Disclaimer
- The review equipment is a unit sent by Kiwi Ears for review. Regardless, all opinions remains original ideas, thus there is zero influence from any 3rd party or external opinions.
- No EQ or 3rd party filter presets were used during the entire review.
- Sound evaluation are kept neutral from any 3rd party accessories (ie; eartips, 3rd party cable, reversible/irreversible mods)
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ✅ Small, compact with excellent design and build quality ✅ Dual outputs, both single-ended and balanced ✅ Neutral sounding Ø Clean, hiss-free background (limited to low-powered devices) ✅ Capable decoding hi-res files up to DSD128 ✅ Low output impedance Ø Power efficient and does not heat up |
🚫 Low output power (limited to pair with sensitive IEMs/headphones) 🚫 Slightly bright and dry (would not recommend to pair with IEMs with reference tuning or highly resolving) 🚫 Bare-bones basic, traditional dongle – no filters, app control, PEQ and so on |
Introduction
After we’ve covered about the Kiwi Ears KE4 during my last review, I could not miss the chance to also to try and include a proper review a dongle DAC/AMP that is purchasable alongside the KE4 for just an additional US$5.
Featured in the review this time is the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, an ultra-portable dongle which cost only US$24 or approximately MYR105 in today’s currency rate. The Allegro Mini is essentially a smaller sibling of the more premium Kiwi Ears Allegro. A full-sized dongle that has already garnered tons of positive feedback due to its sound performance and unique design which resembles somewhat an old console. With that as well, I would like to say my gratitude to Kiwi Ears for their willingness to send a unit for review.
Right on the get-go, the Allegro “mini”- Oh wait, that’s a bit too small. The Allegro Mini features a small compact design and surprisingly Kiwi Ears had decided to include a 4.4mm balanced output connection in this small tiny package. Well, without any further let’s jump right into the review!
Packaging and Accessories
There is not much to ramble about in terms of unboxing experience of the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini considering at this price point. Hence, the overall package came in a simple, white tiny box with Kiwi Ears branding and the visual of the dongle itself on the front. Meanwhile, inside the package is included a sheet of paper with the specification list for the dongle and the Allegro Mini itself resting inside a thick foam cutout.
There are no accessories or dust cap covers included in the package, but as long as it meets the basic requirement is sufficient enough for $20 dongle.
Design and Ergonomics
Kiwi Ears had done an exceptionally with the design and build quality for the Allegro Mini considering the whole package is priced at only US$24 that is roughly MYR105. Majority of the dongle is made out of a solid piece of metal with a sandblasted finish, the rough texture provides a smooth yet textured surface that is comfortable to hold and there is a small indentation in the middle of the front panel for a firmer grip when pulling or installing the dongle. Additionally, there are no sharp edges around the dongle since the edges are evenly chamfered, while on the back is engraved “Allegro Mini, 32B 384K” which is a nice added little detail.
For the housing of the outputs are entirely made out of hard, high quality plastic that doesn’t feel that it will break or being loose anytime soon. A small drop wouldn’t hurt the overall build of the Allegro Mini, perhaps being thrown by a baseball pitcher at full force might be enough to break this little thing. The overall design is ultra compact considering it has two output connections, lightweight. The rectangular shape made it absolutely perfect to with any kinds of source, I truly appreciate the slightly elongated USB Type-C since some phones has thick casing which can be a tad hard to reach and secure a connection like in some other dongles in the market. It’s those small things that makes this dongle stand out since even these small solutions can solve multiple problems.
Features
Feature wise for a basic dongle, the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini offers an excellent ultra-portable solution for those who wants to enjoy high-fidelity audio without the struggle with managing extra cables with a typical dongle. The dual single-ended and 4.4mm balanced output is an excellent feature to have considering most of these ultra compact dongles are only limited to one type of output selection. That does however came with a limitation considering that the Allegro Mini is only capable producing 30mW, hence it wouldn’t be suitable to run power hungry IEMs or full-sized headphones.
Kiwi Ears does not specify what kind of DAC chip they had use for the Allegro Mini. Regardless, the Allegro Mini is capable to read hi-res FLACs and DSD files up to 32-bit 384kHz for FLAC and DSD128 without a hitch. Moreover, the Allegro Mini is capable to pair with any Android 5.1 devices, meanwhile for iOS friends it is not specified and the lack of lightning USB means that you can only pair it with the latest iPhone with USB Type-C connection. Another thing to note is that, the Allegro Mini does not have any filter presets, any app support and etc. Thus unfortunately, if you wish for something more personalized, you might have to spend a bit more to get a much more advanced, premium dongle
Specifications
PCM Specifications: 44.1-384kHz @ 32bit
DSD Specifications: DSD64-DSD128
Output Power: L+R ≥ 30mW + 30mW (32Ω, THD+N < 1%)
SNR: > 114dB (320 load, A-weighted)
THD+N: < 0.004% (320 load, A-weighted)
Background Noise: < 3µV (A-weighted)
Frequency Response: +0.2dB (20-20KHz)
Output & Inputs: USB C to 3.5 Single-ended to 4.4mm Pentaconn
Sound Impression
After spending about a week with the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, swapping back and forth among my IEMs and headphone. It can be said that the Allegro sound signature is leaning towards a neutral-bright sounding dongle and pairs very well with smooth, warm sounding earpieces which could help to elevate the midrange if you find out your equipment has a recessed vocals or lacking midrange presence. Or even suitable for those who prefer an ultra portable neutral source at an affordable price for a dongle. I do have to note, that the Allegro Mini is best used when with low powered devices (phone, tablet etc.) for a hiss-free background compared to if you were to plug it directly into your laptop or desktop which increases the chances you might introduce a low humming noise in your music.
Tonal balance as per mentioned is on the brighter side, to add onto that the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini also could sound a tad dry, thin and less tolerable when paired with something that is technically strong or even with IEMs has peaks and dips in the treble. Due to its neutral approach, one does not need to worry about whether if the Allegro Mini would introduce excessive colouration into your music. That said, the Allegro Mini is not a true neutral source as per, let’s say if you were to use it as an absolute reference. Since this dongle elevates the treble region by a noticeable compared to my reference DAP, hence some elements like midrange timbre and naturalness may be affected due to this reason.
From a technical standpoint, there was not much for the Allegro Mini to offer but I could not expect too much considering the price point. I did notice that the dongle ever so slightly enhances detail retrieval thus, made every IEMs or headphone I paired with this dongle sounded a bit more detail and able to render slightly much better. However, the Allegro Mini does affect other aspects such as layering separation as it tends to get a tad narrow which made some elements such as instruments and percussion to meld together. Thankfully, apart from what I have mentioned above, I could not notice any obvious difference or subtle changes to other elements when paired with various IEMs and reference gears in my collection.
Synergy Pairing
final B3
Currently one of my favourite pairing with the final B3, this combination creates an excellent combination harmony of rich, highly technical, mid-centric sounding IEM with a neutral-bright dongle. Although the Allegro Mini was not a technical powerhouse, the brighter, leaner tonal balance from the dongle made the final B3 became a bit more stronger in rendering the details and small nuances without being too analytical. Treble sounded slightly more crisp and extended resulting in a slightly more airy presentation. Soundstaging remains the same and the low frequencies are significantly reduce in this case, hence affecting the overall warmth in the midrange. But nonetheless, it still sings beautifully smooth, rich without triggering my sensitivity to higher frequencies.
Audio Technica ATH-IM02
The ATH-IM02 has been my reference for quite a while now especially when looking out for synergy pairings and testing out for noise levels considering how notoriously picky the IM02 when we’re talking about source pairing. I can say that the Allegro Mini is not suitable for IEMs of this kind, reference sounding and very picky in terms of pairing. It is mainly due to the midrange, sounding a bit too “digital”, like an oversaturated photo and dry at the same time. It didn’t take me long to pull these out from my ears due to fatigue.
Kiwi Ears KE4
Considering Kiwi Ears are selling the KE4 and Allegro Mini as a purchasable option, I reckon there is no harm trying to pair these two and put it to the test. Overall, it’s a toss up between I like it and dislike about it at the same time. I do appreciate that the dongle brought slightly more tightness and response to the bass on KE4, since I did feel the bass on my other neutral sources to be a bit wooly and loose. But unfortunately, the midrange ended up sounded similar to the Audio Technica ATH-IM02, artificial and dry which does trigger my sensitivity in the upper-mid quite soon after I gave it a good 20 minutes of listening before pulling it out.
Comparison(s)
Muse HiFi M3 II
When compared to a much more premium dongle such as the Muse HiFi M3 II, it is obvious the quality difference between the sound of these two. Having a much more complete and better internal components, the M3 II came out triumph in pretty much every aspect as possible. The only difference I could share is the differences between the tonal balance between the M3 II and Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini. In short, the M3 II was a much warmer yet still I would categorize it as a balanced sounding dongle meanwhile the Allegro Mini was still neutral and bright.
Both of these dongles despite the difference in sound signature, offers a slight touch of enhancement in the treble region albeit the M3 II has way better quality than the Allegro Mini. That said, for daily commuting and casual listening I would still pick the Allegro Mini due to its size and convenient to carry around compared to the M3 II which is a chunky, heavy dongle. I might be wrong but the weight of this dongle might supersede the likes of iFi Go Bar or something close.
Conclusion
To wrap up the review for the Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, I would say that this dongle is an excellent solution for audiophiles or even for the average music listener to experience an upgrade to their music quality with the Allegro Mini. The small, super compact design makes it easy to carry around and attaches really well with your sources as well and does not stub out too much that it might lead to even larger problem like a bent USB Type-C and etc. Although the sound quality that this dongle is far from what I would say magnificent, I am still pretty much impressed with how Kiwi Ears managed to cram everything in a small package at a very affordable price. Its small, excellent design and build quality, capable to decode hi-res FLACs and even DSD128, battery efficient for the host and delivers good sound quality, what’s more to ask, no? Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this review and I will see you in the next one!
