DAC Chip: JC Custom Chip
PCM 24bit – 96khz, SNR: 103db, Power: 1 Vrms, USB Type-C Male, 3.5mm SE (Microphone: YES), 5g Aluminum Chassis, SPC Cable
Listening Equipment: Etymotic ER4SR, TIN HiFi P1, HZSOUND Heart Mirror, Moondrop Aria, VE Monk GO, Shure KSE1500. Source: USB 3.2 Samsung S20
LISTENING EQUIPMENT USED IMPARTED HUGE INFLUENCE TO SOUND IMPRESSIONS & RATING
💚PROS
- Timbre is clean and clear neutral flat, with sparkly, airy overtones
- Well controlled dynamics, full bodied with smooth airy presentation
- Well nuanced Micro and Macro details on technically adept IEMs
- Slightly forward Mids with rich textures and definition, natural toned Male/Female vocals
- Sparkly Treble with smooth decays, good extensions
- Smooth Mid-Bass, tight, fast with crisp decays
- Sub-Bass offers mild seismic response with mild decays.
- Realistic guitars, piano, percussions (chimes, bells) and drums and taps
- Well-rounded soundstage width with good depth and placement
- Good holographic spatial imaging with sharp precise placement/layers
- Good speed and dexterity on complex passages and transients
- Super clean background, zero floor noises even with Moondrop Aria 122db
- Clean layers and well-defined separation lines
- Drives Magnetic Planars and BA at 75/100 volume for normal listening level
- Forgiving on Lo-Fi and lower quality sources
- Good heat management, does not get hot easily
- Merciful on battery drain to the host
💔CONS
- Driving power for great fidelity maxed out below 100Ω and with no less than 96d sensitivity.
- No volume adjuster
VERDICT
JCally JM08c. This is take 2 for this unit. The first one I bought was burnt out during the early stages of testing. I bought a second unit and it has been working great since day 1.
JCally did not disclose what chip they use inside this thing. It does not bother me much as what’s more important is how it sounds. Among many of JCally Dongles, this JM08c does sound very similar to its twin sibling of JM08L. The sound characteristic is somewhere between JM04Pro and JM20. It has the right amount of brightness not to sound too hot for sparkly BA or Magnetic Planar IEMs, and it is not too warm/organic to sound tame when used with DD IEMs. There’s evidence of careful tuning here to allow JM08c perform as an all rounder – a jack of all trade that can synergize with many but don’t exactly being great at anything particular as well. What it does offer in spades, clean and clear neutral timbre with good energetic dynamics to make even ER4SR/TIN HiFi P1 sings properly.
JM08c struck the best synergy with my HZSOUND Heart Mirror and Moondrop Aria, both of which are low impedance and with high level of sensitivity. Dynamics are markedly vibrant with good airy notes to the tone. With Aria, JM08c was able to control bass response adeptly with tight and rich texture. Bass performance was very punchy on the Heart Mirror and slightly faster compared to Aria. Mids presented with slightly forward imaging, Treble with good sparkle and decays.
In perspective, JM08c from my personal standpoint performs better than JM20, JM20 have that tendency to be a bit hot on Treble spikes on some songs. JM08c has similar finesse to JM04Pro and offers very slight brightness in contrast to that smooth ALC model.
⭐⭐⭐½ ($4.30)
Best Pairing: Sensitive Dynamic Drivers IEM below 70Ω
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