Devastatingly Great!

Compact wired USB C audio dongle used to be a simple solution for audiophiles on travel but comes with constraints of low driving power and sound refinements but what if there is a solution here? Wild Lee and the team of Venture Electronics has claimed to solve this riddle with the all new Devastator Pro (DEV Pro) and the Devastator Pro Max (DEV Pro Max).

Both of these compact wired dongles are equipped with a customized Sabre ESS chipset that has been codenamed OPTIMUS and the Pro Max version has a true balanced dual amplification giving a true balanced performance in this small form factor. These wired dongles might be a solution for those who are always on the go and need something ultra portable yet still has the quintessential audiophile sound. So how will they perform? We shall find out here.

Firstly, a huge shout-out to the team of Venture Electronics and Wild Lee for providing samples of the DEV Pro and Pro Max for an honest take. We are not affiliated nor taken any form of monetary exchange for this review and this review is solely an honest view of the product.

Functions & Specifications

Before we start the review, here are the specifications of these products taken from their site VEclan.com ;

Devastator Pro

OPTIMUS DAC -Customized Sabre ESS chipset with separate amplification

• 2V RMS output
• 3.5mm output with in-line control
• Aluminum alloy plug shell
• Gold plated plugs
• 99.9999% Silver plated copper cable, 4 core, 192 strands each core

Devastator Pro Max

OPTIMUS DAC -Customized Sabre ESS chipset with separate dual mono amplification

• 3.1V RMS output
• 4.4mm true balanced output
• Glossy black aluminum alloy shell treated with multi-layer electroplating
• Gold plated plugs
• 99.9999% silver plated copper cable, 4 cores, 192 strands each core with nylon sleeve

The Devastator Pro and Pro Max can be purchased at VEclan official store, AliExpress and Shopee as well as many other platforms worldwide.

https://www.veclan.com/phone/eac_phone_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=114

https://a.aliexpress.com/_c2Rp0cDD

https://my.shp.ee/vaSHqvkg

The package that i received is with the Monk Plus bundle and I highly recommend giving these earbuds + dongle combos a try and they perform way above their asking price.

Packaging & Accessories

As per usual Venture Electronics style, they come in a simple, fun plastic packaging. Nothing noteworthy here as most of the funds are focused towards the product itself. Included are a USB C to A adapter for PC or laptop usage.

Design

DEV Pro

Utilizes a single-ended architecture, offering only a 3.5mm single-ended headphone jack with on-line controls. The plug shell has a silver-toned aluminum alloy shell that shows a techy, minimalist aesthetic. The connectors are heavily gold plated and they look robust with high-purity 6N silver-plated copper cables constructed from 4 cores of 192 strands each core.

DEV Pro Max

Boasting as the world’s first true balanced architecture in a wired dongle size and with only a 4.4mm headphone jack. The body features a glossy black aluminum alloy shell treated with multi-layer electroplating for an outstanding texture. The plugs are robust with heavily gold plated, high-purity 4 core 6N copper with silver-plating cables where 192 strands each core sleeved in black nylon sleeve giving a premium, sleek look.

Gears Used for Comparisons

Songs list

Tone, Presentation, Timbre

DEV Pro

The tone is neutral, slightly bright with a mild warmth in the midrange. No major emphasis on any frequencies and they are a very well balanced audio dongle. They do have some Sabre ESS chipset sound characteristics but without the infamous hump and aren’t as sterile, instead they are natural sounding with a smooth, inoffensive sound that has great overall clarity. Timbre here is breathy and organic.

DEV Pro

The tone present here is a little bright with a warm, lush sound that is smooth all around. They have a full-bodied, thicker overall sound compared to the DEV pro. There is a mild emphasising on the midrange that gives a touch of lushness in vocals and the high range has a good amount of energy without the Sabre glare present. Technicalities here are superb, performing way above asking price. Timbre is organic, breathy with a slight brassy sound and they are fun yet natural sounding overall sound that has superb wide dynamic range.

Soundstage

DEV Pro

The soundstage here is good, capable of producing good width and height with a medium sized headroom that is free of boxiness effects. Sound placement here is accurate with a good 3D, immersive, holographic soundstage suited for gaming and movies. Overall, very competent besting out most wired dongles in this price range.

AD1

The soundstage here is expansive indeed with a superb width and height rivalling bigger basic DAC/amps in this price range. The soundstage improvements are great even for full sized headphones and they provide a great 3D spatial positioning. The headroom here is impressive with a big room effect that is airy and holographically accurate making them a suitable dongle for gaming and movies as well.

Drivability

DEV Pro

Rated at 2.0V, they aren’t a big in power delivery but more than sufficient for most standard IEMs and some hard to drive ones and certainly more powerful than typical wired dongles but not suited for the power hungry planar IEMS or full sized headphones. Headphones with low impedance and high sensitivity can be driven with ample volume but they lack dynamics.

DEV Pro Max

Rated at 3.1V they are indeed a powerful little beast, capable of driving even hard to drive planar IEMs and some full sized headphones. The driving power from this little dongle is certainly sufficient for most usage rivalling bigger dongles in their price range. With headphones like Sennheiser HD800s and Beyerdynamic T70 250ohms, they surprisingly able to give ample loudness but aren’t driven to their fullest potential and with normal headphones like the Sony MDR-MV1 or NFACOUS NH20, they have the capabilities to drive them competently which is a rare statement for a wired dongle. Impressive.

The Bass (Low)

DEV Pro Max

Bass here is neutral, almost flat with a mild peak in the mid-bass that gives a slightly punchy bass slam with a good amount of energy. They do provide improvements by giving extra texture to the overall bass response for a cleaner, clearer presentation. Details of the bass are great and they do produce a highly detailed bass with a clear transparency, keeping the accuracy of the bass intact. Sub-bass dives deep but the rumble amount remains mostly the same. The sub-bass does sound a tad cleaner and it may clear out some bloat and muddyness in certain bass oriented IEMs. These aren’t for those who want to add bass amount, instead are for those who want their bass to be pure and modest in amount while giving some improvements in overall clarity and texture.

DEV Pro

The DEV Pro here has the same neutral flat lows that has some lift in the mid-bass region, giving a tighter bass slam while having a great texture while being accurate. They do add some tiny amount in the quantity but it doesn’t interfere much in the transparency of the bass and they produce a rather deeper bass effect that makes music more musical. Details and clarity does have some improvements by giving an extra touch of details and texture in the bass. These pair better with bass light IEMs and will do justice to bassheads IEMs who want some amount added in the overall bass while also tightening up the slam. Sub-bass depth is slightly deeper with a slightly stronger rumble being added and they do sound a tad cleaner.

The Mids

DEV Pro Max

Midrange has a neutral to warm mids that is well balanced without any major peaks present. Transitions from the lower mids into the mids are smooth while the upper mids have a healthy peak that gives a full-bodied midrange that is natural, exciting and accurate. Details in the macro region and micro details are improved, pushing out details that are hard to pick up especially with hard to drive headphones. Clarity is superb and they have a clean midrange reproduction that is also luscious. Resolution here is vivid with minimal colouration for a more fun sound and their transparency is great as they are natural and accurate. Vocals are well balanced with great depth and decent brilliance in the upper mids for a livelier vocals. Same goes for instruments and most instruments sound flawless with an organic timbre.

DEV Pro

The midrange here is balanced with a neutral presentation that is slightly sterile which excels in details and clarity but more on the macro details instead of micro which where the Pro Max perform better. The lower midrange has a smooth transition into the mids and they do have a mild peak on the upper midrange with adequate brilliance being added. Resolution here is decent with a vivid, almost colourless sound that gives a transparent, accurate and natural sound but may lack body or a little thin sounding. Vocals are balanced with a good depth and although having a decent lively brilliance, they aren’t as vibrant as the Pro Max. They play well on most instruments with an accurate sound but on certain high notes strings may sound a tad thin. All these are rather minor and that’s me being nitpicky.

The Highs

DEV Pro Max

Highs have a slight emphasis in the 10kHz region but they manage to have a neutral high range and they are relatively inoffensive, instead they are lively and possess a good amount of energy. The high range here has some potency here that gives the overall sound profile leaning on the brighter side. They possess sparkly highs that have a crisp decay contributing in a livelier high range. The amount here does increase by a little without being too piercing nor sibilant and they do provide refinements in terms of clarity and details. Upon pairing with bright sounding gears, they manage to stay smooth while giving a more refined high range alongside giving a touch of airiness. Treble here is balanced with a lean towards the intense side that gives a push in the overall clarity without sounding harsh or too polite.

DEV Pro

The highs here are quite similar to the Pro Max with a neutral presentation with a mild peak at the 10kHz which gives a lively yet present overall high range. Sparkle here is lively and natural but isn’t as crisp as the Pro Max albeit still crisp. Highs here are smooth and inoffensive without any sibilance or shout present. High range nuances are well presented with a good transparency here and they have a natural high range with decent accuracy. Treble remains balanced, maybe slightly intense but they are smooth to listen to with a good push in the overall clarity.

Comparisons

DEV Pro VS DEV Pro Max

Both are similarly built with metal encased shells with the Pro Max being slightly better looking for the all black theme. The Pro Max only has 4.4mm balanced output and which might be problematic for single ended users as conversion to 4.4mm is not recommended for it might damage your gears.

• DEV Pro Max has bigger power around 30% more volume
• Highs on Pro Max is tad sparklier and crisper
• Mids on DEV Pro is thicker and fuller
• Bass on both very similar but DEV Pro sounds deeper and has more thump
• The soundstage on the Pro Max is slightly wider but both possess similar headroom.
• Vocals on DEV Pro sound lusher and have a better body.

Questyle M15 vs DEV Pro Max

The legendary Questyle M15 is a bigger dongle that has a gain switch with MQA support. Priced almost 3 times the DEV Pro Max but the upside that users can replace the USB C cable for longevity. Both power draws are similar and barely noticeable power drain.

• The M15 have a slightly brighter tone
• Driving power on both are similar even on high gain on the M15
• Both have 0 noise but the M15 does pick up some RF interference on phone source
• Bass impact is tighter on DEV Pro
• Details are similar but the M15 has more clarity
• Mids on DEV Pro is thicker
• M15 is colourless while DEV Pro has a slight colouration
• Highs on M15 is slightly more refined
• Soundstage on both are on par with each other

Who Is It For?

Suitable: Audiophiles, travel, workouts, monitoring, gaming, movies, IEMs, headphones, etcetera

Not suitable usage: none

Genres

DEV Pro Max: Classicals, acoustics, pop, rock, metal, ACG, EDM, modern pop, hip-hop

DEV Pro: Acoustics, classicals, metal, rock, pop

Final words

Nothing more can be said for the Devastators here especially the Pro Max and they surely perform beyond my expectations for an ultra compact wired dongle with the capability to be as powerful as a desktop setup which is a first in my experience. Not much caveats are present on their performance except for the longevity for the product as the cable is fixed, expected for a wired dongle. They are indeed an ultra portable powerhouse that redefines a new age for portable Hi-Fi and both of these products deserve a wholehearted recommendation indeed.

DEV Pro (4 stars)⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pros

• Solid all aluminum alloy built with thick gold plated plugs
• 3.5mm output with in-line control
• Fairly powerful and highly efficient
• Zero noise
• Decent soundstage
• Neutral bright tuning
• Clean, inoffensive sound
• Decent resolution, good transparency
• Lively high range
• Flat, accurate mids
• Linear clean bass
• Deep sub-bass extension

Cons

• Mids a little thin
• Slightly sterile sound
• Price (nit-pick)
• Overshadowed by the Pro Max

DEV Pro Max (5 stars)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pros

• Great build with polished metal housing and thick gold plated plugs
• Desktop level driving power
• Highly efficient
• Fun yet accurate musical presentation
• Neutral with a touch of warmth
• Highly resolving, great transparency
• Excellent details and clarity
• Tight, meaty, rich bass
• Deep, rumbly, clean sub-bass
• Full-bodied, accurate midrange
• Lively, crisp and sparkly high range
• High price performance index

Cons

• Mild colouration on midrange (nit-pick)
• No gain setting (nit-pick)
• Price (nit-pick)