Hello folks again, today we have non android DAP by V3 Blaze by Tempotec, which in my humble opinion offers much more for entry dap, from design factor to the quality of sound experience. Tempotec is a very famous company for delivering great products for affordable prices, and yes in the past i have reviewed Tempotec Sonata BHD, one of the better warmer dac's with really amazing and clean sound. Tempotec is a small company and they don't release products everyday or weekly, they are more focused on quality over quantity and that is one of the reasons I really love them.


Pro's:

Affordable Price
Amazing Performance
4.4 and 3.5 termination
2 Gain levels(mid and high)
Accessories
Crazy output power
100 volume steps
Pocket Studio
BT
Stream Media Tidal and Qobuz
Book Reader
and Much more...


Con's:

Maybe more updates



Disclaimer:

I got sample unit by Tempotec for my honest review, everything you read about Blaze is based of my own experience, im not paid or pushed for this review, took me almost 3 weeks to test it, before i start this review, i will cover important things, for more informations feel free to visit Tempotec website!


Unboxing, Design, Specs, and Other:


Even its not flagship DAP, Tempotec provides you with flagship unboxing experience covering almost every detail. Blaze comes packed in a nice black box with a logo, its protected very well, so you don't need to worry about device safety. Pretty much standard stuff, classic foam around. On Blaze is already preinstalled protective glass, which is almost nice to see, plus one extra glass protector in case you need, leather case with high precision, 2 cables, one for charging and one for double type C to use Blaze like DAC, plus impedance adapter of 75ohm for some sensitive iems, pretty much impressive stuff and classic papers...

Design:

Design is very sleek and stylish, it's not like classic DAP's its more some retro style, more minimalistic, its little bit unorthodox style and i love it, no sharp edges everything is friendly,
under display you have 3 buttons, for previous song, play/pause and next song, even Blaze is touchscreen, this buttons are great for navigation without turning screen. On the right side of Blaze you have again 3 buttons, top button is for power on/off, under is led indicator and classic two buttons for volume up and volume down. At the bottom, powerful 4.4, type c for charging and transfering files or using like Dac, and right is 3.5 for standard jack. On the left side of the device is an SD card slot since Blaze 3 is without memory. Back of Blaze is glossy material with Tempotec logo and Blaze like model, very hard to photograph due to the reflective side, this backside could be a potential fingerprint magnet, but keep it in case and don't worry about it.

Spec:

Specs, I have borrowed from Tempotec website...

Stream media App: TIDAL, Qobuz
Size: 10cm* 6.5cm *1.7cm
Material: Aluminium + Plastic + Glass
DAC chip: 2*AK4493SEQ
Processor: X1600e
Wireless: Two-way Bluetooth 5.1, 2.4GHz WiFi, HIBYLINK, AirPlay, DLNA
Bluetooth: LDAC, UAT, APTX, AAC, SBC
Audio sources: Micro SD Audio, LDAC&AAC APTX-HD APTX, USB DAC
Output: 32Ω/825mW per channel for 4.4mm, 3.5mm SE, USBC and Bluetooth out
Formats supported: DSD512, MQA 8X, DXD, PCM 32bit/768kHz
Battery: 3500mah


Accessories:

Blaze packs standard accessories but still much more than i have originally anticipated, leather case is so precise to fit Blaze inside, screen protector glass is preinstalled and additional one is included in case you damage original, cables are from standard rubber-plastic quality and they will last, 75 ohm adapter is nice addition.

Battery:

Battery is more than enough for power and quality Blaze provide, its stated 3500mah, but how much will last depends only from you, for my average usage its like from 9-11 hours, and i have used various iem's with balanced output on medium or high gain with flac or wav files. Also i have tested on 3.5 without gain and lower files and it went over 15 hours easily.


UI and OS:

UI is touchscreen combined with buttons, buttons are tactile even in a leather case, while the touchscreen is very responsive, even i have bigger fingers, i couldn't find any problems using it. Overall better experience than with Shanling M0 Pro where display is so tiny, here diagonal is friendly and there is enough space for maneuvers. Operating system is standard HibyOS, very minimalistic, but yet plenty options for full audiophile experience.

Technical Performance:

Blaze is beast, not only by super powerful output as well by other components inside, dual AK4493SEQ is enough for any HiFi format, even doesn't have most superb OS, Blaze doing great good job with X1600e very efficient processor but in same time balanced with very low consumption of power. All items i have tested worked without any issues, as well cans, however some planar headphones lost on bass authority, but still for such a small dap, Blaze is a super performer.

Bluetooth:

Almost all codecs on Blaze are covered, which is a great feature, and latency is so minimal and for better synergy i have tested retro nano in combination with Blaze and sound is amazing much better than with ordinary bt iems or earbuds. As well Blaze have 2 way BT, which is very useful if you decide to use a spotify or youtube like source, since only qobuz and tidal are supported via wireless and for non android devices this is more than enough.

Dac:

Blaze have super performance like dac as well as dap, have tried on PC and Phones and results are the same like with using Blaze in native Dap mode. This is a pretty useful feature, could be used later on if the battery becomes weak or degraded...

Software and options:

Even its minimalistic HibyOS, there are so many options and possibility of this great DAP, but i'll not cover all, scanning music from sd card is very fast, speed is above average, almost all music formats are supported, navigation is minimalistic swiping left right or top to down for drop menu, which can be easy customized for personal preference. Creating a playlist is easy, even Blaze leaves you with the option to load music from an SD card or specific folder if your playlist is organized in this manner, so it's pretty convenient. Tracks have enough length, 3 dots on track will give you the option to add this track in an already created playlist or create new playlist or favorites or check properties of track, or simply delete it.


Home Menu:


First option is Music, and logicly you will have access to music, from there you can choose how you will represent your music, via All option or Files SD or specific folder, Albums, Artists, Genres or Album Artists, pretty standard stuff.
Top corner of Music option you have search symbol option, where you can search for specific track and keyboard format isnt classic layout like you have on your keyboard its rather old retro style like from old phones, where you need to press a few times to get a right symbol. Second symbol is star for favorites or playlists, Recents or Recently added a very useful feature for manipulating last added files. And third symbol is for settings, have in mind this settings are for music not for device, and there are plenty useful features, like MSEB, old good hiby settings allows you to manipulate your music even better, manipulating overall temperature, bass extension, bass texture, note thickness, vocals, air and much more. EQ is pretty smooth organized swiping up or down, its 10 band EQ from 31hz to 16khz... Update database is always a useful option in case you haven't updated your database, there is also Music update mode which can be used for manual or auto update and few additional options. Play mode, to organize how music will go, like loop list or loop track or shuffle. Output selection, DSD output mode, DSD gain compensation, Resume play from last, Gapless Playback, Soundfield, Max Volume pretty useful option to limit your volume, especially Blaze is beast when comes about volume, Digital filters offering some roll-off filters, could be pretty useful in right hands, Crossfade, few other options, but one of the most important in my book GAIN! Gain on Blaze is one of better one i had encountered, have 3 levels low which is enough but if you like or iems benefit from extra gain, medium gain on Blaze is so epic, even high gain is brutal, but medium gain will be enough for 99 percent of tracks. Balance option will allow you to correct balance if necessary. So Blaze is equipped with almost all options like some big flagship DAP's have, but for much less money.


Second Option is stream media, and if you are on wifi connected and have accounts on tidal or qobuz, it's pretty much clear what is this...

Third Option is Wireless, and here you can choose connectivity, from wireless to bluetooth, Hiby Link, Import music via WiFi, Dlna and Airplay...

Fourth Option is for Books, honestly i don't know why they have included but maybe for some lyrics or whatever...

Fifth Option is System settings, this are settings of Blaze itself, it pack standard stuff, from language, backlight time, brightness, font size, Usb working mode, Time settings, battery percentage, led indicators, double tap to wake up(pretty usefull to save button lifetime), shortcut menu>its top menu swiping from up to down like on every android, screensaver settings, reset factory settings, firmware update which is very easy and standard could be used over wifi or local sd...

Sixth Option is classic About, giving you basic information about model and current firmware along with memory info free/used and some information on how to contact Tempotec.

Led:

Even this seems like useless feature, but this is top notch for hardcore audiophiles, led indication will show some colors, text is copied from tempotec website, of course led indication could be turned off, but it's nice feature.

-Light off: standby
-Red: Charging
-Light blue: But playing while connected
-Yellow: Playing SR ≤48kHz
-Cyan: Playing SR 88.2kHz~192kHz
-Orange: Playing SR≥352.5kHz
-White: DSD64~DSD512
-Blue: MQA


Gear:

I have used various iem's(mostly MK12 Turris), earbuds, and standard headphones, a few dacs to connect on Blaze, phones and pc in dac mode.

Sound Impression:

And finally best part of review, Blaze is neutral DAP very balanced, with so small coloration, slightly bright but not aggressive barely noticeable, its very clean and full with energy, for this price range i would even dare to say its godlike among non android dap's, everything on Blaze is executed to the perfection for this price range, starting from bass/mids/treble for which i'll write more, Blaze is good balance of musical and technical DAP and with a lot of settings it could be easy adjusted for anyone taste, almost like you have small audio station in your pocket.

Low's:

Pretty decent, bass is punchy, slightly warm, enough engaging, and even at this point its very clear transients on Blaze are executed very well, Subbass have enough rumble, well this will depend as well from iem's or earbuds or w/e you are using. But let's say you have decent iems, subbass have enough authority providing you with decent impact, all of this giving you enough realistic experience, there are plenty details and textures to grab and enjoy, its very well controlled and all this bring you even more excitement with specific tracks, subbass at Blaze is very accurate and tight... Transition from Bass to Subbass and Midbass is executed very well almost like on top tier DAP's. Midbass is full of notes, its very fast, clear and accurate, does not overwhelm mids, it has a very natural timbre and powerful transients helping a lot here. It's very impactful with a lot of energy giving you an even better experience making music more alive bringing you more to the feeling of being realistic.


Mid's:

Vocals are very clear with a lot of clarity and energy, more smooth than crispy. Both vocals sound realistic and natural, there is great synergy going with vocals and instruments, there are plenty of textures and vocals are forward just for better enjoyment. I found male vocals delivering better music experience than female vocals, which are slightly behind and more transparent than male one. Instruments are great as vocals, natural timbre, very clear with a lot of textures and energy, layering is above average, even on busiest tracks instruments not mixing with each other. Sound is very rich and very detailed, every instrument has a unique note.


High's:

Like the name says Blaze, treble is a little bit spicy, it's not boring or too aggressive, I found it very moderate and balanced, there is enough sparkle and at same time smooth enough, air is present but not superb, detail retrievals are above average, along with resolution. Sound is so clean, and Blaze never fatigue, there aren't sibilance or some noises, i have tested Blaze to the maximum with some hardcore files, and it performed much better than some more expensive older Dap's. Transients are perfected due to powerful and high quality dual AK(aka AK47), with such nice transients Blaze accomplish almost any results in every area, starting from bass to treble and imaging.

Dynamics:

Dynamics on Blaze is average but more than enough, it's not some crazy, even Blaze very fast shift from low to high volume and via versa, microdynamic is slightly better and very precise, while macrodynamic is just good, it scales more than decent, due to very high powerful output, have great impact, even its more cleaner, but sometimes at specific level of volumes could sound flat or lifeless, this phenomena is more about tracks and specific genres...


SoundStage and Imaging:

Soundstage is above average, its not some holographic crazy modern soundstage, its classic old 3d soundstage with very reasonable depth and widht and height, giving you realistic space, vocals are at mid while instruments are at side and slightly back. Its very clear imaging will be great due to transients, there aren't some shifts, everything is positioned and can be distinguished from others. Instruments are proportional and don't step over others nor mix.


Gaming:

Believe it or not I have tried in Dac mode for some PC games, and its more than enough, plenty of details with a logical soundstage I could pinpoint any shots or steps or any sounds from any direction without any effort.


Comparision:

Comparing Blaze with some less expensive or non android dap's would be pointless, since it's so great, but sure lets hit a few..

Shanling M0 Pro, great small dap, but it lacks so many things compared to Blaze, M0 Pro doesn't have 4.4, gain is a lot weaker than on Blaze, battery life is better on Blaze, along with screen diagonal, yes M0 Pro have more warmth, which sometimes could mask or pollute some elements, and i know some of you will notice the price of Blaze(199$) vs Shanling M0 Pro(120$+/-), well Tempotec is famous for great deals, even at this moment you can buy for 169$ Blaze with some Earbuds, which is crazy for such quality, Blaze come equipped with better accessories than M0 Pro, brutal case, more cables, omh adapter, screen protectors at back and front and additional screen protector for top, sound on Blaze is like 5-6 times better, and i don't counting powerful output, which even dominate over more expensive Daps in class or above.


Echo Mini by Fiio, yes its like 3 or 4 times cheaper, it packs plenty option for non android DAP, its inexpensive dual cs vs dual ak, batteries are almost the same, gain on Blaze is much better, sound is better on Blaze its more neutral vs neutral bright on Echo Mini, i love Mini its brutal small DAP for the price and quality, no doubt about that, but Mini is simple mini due to moderate power output, it's more about quality and financial choice, i would recommend both depend of the preferences, feel free to read my review about Echo Mini...

JM21 by Fiio, both Daps are great, its only difference in Android OS vs Non-Android, similar price, similar battery life, Dual CS slightly win over Dual AK without android, in some areas are same, while in some there is difference, powerful output both daps have, and it's more about personal preferences. Even JM21 have android powered experience vs more analog Blaze. I like both dap's, since they offer incredible sound experience and possibilities...


Conclusion:

It's very clear Tempotec created a unique product, super affordable and yet with amazing sound quality, there is nothing here to add, Blaze is almost warmachine compared toward other dap's in this price range, it easy dominate over other non android dap's with great and powerful sound.


Links:

Current promotion of Blaze on Tempotec for 169$, have in mind this promotion is not limitless and it's possible could expire soon.
Blaze on discount with Earbuds

Tempotec Store
Just Blaze for 199$