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Package
Lotoo’s package and contents haven’t really changed since the first-generation PAW Gold Touch.
Besides your DAP you get two tempered glass screen protectors, a leather case, a USB C cable, a quick-start manual and a cleaning cloth.
Personally, I’m really happy to see that Lotoo supplies high quality screen protection for their DAPs, which hopefully keeps the screen save even if it falls down.
The leather case is also of the highest quality and when inspecting, you’ll note the metal inlays on its back. This is not just to look good, but also to support the PGT2’s heat dissipation, as it does get warm when using. Not hot to the touch, but warm.
All in all, I think the packaging is very nice and the accessories are top.
Build Quality
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The PGT2 is a big and chunky DAP. Yes, it fits my pockets, but I wouldn’t call it pocketable per se.
The PAW Gold Touch 2 is more of a semi-portable transportable digital audio player for those who want the best when they’re out and about.
It is made of aircraft-grade aluminum and measures 70.8 x 132.8 x 32.4mm (WDH), this translates to 2.78 x 5.23 x 1.27 inches for our non-metric audience.
At 388g (0.85lbs) weight it is also on the heavier side of portability. It’s not as heavy as the SP3000 though, which comes close to 500g.
The design of it is special and definitely falls in the category of love it or hate it. A few weeks ago, I saw a post from Lotoo’s EU distributor who called it the hunchback of Beijing, and they couldn’t hit the nail more precisely on the head.
The PGT2 is hard to use in one hand, yes, it’s possible, but anyone with smaller hands will have problems.
The choice to go with this design option has proven to be the most effective to accommodate the 1,000mW output power, the larger screen and fully isolated outputs and to still offer a comfortable grip though.
So, this sandwich structure might be odd on first glance, but there is a reason behind it, why Lotoo’s engineers went for it.
The two headphone outputs are located in the analogue section of the DAP, which sits like a piggyback rider on the unit. Neither of the two outputs sits flush at the top though, as both are approximately 1 cm below the top corner.
I’m not sure about their design choice myself, but I assume there was a reason not to put the headphone outputs in a different place.
The PAW Gold Touch 2’s volume wheel is a work of art, and we have seen it in their first-generation device already. It features a sun symbol on top and with the golden coloring it looks absolutely stunning.
The haptic feedback of it is also on par with the original. On the right side of the unit, you will find the only hardware buttons of the PGT2. They are very easy to use when you have the DAP in your pockets.
On the bottom corner of the PGT2 you will find the SD card tray and the USB C input. The PGT2 supports USB 3.1, so transferring files from your computer to the PGT2’s SD card will be very fast.
Usability
I am a big fan of Lotoo’s User Interface and software. Yes, it doesn’t support native streaming, since it’s a custom coded non-Android operating system.
But it is so blazing fast and efficient, it makes all the other DAPs look like snails. It only takes a few seconds to boot and to be ready to play your music.
My unit is running firmware version 1.6.1.3 at the time of writing. A newer version might be available when you read this.
Lotoo’s OS is clean, and I have not found any major bugs myself. Thankfully Lotoo also constantly releases new updates for their software, adding new functionalities and fixing bugs.
Even after five years, the original PGT still gets updates from them.
New releases of their OS can be downloaded either OTA (via Wi-Fi) or directly from Lotoo’s website and then loaded on the SD card’s UPDATE folder. It’s a very easy process and only takes a few minutes.
I will not go into too much detail about their software. A few cool features of it are the ability to set different output gains for each headphone output.
So, you could potentially run the balanced output with super high for headphones and the single-ended one with low for IEMs.
Switching between the outputs is very easy though and can be done by swiping down from the top and clicking on the gain setting for each output.
Lotoo has always been famous for their implementation of different filters and PEQ presets. Of course, they have also brought them to their latest flagship.
You will have access to all their powerful ATE, Filter and EQ settings. On top you can also set the hardware upsampling to your own preferences.
Like I mentioned previously, the PGT2 doesn’t support any streaming service, but relies on you to send your Tidal, Spotify, Amazon etc streams via Bluetooth or LTTP to it. LTTP is Lotoo’s very own and self-developed wireless transmission protocol.
Unlike Bluetooth it supports lossless transmission of 44.1 kHz sampling rates.
Lotoo graciously supplied their LTTP transmitter as well, so I could play a bit with it. It’s a very easy process of getting things going once you connect the LTTP to your smartphone.
The LTTP doesn’t need to be charged, as it runs off the battery of the smartphone. Once it’s connected, I went to the LTTP option of the PGT2 and after a few seconds both devices automatically established a connection.
After that I was able to send my Tidal streams over to the PGT2. It’s a solution for those who don’t want to miss out on their streaming services and accept a mandatory second device, without using Bluetooth.
With firmware 1.6.1.3 Lotoo has added a slightly new interface for the LTTP screen on the PAW Gold Touch 2.
It now shows the signal strength, volume meters and displays sampling rates and bit depth. It also improved the sound quality with LTTP according to their release notes.
Sound
Over the period of several weeks, I tested the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch 2 with a variety of different headphones and IEMs.
It has been my daily driver and constant source of choice throughout my days at the office and on commute. At home it served me well for my open back headphones.
I used the PGT2 mostly with my FIR Audio Radon 6, my Vision Ears EXT Mkii, my 64 Audio Solo and other IEMs. Headphone-wise I used the Palma Audio DHS-1, as well as the Hifiman HE1000se and Arya Unveiled.
All three of which are not hard to drive headphones. I gave the PGT2 approximately 100 hours of play-time before using it daily.
Lotoo’s PAW Gold Touch 2 can be summarized as a neutral to slightly warm source, with exceptional detail retrieval, impressive body and outstanding technicalities.
Its bass reproduction and rendering is among the best I have heard from any DAP. The midrange is smooth and natural-neutral while the treble is detailed, fast and well produced.
Though my headphones are not hard to drive, I want to note that I didn’t hear them sound nearly as well driven on any other portable device out there than on the PGT2.
The definition, resolution and grip were remarkable! Also, there was not the slightest bit of hiss when using sensitive earphones.
Let’s go a bit deeper.
More about the performance of the PAW Gold Touch 2 on page three! Click here or use the jumps below.
