I bought the HE400i on sale roughly a year ago, but I couldn’t decide on what audio equipment would be any good because of the lack of knowledge and how much pseudo science and misinformation plaguing this industry – so it so I ended up not making a purchase after all. Now I’m back again having done more through research on this complicated subject. My research has left me with two devices within my budget – they are:
I’ve read the excellent scientific reviews done by amirm: Topping DX3 Pro, Aune X1S 10th. In addition to the more subjective ones over at Head-fi: Topping DX3 Pro, Aune X1S 10th and Z Reviews: Topping DX3 Pro, Aune X1S 10th.
They all seem to be great alternatives but the DX3 Pro seem to have the best sound on paper on the other hand reliability issues. On the Aune side it get a bit more complicated because of the newly released models. There isn’t much information on the X1S Pro nor 2020, and from what I can find it seems to me as if 2020 and Pro versions weren’t a upgrade if the output impedance haven’t improved, which I can’t find any information on. So according to Z Reviews the X1S 10th is a benchmark in sound quality and his personal favorite DAC/amp combo. On the other hand the DX3 Pro seems to be perfect (except for the reliability issues) and is amirm’s favorite. I have a very hard time deciding between these two excellent units to the point that I’m asking you to give your opinion on which one’s the best.