I am not very educated about audio but I am trying to improve here and there.
I usually buy inexpensive gear, but try to search and read reviews to get the best of my little money.
So I saw reviews of the Loxjie P20 and start to get interested in buy my first tube amp. But is a kind of consensus that the P20 really shines in balanced mode.
I don’t have a balanced DAC. Well, truth is I kinda have… I have a Fiio Q1 mark II that has a balanced output, but this output is already amplified.
So my first doubt (1) is if I can connect the balanced output of the Fiio Q1 with the balanced input of the Loxjie p20 or the fact that this signal is already amplified is a problem to use it as source to another amp?
The second doubt (2) is: why the hell XLR cables are so dawn expensive?
Assuming that I can use the Fiio Q1 as a DAC, I will need to use a 2.5mm to XLR 3 pin cable as input and another adapter in the output - XLR 4 pin to 2.5mm (female) - and these two cables will cost half of the amp cost if I’ll buy the cheapest ones I find. Seriously, why’s that?!?
And my third doubt (3) is in fact a request of suggestions. I would like to know good inexpensive headphones ($100 or less tier) that could benefit from the Loxjie P20 without any hard modifications.
You cannot go from an amplified signal to an input, amping an amped signal is taboo. Xlr headphone cables are expensive because they are often for higher end headphones, and indeed higher end source chains, if you meant interconnects and adaptors then veclan (the people who make monks) sells inexpensive options, albeit shipped from China. Finally, I have no idea, I don’t think you should jump headlong into balanced land if your budgets are low, things get more expensive for very little gain, imho (context: I run things fully balanced mostly because I can)
I would agree with this, although you can go balanced with iems and notice a decent difference with most iems and amps, and you can get a balanced cable and amp for iems pretty cheap. But for headphones, I would only consider investing in balanced if you needed more power
@AntarcticChicken I was fearing it. So apparently doesn’t have much sense pay $ 85 for a amp that I really need to spend a thousand dollars with dac, cables and a headphone for me to enjoy this system. As for cables coming from china, this is no problem for me. I live in brazil, so almost everything i buy in audioland comes from china.
@ M0N I heard that IEM can benefit for going balanced, so I already purchased a balanced cable for my KZ ZS10 Pro. It has not arrived yet because they are coming from china. But do they have any benefit to going tubey?
So now I have another doubt, if I only be going single ended, the Loxjie p20 is a good option yet or is it better to look elsewhere?
I mean the darkvoice 336 is going to be an excellent tube amp, and the little dot mk2 would be a strong contender
Iems tend to not do well on a tube because of the tube amps high output impedance and the iems low impedance. It will make them sound strange or broken sometimes. Usually you really benefit from a tube with higher impedance dynamic headphones
Also when connected via USB, the q1 mk2 line input functions as a line out, so you would avoid double amping. I think the line out is volume controlled, so you would connect the amp to the fiio q1 mk2 through the jack approximately in the middle when connected through USB, and then turn the volume all the way up
I have a Sony DAP (ZX300) and balanced does indeed sound fuller and more detailed to me, after volume matching.
With that established, I decided that I wanted to try a balanced amp. It turned out to be an expensive operation. I bought the Loxjie P20 and didn’t like it. Then bought Russian tubes from Ukraine which definitely improved the sound. Then realized I had to buy a balanced DAC. Bought an SMSL SU-8 for $200.00. And of course had to buy XLR cables for DAC to amp and amp to headphones.
Wasn’t overly impressed and the P20 is current for sale.
I then bought a Liquid Carbon X balanced amp from MassDrop during “Prime Days” for $199.00. I love this amp.
Now my DAC feeds my LCX via XLR and feeds my Burson Fun-Classic via SE.
The LCX sounds almost “tubey” and has given me great balanced sound. However that was a long and expensive process.
I agree on your assessment of the LCX, I had a LCX+SDAC combo unit for a little under a month and really liked it, very warm/dark amp almost tube-y sounding in a lot of ways. Ultimately I decided to return it and get my current monoprice THX AAA 788 though, but I still kinda regret getting rid of it… maybe I’ll pick another one up sometime
@M0N For desktop use I have a SMSL M3. It doesn’t sound better than the Fiio Q1, but is more practical and more powerfull than the portable Fiio. My Pioneer SE-A1000 and my AKG M220 , they like very much the extra power.
And the other suggestions are way off my league moneywise speaking. When I asked for suggestions, I was thinking in something like SMSL SP100/T2, Little Bear B4(X)/T2/T7.
Audio gear is a expensive hobby and I don’t have a lot of money. In fact, I have a rule, at the moment, to not spend more than 100 dollars in any gear I buy. Until my economic situation changes, I will stay living that way.
You might be able to tap into the used market to find deals then.
If you wanted a tube amp in that price range besides the p20, the little dot 1+ mk2 is 108 USD, and there is a listing on eBay for 90 USD new with 10 bucks shipping.
Never had the chance to test the Philips X2s, but Imaging and soundstage are strong points in the Pioneer SE-A1000. It is a pity my unit started to sound weird, like the drive is burnt or blown (it’s discrete, only with really bass heavy music, but it drives me crazy).
It is a really good pair of cans. Kind of weird shaped, with the the annoying 6 meters cable, but it sounds very good indeed. But remember to change the earpads to Brainwavz Velour XL and you will be good to go.
