Mit den Sennheiser HD660S2 und Apple Music Lossless Maxium Qualität hab ich kein Unterschied zum eingebauten DAC from Macbook Pro M1 hören können, sogar im Gegenteil empfand ich den Sound zwar wärmer aber aber nicht besser. Die Lautstarker Regelung war viel zu laut und keine eingebaute weise das zu limitieren auf der Hardware selber. Muss leider zurück, hab deutlich mehr erwartet. Das eingebaute DAC im MacBook Pro M1+ soll ja auch sehr gut schon sein, vielleicht is deswegen die Erwartungshaltung falsch, trotzdem hat es mich gefreut das ich es probieren konnte und wieder zurück schicken.

Sennheiser hat diesen DAC mal als Bundle mit dem Sennheiser HD 650 im Sennheiser-Shop angeboten, so habe ich den Groove erworben, doch meine gute Erfahrungen und Tipps möchte ich hier einfach mal kurz und knapp weitergeben, auch wenn der Kauf mal ausnahmesweise nicht bei Amazon erfolgte.Bei mir ist der Groove seit 2016 täglich stundenlang in unterschiedlichen Konfigurationen in Betrieb (jetzt also 8+ Jahre und unzählige Betriebsstunden). Fazit: sagenhafter, audiophiler Sound! Sogar als externe Soundkarte am PC keine schlechte Wahl, problemlos auch bei Android einsetzbar, allerdings leistungshungrig.Empfehlung für stundenlangen Musikgenuss bei Android: USB-Hub mit PD (Stromversorgung) für wenig Geld dazukaufen, Tablet oder Smartphone als Zuspieler (Musicolet ist als App sehr gut), Groove dran, HIFI genießen!Die Stärke dieses DACs liegt einfach in der Klarheit des Klangs. Details offenbaren sich, die andere DACs oftmals nicht auf diesem Niveau darstellen können, was bei 32 Bit und acht Kanälen kein Wunder ist. ESS stellt sehr unterschiedliche DA-Wandler her, die nicht alle die gleiche Qualität besitzen. Eine Liste bei ESS stellt das klar heraus, wo man schnell erkennt, dass viele DACs nur 2-Kanal-DA-Wandler von ESS haben. Das macht einen hörbaren Unterschied, sogar für mich als Mittvierziger mit entsprechend schlechten Ohren. Konstantstromtechnik ist beim Groove vorhanden und wohl etwas, das man selten und oft nur für deutlich mehr Geld erhält.Optionale Empfehlung für hochohmige Kopfhörer wie den Sennheiser HD 650 (300 Ohm):Kopfhörerverstärker nachschalten, um die volle Leistung zu genießen. Ich nutze hierzu einen XDUOO MT-602 Hybridverstärker, der digitale Technik (Detailauflösung) mit dem warmen Klang von Vakuumröhren verbindet und den einen, alles entscheidenden Vorteil hat, genügend Leistung bereitzustellen (1300mA bei 32 Ohm, weniger natürlich bei 300 Ohm, aber immer noch mehr als die meisten anderen Kopfhörerverstärker - der Vergleich der Leistungsangaben bei 32 Ohm lohnt sich, mit dem Wert von 1300mA im Hinterkopf findet man schnell heraus, welche Verstärker sich eignen und welche einfach zu schwach sind, denn auch wenn oft 300 Ohm angegeben wird, sollte man genau hinschauen).Bei weniger als 300 Ohm Widerstand, also leichteren, leistungsschwächeren Spulen in den Kopfhörern, kann man möglicherweise auf den Kopfhörerverstärker verzichten, da der Groove genug Leistung bereitstellt, entfaltet aber sicher nur einen Teil des Potenzials dieses DACs. Kopfhörer mit hohen Widerständen verfügen eben über entsprechende Wicklungen (daher der Widerstand), woraus sich oft überlegene Klangeigenschaften hochohmiger Kopfhörer ergeben können (nicht müssen). Der Sennheiser Hd 650 ist aber immer noch eine hervorragende Wahl und eine gute Kombination.Ich kann den Apogee Groove nach dieser langen Zeit in jeder Hinsicht empfehlen mit der kleinen Einschränkung, dass der Betrieb an Smartphone/Tablet den Akku strapaziert, und zwar mehr, als bei meinen anderen DACs. Das ist aber der überlegenen Klangqualität und hohen Verstärkung geschuldet und definitiv kein Nachteil, nur eine schlichte Tatsache, die man beachten sollte. Ein aktiver androidfähiger Hub (PD) schafft hier aber Abhilfe und ist eine gute Ergänzung, wenn man sich mit Smartphone oder Tablet ein schickes kleines HIFI-System "basteln" will, das klanglich sicher mehr leistet, als es kostet.

Crocy approved!

Ich habe mir den Apogee Groove für meinen Sennheiser HD 660S gekauft. Den Groove habe ich wahlweise an meinem iPad Pro oder an meinem MacBook mit USB-C Kabel angeschlossen. Apple Music umgestellt auf Hi-Res Lossless Audio mit bis zu 24bit/192kHz umgestellt um das bestmögliche aus dem Groove zu kitzeln.Und was soll ich sagen: so habe ich meinen HD 660S noch nie gehört!Echt Wahnsinn was dieser kleine DAC und Amp da rausholt. Super klarer Sound und die Bühne ist deutlich größer als zuvor.Daher: klare Kaufempfehlung für alle die einen guten Kopfhörer haben und mal wirklich hören wollen was der Kopfhörer so kann wenn man ihn lässt.

Klare Kaufempfehlung!!!

Dieser DAC ist das beste was man auf dem mobilen Markt kriegen kann. Ich habe alle ausprobiert. Klang, Haptik und Verarbeitung sind perfekt. Die 200€ sind absolut gerechtfertigt.

No está a la última (no presume de redenderizar MQA, etc)… pero no le hace ninguna falta (creo que hay mucho marketing con esto del MQA: a veces “mejora” el original, pero no siempre). El Groove proporciona potencia y musicalidad. Sonido muy coherente y dinámico, claro y abierto sin ser, de ningún modo, duro. Me atrevería a decir que es de los mejores, si no un claro “best buy”. Lo apreciarás, sobre todo, si escuchas en plan “audiófilo”… sin obsesionarte. No obstante, hay que tener en cuenta dos cosas. Por un lado, absorbe mucha energía del portátil o el móvil; por otro, tampoco (Apogee lo indica en su web) es que sea muy amigable de los IEM con “controladores de armadura”. Frente a los Fiio o los ifi portables —también muy buenos—, el Groove quizá ofrezca una mayor coherencia. Con el Groove, la música está en primer lugar. Como suele decirse, el mejor árbitro es el que no se hace “el protagonista”.

Die Medien konnten nicht geladen werden.

I was sceptical ordering this unit. Based on reviews, I went ahead. WOW! Am I ever happy I did! This is a quality piece that looks and feels the part. I use it to power my Sennheiser HD650 headphones from my Mac laptop. It runs them beautifully and clean; actually better than I expected. I personally feel it was a worthwhile investment and recommend it to any music lover who wants to power a good set of headphones!

Powerful dac that can power my HD650 (high ohms), HE400i(low ohms, high current required) without problem. Bass is slightly more solid. With it you can just buy the high grade headphones without worrying not able to power them. At least not for a while.

I researched my purchase of the Groove for some time, looking at a variety of options. These included much larger units, some of which feature tube amplification stages. The price range I considered was from around sixty dollars to verging on a thousand. In the end, the preponderance of positive reviews, as well as the claims of easy compatibility with a variety of computers, swayed me. It is something of a leap, initially, spending the best part of three hundred bones on a device approximately the size of my index finger.Let me say for those with limited time - if you're willing to use high quality source material and have a good set of headphones, the Groove is well worth the cost. (That's for the tl;dr crowd.)I purchased the Groove to serve as DAC/Amp for my Alienware 17R3, feeding a set of Sennheiser HD700s.Initial thoughts: I found the Groove to have rather sparse packaging. It appeared to have been opened, though nothing inside indicated that the device had been used. Perhaps the plastic round that sealed the box had simply let go because of the prevailing cold on my porch. In any case, the device came complete with all parts and documentation, and was in working order.The Groove, while diminutive, has an element of great solidity to the chassis. It is no-nonsense, all metal, and has surprising heft. Both the USB portion and the headphone jack fit quite snugly, such that you have to apply more pressure than is typical to fully engage the headphone jack. That's good, in my book.It's necessary to complete the registration to download the Windows driver for the Groove. Yes, Windows vaguely recognized the device prior to driver installation, but it couldn't be made to function in a plug-and-play manner. I'm told Macs don't have this issue.Once the drivers were installed and Windows was apprised of my wishes to use the Groove for sound, everything worked as expected.With a device like the Groove, my feeling is that you won't know that there's anything you're not hearing until you listen to a familiar piece of music and start hearing nuances, or the lifting of veils that had previously lay across the soundscape. My laptop has a fairly high performance sound card, a SoundBlaster Recon 3Di. I'd been quite happy with the sound with the small Sennheiser PX100s before setting up the rig with the big cans. It had lots of potency, driving my headphones to all comfortable levels well before fifty percent power, and having a lot of slam.Well, you don't know what you don't know. Until you do. But don't let me get ahead of myself...First of all, don't make all judgments of the Groove on the first hour of listening. It will take some time to open up, and because it is a neutral, balanced delivery, it doesn't create drama out of nothing. You have to take the time to let it prove itself to you. In the absence of bombastic bass, oversaturated mids, or zing-y highs, it takes a minute.The Sennheiser HD700s are not amongst the hardest of large headphones to drive. They are *laughably* easy to drive for the Groove. Anything above 20% volume may be foolhardy in regards to maintaining your hearing. Of course, this depends upon the recording level used in your source material, and the dynamic range employed. Classical and older recordings may require a bit more punch to come through at full song.Another note. With a Windows machine, you may not want to do a lot of tries at A/B testing between your onboard audio and the Groove. It caused me to have to restart after I'd done it once too often. Anyway, the Groove will beat your onboard audio by such a wide margin that you won't need to think hard about it. Trust me.The Groove, at first, demonstrated its clarity, deep black noise floor, and effortless drive. However, in the first few records, it did induce a very slight fatigue. This was a fatigue that was difficult to ascribe to any audible phenomenon, but was nonetheless present. I found that, after several hours of listening to less critical sounds (games, videos, etc.), this went away, and the Groove ascended to an even higher plane of enjoyment for me.What to compare it to? Well, I pay it a compliment by saying that it compares favorably with the headphone output of my Onkyo CD player, which features Wolfson 24/192 DACs, having every bit the drive, clarity, and power of the output of that full sized device. Again, remember that this is a device just bigger than a pack of Juicy Fruit gum. And take my word for it, if there were a lot of faults to be found here, the Sennheiser 700s would allow me to do so.I don't have a lot of experience with other DAC/amps, so I can't put them all into perspective for you. However, I have been an audio enthusiast since I was old enough to reach the turntable on my dad's stereo. I have heard some fine systems, including B&W, Wilson, Conrad-Johnson, Mark Levinson, etc.. I have some fair clue about how great Hi-Fi sounds. I am sure that there are devices that would be more to some tastes, in that they might have a tone or flavor, being warm or analytical, dynamic or laid-back. I would say that the Groove seems to introduce the bare minimum of editorial to the signal chain, just giving you the music and the sound of your headphones.In use, the Groove is exceedingly simple. It can be altered in volume either by the buttons on the device, or by the volume slider on the Windows Tray. I like the buttons, as they go up by one percent intervals, which is nice and granular. A pet peeve of mine is a volume control that moves in such large minimum interval that it is difficult to find a happy medium between too quiet and too loud. No issues like that exist here, at least in my implementation. I suppose, with the very highest possible efficiency 'phones, it could. However, Apogee has to make the device such that it can power much more challenging transducers, so I think they have done as well as can be done with this aspect.I find the almost anachronistic feature of a reactive led column indicating program intensity to be, for whatever reason, highly amusing. It calls to mind the spectrum analyzers of the 80s, like the old JVC my father owned. There is something timeless about a reactive display of some sort. A V/U meter, or the like. I appreciate the inclusion of this element on an otherwise all-function device.The Groove appears to draw a fairly significant amount of power, so using it while on battery power with a laptop, or using some clever workaround to use it with a portable music player or phone will likely result is a fairly significant reduction in runtime. The device, while at idle or in use, remains slightly warm to the touch. I have never felt it get hot, per se, but I have also not run it for any length of time above around twenty-two percent power. Your results with a much more challenging load, or powering an input to a larger device, may vary.I should note that I used only full-quality FLAC rips from commercial CDs during my critical evaluation. I did use it for less critical listening, as well. Introducing realistic, non-boosted levels to gaming sound was...interesting. I don't believe that a high fidelity rig is necessarily vital for that purpose, but I suppose it would depend on the game. Streaming videos featured the sound quality at which they were recorded, which is to say anything from abysmal to quite good. The Groove may tidy up low bit rate sound and give it the best sendoff it can, but a bad recording is not going to be miraculously saved by euphonic sugar coating.After all that bloviating, I can say this much: The Groove is a fine product. Even the rarefied pinnacle of the headphone kingdom will probably be, at the least, give its just dues by this little device. Are there better options? Perhaps. I would be inclined to believe that most of them are larger, more complex, and possibly more difficult to implement. Using a fine pair of headphones and the Groove, it is entirely possible to get revelatory sound from your computer. For far less than a thousand dollars, you can have a setup that will keep you up deep into the night, just listening to that one last track, that one last disk. For me, that's pretty good return on investment.

Apogee Groove è uno dei migliori DAC USB e amplificatore cuffie portatile per ascoltare al meglio la musica su Mac o PC(non dovrebbe funzionare su smartphone, invece sul mio, già ottimo, Lg V10 funziona benissimo tramite l'applicazione android "USB Audio Player Pro").La qualità del suono di Apogee Groove è davvero alta con una precisa immagine stereofonica, bassi incisivi e alti chiarissimi.La potenza dell'amplificatore è capace di guidare cuffie ad alta impedenza anche da 600ohm.Il costo di poco superiore ai 300€ è davvero un affare considerando che suona anche meglio di DAC che costano oltre i 900€.Se volete ascoltare la musica con la dovuta qualità senza spendere cifre alte da audiofilo, questo dispositivo è il perfetto connubio tra qualità/costo.Altre info:' Connessione USB 2.0 su Mac senza driver, invece su PC windows bisogna registrarsi al sito di Apogee per scaricare i driver necessari per il funzionamento.' Risoluzione audio fino a 24 bit / 192 kHz.' DAC ESS Sabre Quad Sum DAC', 4 DAC per canale in grado di aumentare il range dinamico e abbassare la distorsione con segnale audio puro e privo di jitter.' Grazie alla tecnologia proprietaria di Apogee 'Constant Current Drive''; alla giusta potenza di uscita adatta per qualsiasi impedenza, Groove riprodurrà al meglio qualsiasi sitema audio.' Indicatori di livello e di stato multicolore e 2 grandi pulsanti per il volume.' Migliora l'esperienza di ascolto con file audio di alta qualità, iTunes, Tidal, Spotify, ecc..' Compatto e trasportabile con un peso di 68g incluso cavetto e misure di: 94,5 x 30 x 16 mm' Alimentazione via USB' Costruzione di alluminio ed alta qualità made in USA.