with the surrounding metal surface and has a tactile click to change settings so it not very likely to be pressed accidentally.   Overall the unit is 2 inches long, about ½ an inch wide, and about ½ an inch tall.   Pictures with a US dollar and dime give a good idea of exactly how diminutive this dongle is with the only one in my collection smaller being the Hiby FC3 which is roughly equal in height and width but about ¼ inch shorter comparatively.    I do prefer the construction on the beam as the FC3 has a large visible seam and less heft and just seems less well made in side-by-side comparisons.

 

Internals:

The Beam2se is designed around the ES9281C Pro chip which is the latest in the family introduced in 2016 in things like the LG v20.    The ES9281C is a system on a chip rather than being strictly a DAC.  This combines USB audio input functions, jitter correction, DAC/ADC functions, PLL (phase correction), and amplifier (Op-amp) into a single chip which saves space and allows the Beam2se to the be the smallest Beam yet.   The 9281 is often referred to product literature as a quad dac and is based on the original 9118 pro series chip with 8 channels allowing summing of 4 per channel when used in 2 channel applications.    This allows for lower distortion and better SNR as a result of summing the inputs.      This latest generation of beam offers support for up to 32/384 PCM, DSD128, and MQA so should cover most needs.   Output power is listed as  greater than 115mW with a 16Ω load. I found the Beam2Se best paired to headphones with fairly high sensitivity and impedance of  150Ω or lower for best results.   More information on the ES9281 can be found here.

Controls:

Controls are minimal for sure with a single button on the side of the unit, but that button does serve two functions.   Quick presses of the button set the gain to one of three levels with the adjacent LED showing green on low gain, yellow on mid, and red on high gain.   Pressing and holding the button down turns the LED indicator on the front face on or off for use at night.

 

 

Sound:

Bass has good extension and delivers good thump and rumble as long as sensitivity and impedance of the headphone attached is kept with in reason (high 90s or better and 150Ω or lower).  With hard to drive headphones, the Beam2Se does lose some bass impact especially when tracks have several large hits in sequence.    Mid-bass is clean and fast and again slam is well delivered when expectations are kept within reason.

Mids are well presented with no major lifts or recesses in the range and good detail throughout and treble follows very much that same path.  Top end extension is quite good as well  with some air and sparkle at the top.

Stage is reasonable sized and here I find it to be very dependent on what headphone is in use.  I can say the Beam2Se does little to detract from whatever the headphone is capable of, but I’m not certain I can honestly attribute stage dimensions to the DAC/Amp.

 

Comparisons:

Audirect Beam –   the Beam2Se is smaller by a good margin and construction has improved in my estimation as well as surfaces are better polished and overall fit is better.  The original beam did support DSD256 while this newer model is limited to 128 but it gains MQA that wasn’t supported on the original.   the Beam2Se also more than doubles the realistic output power of the original.  The controls on the original are gone on the newer model, but most times the external controls are a bit problematic as different apps may not use them correctly or fail to recognize them at all so the clean surfaces of the Beam2 make it less likely to accidentally change songs or volume.   The Beam2Se is a solid improvement on the original in my view.

Xduoo Xlink 2- The XLink2 comes closer in form factor to the original Beam than to the Se with its larger size, more controls, and options.   The Beam2Se and Xlink2 sport similar power output, both come with USB and Lightning cables, and both are roughly the same price point.   The Beam2se adds MQA support while the XLink adds native DSD256, bass boost and atmosphere support.     These two are close competitors and feature set may well determine the winner as MQA vs DSD256 may well be the deciding factor.

Dragonfly Red –  The Dragonfly red is getting a bit long in the tooth and while it was a great product at intro, others have now passed it by.  The Beam2Se is an example of this.  The Dragonfly has no provision for USB-C or lightning connectors, is limited to 24/96 PCM playback, and the build quality with its plastic shell cant match  the Beam2se even though it is roughly double the size of the Beam2Se.   Feature set favors the beam2se as well as both support MQA but PCM is much less limited on the Beam2se with 32/384 support.

Hiby FC3 –  these two are nearly identical.  The FC3 is about ¼ inch shorter, both use metal shells although the fit and polish of the beam2se is a bit nicer, and both sport the same chip internally.   As a result format support is equal, power is roughly equal, and there is little to separate the two excepting the selectable gain on the Beam2Se which might make the difference for those using sensitive in-ears that have a tendency to hiss.  

 

Conclusions:

The market for phone and tablet dac/amps has gotten increasingly busy with the carcasses of many first generation products now littering the roadside as new models come to market with increasing speed and in larger and larger numbers.  Feature sets that used to be reserved for full-sized desktop products are now finding their way into dongles the size of a pack of Wrigley’s spearmint.   The Beam2Se sports improved power and smaller form factor compared to the 1st generation, 3 gain levels, MQA support, and support for both Android and IOS out of the box.   The fact that all of this can be had for less than $100USD retail speaks to the changing times.    Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that even with all those features and that price point, it still has heavy competition and while it is certainly worth an audition, it doesn’t do enough to stand out head and shoulders above the rest of the field and earn a grab this and don’t look back.