Audirect Beam 4 Review

 

Introduction:

Audirect is part of Shenzen Micronetwork Technology Co., Ltd. located in Shenzen – China that is specialized in development, production and sales of portable DAC and DAC/Amplifiers. The Audirect Beam 4 is the latest Portable USB DAC/Amplifier of the company that features an ES9281AC Pro DAC Chip, a Self-Developed Battery Compensation & Power Management Control System, 3.5mm+4.4mm Dual Headphone Outputs, Three Femtosecond-Level Crystal Oscillators and many more.

Disclaimer:

I would like to thank Shenzhen Audio and Audirect for providing me the Beam 4 for review purposes. I am not affiliated with Shenzhen Audio and Audirect beyond this review and these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.

 

Price & Availability:

The actual price of the Audirect Beam Portable DAC/Amplifier is about $239,99 US$. More information’s can be found under the link below;

• Audirect BEAM 4 USB DAC/Amplifier

 

Package & Accessories:

The Audirect Beam 4 came inside a relative small rectangular black box that has the Audirect brand logo on the top.

The box of the Beam 4 including the following items:

• 1 x Audirect Beam 4 Portable DAC/Amplifier
• 1 x USB Type-C to USB Type-C
• 1 x USB Type-C to USB A Adapter

 

Design & Build Quality:

The Audirect Beam 4 is a pretty small USB DAC/Amplifier with a rectangular shape that has a pretty aesthetic looking prismatic front cover design. The housing is made from metal material with an anodized surface in bluish green color. The device has dimensions of L75xW39xH14mm and is pretty lightweight with just 62grams inclusive built-in battery.

On the front of the Beam 4 are three LED indicators, two near the top and one near the bottom. The one near the bottom gives information about the sampling rate & format; the other two LED indicators are dedicated for the self developed battery and Three-Level Adjustable Gain status.

On the top of the Beam 4 are the USB Type-C Data/Charging interface and a small opening fro the built-in microphone.

At the bottom of the device you will find the 3.5mm Single Ended and the 4.4mm Balanced analog outputs interfaces.

The left surface of the Beam 4 sport three multi functional physical buttons dedicated for volume, play/pause and track skipping or rewind.

Here is also the Audirect branding that has been engraved in to the surface of the solid aluminum body.

At the right side of the USB DAC/Amplifier you will two more buttons, one that is dedicated for power On/Off and one that for the Three-Level Adjustable gain option.

The rear surface of the Beam 4 sports the MQA logo, the serial number of the device and the Audirect Co., LTD letters.

The build quality of the Audirect Beam is pretty solid, which doesn’t show any imperfections such like burrs or gaps.

 

Technical Specifications:

• Model                         : Beam 4
• DAC Chip                   : ES9281AC Pro
• Sampling Frequency  : 2-Bit/768kHz PCM & Native DSD512
• Output Power             : 3.5mm SE 122mW @ 32Ω / 4.4mm BAL 230mW @ 32Ω
• Frequency response  : 20 Hz – 40 kHz @ 0.032dB
• SNR                           : -119dB
• THD-N                        : 0.0003%
• Input port                    : USB-C
• Output port                 : 3.5mm Single Ended, 4.4mm Balanced
• Battery Capacity        : 1200mAh
• Earphone Impedance : 16 – 600Ω
• Dimensions                : L75xW39xH14mm
• Weight                        : 62grams

 

Hardware:

The Audirect Beam 4 is a pretty interesting USB DAC/Amplifier that features some remarkable hardware components.

Digital to Analog Converter (DAC):

The Audirect Beam is equipped with an ES9281AC Pro DAC chip from ESS Sabre Technologies that is able to process High-Resolution audio Signals with a pretty Low Noise-Floor and Distortion. The SNR value of the Beam 4 is approx about -119dB, while the THD-N level is around 0.0003%. The Beam 4 supports MQA decoding as well as high-resolution PCM up to 32 Bit/768kHz and Native DSD up to DSD512.

Amplification & Noise Floor:

The Audirect Beam 4 is maybe not the most powerful USB DAC/Amplifier at this price category, but it offers a pretty clean output. The 3.5mm Single Output offers up 122mW @ 32Ω, while the 4.4mm Balanced interface has a output power of 230mW @ 32Ω.

Battery:

The Audirect Beam 4 features a 1200mAh large battery, which is part of the Self-Developed Battery Compensation & Power Management Control System. The main benefit of the battery is a more stable power supply to the internal circuitry including the decoder host and headphone output.

Microphone:

The Audirect Beam 4 has a build in microphone, which will be automatically activated when you pair it with a Smartphone or Tablet. The voice transmission and clarity of the microphone was surprisingly good.

LED Indicator: 

Audirect Beam 4 features a multicolor indicator LED light that illuminates in different colors based on the active file bitrates. The LED illuminates is in red for Basic conversations like PCM up to 48kHz bitrates, Blue for 384kHz PCM bitrates, Yellow for DoP at work, White for native DSD and Magenta for MQA decoding. There’s also a battery indicator light this light starts flashing red when the battery is too low.

 

Equipment’s used for this review:

• DAC’s             : Audirect Beam 4
• IEM’s              : Moondrop Blessing3, Whizzer HE10, FiiO FA7S
• Headphones  : Moondrop Void 2
• Source           : Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, ASUS TUF FX505DU

 

Albums & Tracks used for this review:

• Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Ferit Odman – Look, Stop & Listen (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
• Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Daft Punk – Contact (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Bro Safari, UFO! – Drama (Deezer HiFi)
• Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Really Slow Motion – Deadwood (Deezer HiFi)
• Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
• Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
• Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Photek – The Hiden Camera (Spotify)
• Muse – Hysteria (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Rush – YYZ (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Rush – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)s
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
• Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)
• Adele – My Little Love (Spotify)
• Randy Crawford – On Day I Will Fly Away (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Hayley Westenra – Odyssey Album (Dezzer HiFi)
• Dionne Warwick – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Sonya Yoncheva – (Giuseppe Verdi) II Trovatore, ActI (Flac 24bit/44kHz)
• Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
• Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• B.B. King – Riding With The King (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Tidal Hi-Fi)

 

Sound Analysis:

The Audirect Beam 4 has a pretty neutral sound signature that offers a fairly balanced bass, treble and midrange presentation. The bass is produced with a good level of depth and fullness, while the midrange shows an above average level of clarity, along with a tonality is mildly warm. The treble range on the other hand has a fairly natural sense of presence and a good grade of extension.

The Audirect Beam 4 review has been written after a burn-in period of about 60 hours. My sound experiences below are based on my auditions with IEM’s like Moondrop Blessing3, Whizzer HE10, FiiO FA7S and headphone like the Moondrop Void over the 3.5mm Single Ended output, which offers a relative similar performance with the 4.4mm Balanced output.

Bass / Midrange / Treble / Soundstage & Imaging:

The lower frequency region of the region of the Audirect Beam offers a fast and controlled response, with good level of attack and sufficient sense of intensity when I do listen to percussions like cross or snare drums. The subbass area of the Beam 4 reaches pretty low and show in general a decent grade of rumble with all earphones and headphones I have listen to the device. The midbass area is fairly pronounced, clean and textured when I do listen to instruments from cross drums up to trumpets paired with the Moondrop Belessing3. The general tonality is mildly warm and soft, while it doesn’t make the general presentation dull or veiled.

The midrange of the Audirect Beam 4 has a tad warmer than neutral tonality. The general presentation of this area is relative smooth, while the sense of transparency and airiness is pretty good. The lower midrange shows a good amount of depth and body, with an adequate sense of fullness, which is an advantage while listen to male vocals and instruments like violas and cellos. The upper midrange on the other hand is pretty pronounced yet controlled, so that female vocals like Sertap Erener, Edith Piaf and Adel do sound quite musical and lively, especially when paired with the FiiO FA7S.

The Audirect Beam 4 shows a treble profile that is well-controlled, relative uncolored and fairly detailed. The lower treble has a good sense of presence and adequate level of clarity and definition when I do listen to string instruments and pianos or to soprano voices such like Sertap Erener and Hayley Westenra. The upper treble range of the Beam 4 is in general pretty controlled and is able to produce a good amount of air and sparkle. All in all, the treble range of the Beam 4 can be described as detailed and resolving

The Audirect Beam 4 is a quite successful portable USB DAC/AMP in terms of separation of instruments and vocals, when you pair it with IEM’s like the Moondrop Blessing3 or the FiiO FA7S. The soundstage of the device has a pretty spacious atmosphere with decent sense of depth and wideness.

 

Conclusion:

The Audirect Beam 4 is a pretty esthetic looking portable USB/DAC Amplifier that offers a natural and balanced sound profile, which has some remarkable features such like dual headphone outputs, hardware control button and a built-in microphone. Moreover, the device is equipped with a Self-Developed Battery Compensation & Power Management Control System and supports high-resolution audio formats, including Apple lossless and MQA, which makes it to a good DAC/Amplifier option with some minor flaws.

 

Pros & Cons: 

• + Natural and Balanced Sound Profile
• + Comes with both 4.4mm Balanced and 3.5mm SE outputs
• + Battery Compensation & Power Management Control System
• + Hardware Control Buttons (Gain, Volume, Play/Pause)
• + Good Build Quality and Fancy Design
• + Plug and Play capability for Android and IOS devices

 

• – Warms up quite quickly
• – No dedicated APP for android or iOS devices
• – Power Drain when Battery is not active

 

Thank you for the Read!