FangSound NEREUS Magnetic Edition Launches: 550mW Balanced Portable DAC & Amp

FangSound has launched the NEREUS, a magnetic snap-on portable DAC and headphone amplifier, in two editions: standard at HK$1,999 and a copper special edition at HK$2,799, arriving in August. The new model runs the same ESS ES9039Q2M DAC chip and delivers 550mW on the balanced output.

Dongle users know the routine: the DAC hangs off the bottom of the phone, and slipping it into a pocket means a constant pull on the port. What FangSound is tackling here isnʼt just the output numbers — itʼs the dangling itself, snapping the whole DAC flat against the back of the phone. That magnetic form factor is the headline act.

With a dongle, the entire load lands on the Type-C port — the heavier it gets, the more strain it takes. The magnetic structure shifts that load onto the back of the device. That isnʼt a spec-sheet breakthrough; itʼs a rethink of how the thing is actually used. The body is CNC-machined aluminium, with a side-lock mechanism, pure titanium screws, and multiple vents for heat dissipation. Whether the magnet is strong enough, though, only real use answers.

The copper edition is a different story. Same circuit, but the shell swaps aluminium for copper, weighing close to three times the standard edition and costing HK$800 more. Copper changes both the feel and the damping; whether it changes the sound, we wonʼt claim without listening. But the weight alone marks this as an object-focused upgrade — FangSound calls it the Copper Special Edition.

FangSoundʼs marketing visuals once showed 130dB, but the official spec sheet says 127dB — this article follows the spec sheet.

Specifications

From now on, listening can mean a DAC riding on the back of your phone — and itʼs only when you pick the phone up that you notice it was there all along. Magnet power, it seems, is the new way to dock a dongle.