aune Flamingo-BD HiFi DAC with Vacuum Tube, Bluetooth 5.1 LDAC/aptX HD, Optical/Coaxial Output & Variable RCA LINE Out for Home Audio Receivers/AV Receivers/Active Speakers/Amplifiers/Power amps

Ok, so I’m not normally a review writer, but hopefully this will answer a few questions for others on the fence about buying. I bought the “basic” unit as I wanted something to repair the sterile nature of music streaming. I originally planned this device as a dedicated DAC to pair with the hifi echo link as is op-amps are less than spectacular. I’m using the coaxial output to feed the flamingo DAC before passing into my DAX88. Let me start off by saying the flamingos op-amps are stunning, smooth yet surprisingly detailed to the point that I preferred them over the tube even after tube burn in. I promise everyone will love the op amp mode of this unit… but, I bought this as a tube DAC. With that said m, the included PSVANE ECC82 isn’t a bad tube at all by any means. But lows where just too muddy for my taste with the holography pushed more to the accurate side than being immersive. I get the sound signature they were going for, and all things considered they succeeded. If you’re looking to turn this DAC into an absolute beast and don’t mind the risk of a voided warranty move onto the next paragraph…I worked as a live sound engineer for many years so I felt compelled to see just what this unit could do. Enter my tube rolling adventure… removing the board must be done as the tube won’t fit through the front view hole. It’s easy however, three screws in the back and one 10mm nut on the potentiometer, unhook a ribbon cable and the board slides right out with ease. I tried a few different tubes, a new Gold Lion B749, NOS RCA 12AU7A Clear Top, NOS RCA Black Plate and a Raytheon JRP military square plate. All of these turned the flamingo into pure magic. I eventually settled on the RCA black plate with the Gold Lion in second place. The ultimate test: Candlebox - Far Behind, probably one of the greatest grunge songs ever with the absolute worst mastering ever released. Most DACs and cheap op-amps will turn this song into a distasteful square wave. The flaming with the RCA tube turned this song into magic without even a hint of clipping. My wife loves new electronic music that she streams while working, the The flamingo transform this music into a luscious sound stage to stream around the house. The RCA tube ate the sub 50hz base for lunch keeping up with the fast acting kick notes while adding lush harmonics to the mid base. Country music sounded live and the acoustic guitars just melted into the room. We spent the past week listening to music over watching television.If above wasn’t enough, I made the mistake of plugging in my Philips SHP9500 headphones. I almost teared up, the music was a creamy holographic soundstage without losing details. I literally felt like I was standing in the middle of Toto during a recording session. The different filters added slightly different magic to every song I played. Amazingly the Flamingo had the ability to drive even my most inefficient set of headphones. That’s surprising unexpected plus.Final opinion, this unit would be worth the money without the tube. The included tube is more than sufficient for most people‘s needs. If you’re adventurous, the potential for this DAC becomes endless. If you got this far in my review, just buy it! Once you use it you’ll never want to be without.aune: if you’re reading this review and feel like sending me the BD unit to review, I’d love to give it a go. LOL!

I just purchased the remote. The BD version doesn’t come with one. I can’t figure out how to set it up. Also, the different filters are hard to distinguish. It’s ok I guess.

It sounds much better then the auris pro I previously was using.But to me by passing the tube mode sounds better then running it thru the tube.It's main reason I bought it for a tube sound.Maybe I don't like tube sound or something else is wrong with it.I personally wouldn't buy one thinking your gonna get some warm tube sound from it.It's almost dull running thru the tube mode.

03/21/2024 - UPDATEAll together I purchased 3 of these units now (for 3 different systems). As usual Amazon gave competitive price, shipped quickly, and the quality of these units have been stellar.After tweaking the equalizer and pre-amp settings within Apple Music, the Aune Flamingo has not failed to impress and satisfy.Sound quality is smooth and full (including a nice top end).The photo shows the Aune Flamingo in an earlier stereo set up. This thing sounds great! The only negative observations I would have to make would be the difficulty that one would experience in tube replacement when that time comes. Also, the manufacturing plant should put a snug fitting reusable sleeve over the tube during assembly, then pulling the sleeve back off from the front of the unit after it is assembled, thus preventing the damage caused to the printing on the tube (if you look carefully at the many pictured on the internet, you may notice that the printed is scratched on the tube - most likely from sliding the board in the housing during assembly). Otherwise this is a most excellent bluetooth adaptor.

it​'s​ opened product

Great sounding DAC. After my initial impressions, this DAC has really shown itself to be a very good buy, and especially for what I paid for it new. I've compared it to much more expensive DACs and there is very little difference in sound. But I am really enjoying extended listening with it. I'm not sure how much the tube is doing but, it's not overly warm, lush or harmonic as far as I can hear, but it's a joy to listen to with good music.I was a bit sceptical as well buying the cheaper variant which is bluetooth only, it seems the other model uses a different DAC chip. But after comparing with a higher end DAC and extended listening, even though I thought I'll keep asking myself whats the other like, I don't care, I'm really enjoying this one. So it's a keeper.Another thing is I bought the BD version and for your information it cannot be switched from op amp operation to tube. These cheaper units are permanently tube only. Anue have said they did this for simplicity and pureness of this lower cost unit, yet there are still 7 filters you can switch between :)

This is a nice amp, aesthetically it’s one of the best looking out there. The sound quality is good but there are other amps at this price point that deliver more or better. The sound modes don’t really do much and that you can’t easily replace the tube is my biggest gripe. For a tube amp the performance is just not there compared to the other choices again. Bluetooth is also just too expensive.