HELMAudio Bolt DAC/AMP, USB-C Portable High-End DAC/Headphone Amplifier with MQA Playback. Mobile Studio Sound for Android, iOS and PC. USB-C to 3.5mm Audio

I plan on getting an external DAC for my mobile device since I subscribed to Tidal. I've also tried Amazon HD, but I chose Tidal way back when they first started getting attention for personal reasons. Of course, you can only stream their higher quality tracks (higher bit rate) with a device that can utilize HD formats. This was near impossible for mobile devices then, but fast forward to the present, by chance, I encountered some DACs on Amazon that were made for this.After looking around I decided on the Helm Audio Bolt DAC, USB C because of it's small size and good reviews. Long story short, I love it, and it improves the sound quality of my Pixel 8. I use it in my car with headphones, Final E5000, and Audio-Technica ATH-M20X. The E5000 pairs very well with the Bolt, the AT not so well yet, but I'm hoping after some tuning I can get it to run well.If you're looking for a DAC for your mobile device, I highly recommend the HELM Audio Bolt. There's a lot to choose from, so I would do research, but this product has my backing.

I have a number of portable and desktop DACs, including the Oppo HA-2SE and SMSL SU-9, and several Fiio DAPs like the M9 with comparable ESS or AK chips in them. I also have the briefly-available Razer DAC which was a favorite for walking around, but basically a slightly more powerful and better version of the OEM dongles from Apple or Google. I am very impressed with what Helm pulled off with the Bolt, the new 9218 is pretty similar to the Oppo in sound quality while being much smaller. It is somewhere around the Oppo and has a very analytical, ESS typical sound, far and away better than the Razer or other things while not as clean or powerful as my bigger desktop amps (SU-9 or K5 Pro). For the price, its very much worth it if you are driving nicer in ear monitors or headphones and want to take advantage of them!

The documentation says the device may have problems with Android 12 not passing through "HD" audio (aka high bit rates), but this thing doesn't even work playing "SD" (standard bit rates) on Android 12. It's just a clicky mess. Regardless of the application playing the music, nothing works. Clicks every few seconds. Also very low volume using a high quality set of headphones.In Windows it works fine-- no clicks, high bit rates work great and the same headphones are very loud, but it's inexcusable to be completely broken on the current version of Android. I'll likely be returning it.Update: it only took an hour or so of using it with different media before I got it to fail on Windows as well. Do not buy this thing, it is garbage!What a waste.

I have been searching for quite some time for a DAC for my Macbook Air and Ipad Air. I have tried numerous products, wired and wireless, portable and desktop, ranging in price up to $300. This product surpasses them all by a long stretch. It could not be easier to use - simply plug into a USB C port, plug in your headphones, and you are ready to go.The sound quality is better than anything else I have tried. The bass is much deeper than what comes directly from the computer or iPad and it is clear. No mud here. You can clearly distinguish the bass drum from the bass guitar. The rest of the spectrum follows suit - mids are clear and highs sparkle. You can hear the slight reverb present in most songs that you do not hear without this product.Do yourself a favor. If you want to listen to high quality music on any device with a USB C port, buy this DAC.

This review is for individuals who own quality IEM's, earbuds, or headphones. If you don't, the Helm Audio Bolt is probably useless.If you plan on using this with your laptop the sound quality boost is worth it - at least it was for mine. I don't know if it's $100 worth it but it's close enough. It definitely made a noticeable and pleasing difference using my Shure SE 535's on my Asus: deeper bass, better instrument separation, a bit clearer and a wider soundstage. Using this with a phone is a whole different beast (as it will be for ALL portable DAC's) as I will explain now.For Android, the Helm Bolt doesn't work well with Spotify - the volume is far too low and there's nothing to be done about it. Of course it does work great with Tidal so long as you also install UAPP (full functionality for UAPP with MQA cost about $10) though I have a lot of issues with all this which I will list bellow.1. I don't like Tidal. Though they technically have more songs, a large number are simply repeats and if you listen to any genera that tends to have a lot of remixes, Tidal's selection is far worse than Spotify's. There are other reasons I don't like Tidal but let's move on.2. UAPP's User interface is terrible and you have to use it to get the benefit on the Helm Bolt. This is a big deal as playing music through UAPP is a messy and sometimes frustrating ordeal.3. MQA is no better than Spotify premium's highest sound quality. MQA is just another form of file compression and comparing MQA tracks to the same track on Spotify (on the highest quality setting) revealed that most of the time I actually preferred the Spotify track. It can depend on the specific song but it isn't any better, it's just different and often meant less bass and less "energy".4. Whatever you do, DON'T pay for Tidal HiFi. I cannot stress this enough. It's not worth it. MQA isn't better, and even if it was, only about one fourth of my transferred library has MQA as an option. Basically, a vast amount of Tidal's tracks are not MQA. In other words, you'll be paying an extra $10/month for something that (a) doesn't necessarily improve how a song actually sounds, and (b) is frustrating because it often isn't available for a lot of your songs. If you don't believe me that's okay - you can use it for free for 30 days and make up your own mind.5. Volume cannot be changed via the in-line controls on my earbud cables. However, I can play/pause and skip songs, which is nice.If you like Tidal and don't mind the UI on UAPP, the Helm Bolt does a great job, if you use Spotify it is essentially useless. But if you're like me, the only reason you're looking for a product like this is because smartphone manufacturers are doing away with the 3.5mm jack. If this is the issue you're trying to solve and you don't want to switch from Spotify I have a few options for you:1. Buy a Sony Xperia phone - they are awesome phones, they have the 3.5mm jack, and they care about quality sound (I'm waiting until the Xperia 5 iii comes out and will suffer through it until then).2. Wait for Spotify to offer DAC support.3. Buy a few cheap USB-C to 3.5mm adapters. They're not great and only last two weeks to two months but most of them get the job done.4. Bluetooth options - though I'm not a big fan yet, Companies like Shure and Westone use detachable IEM's that can be mounted on Bluetooth attachments.Again, as far as smartphones without 3.5mm jacks go (at least Android), this review is applicable to any higher-end DAC, be it the Dragonfly Cobalt/Red/Black, the Helm Audio Bolt or any other. The sad truth is that at the time of writing this review, listening to Spotify with wired earpieces on a high-end flagship smartphones (except Sony) is, at the moment, a nightmare - period.I'm going to keep the product as the boost in sound quality on my laptop is just enough to not send it back but I'm disappointed it doesn't do the job I wanted it to. Hopefully Spotify will support DAC's soon, if not I'll have the Sony phone I want by October of 2021 and will then upgrade to the Shure SE 846's. Hope this helps someone!