As someone who started their audio journey during the peak of the donglemadness, I had a plethora of choices when it came to the dongles I had back in the day. There was one brand that took over that segment back then and still dominates today.
The Odo and Devastator are basically the years of improvement and innovation that VE has had in creating the perfect budget dongles that fulfill different use cases.
The Odo is a smooth operator with impeccable refinement and cleanliness in how it powers whatever in-ear or earbuds I throw it at. The level of smoothness is almost similar to something like the Fosi K7, but obviously nowhere near its power output and more importantly, its dynamic presentation which is the Odo’s weakest aspect. It’s a dongle perfect for people who intend to pair it with revealing or detailed in-ears or earbuds. I’ve been specifying in-ear or earbuds because the power output of the Odo is just 25mW @ 32ohms. But in my opinion, that is more than enough for most people who don’t 100% volume every IEM they use. These also work decently with easy to drive headphones with 32ohms of impedance or less.
The Devastator contrasts this by offering a very snappy, transient and dynamic sound that emphasizes the tiny details of the transducers you pair with the Devastator. It’s such a fine and crisp emphasis that makes it perfect for highlighting the small details in the music you listen to. It’s so good at that in fact that I can comfortably compare this to something like the EPZ TP35 with how detailed the sound could get depending on your transducer. This is unfortunately also its achilles heel as pairing this with already detailed or bright transducers may induce harshness and overwhelm your ears with detail. It’s not the cleanest dongle I’ve heard to present the treble, but it’s definitely one of the most energetic and well-extended. It’s also far more powerful than the Odo with 110mW at 33ohms.
They’re genuinely compelling dongles that make it much easier for new audiophiles, people looking for a small but powerful audio adaptor for their devices or anyone who just needs a good but affordable dongle.
Full review coming soon!
