Stell listening and will send that sample to good reviewer
2 Likes
Hi, can anyone compare this with ifi idsd micro bl? I am thinking of driving mass drop fostex tr-x00 and shenns HD800s with it. I read somewhere that xduoo filters does not work or changes a sound signature very little. I assume they implemented same filter function in this one as in the previous ones. On the other hand ifis micro bl has this bass boost switch that everyone says works well. I will need to bass boost HD800s (obviously not fostex) and was wondering if this is doable with ta30. It might as well have great lows due to being tube/hybrid amp. Can some help me to decide. It will play rock, metal mostly. Thanks.
I personally havenāt heard this amp yet, but I have used the 800s on lots of different amps including the micro bl. On the micro bl the bass boost was very nice for them, and also the smoother sound helped control the highs a bit, but you did loose some resolution compared to other amps. The thing is that the 800s just works so well with a tube amp that I want to say getting a tube amp is the way to go imo for the 800s. The x00 just slam on the micro bl, pretty awesome pairing for that imo. Also I donāt know if the ta30 is a hybrid or not for sure
1 Like
Thanks M0N, that helps. I guess I will wait for the proper reviews on TA30 and then decide which one I want. Price wise they are very similar. As for xduoo I am not an engineer and know nothing about the tube amp build but this small thing pulls 3W and my stereo amp gets me 8W out of 300b tubes and is just huge and weighs 12 times xduoo thus I assumed it must be hybrid. Anyways thanks for thoughts on ifi.
Yeah Iām not too sure, it could be a hybrid, and if thatās the case it might be worth it to get a nice otl and a dac for the same price, I just think the 800s really sounds the best on tubes. But I can agree tube amps can just be massive lol. Most of the ones I own are crazy heavy. A headphone amp I own with 300bās weighs around 80 lbs, and my speaker amps are even weightier
Oh wow 80 Lbs, well at least that makes me happy, it means the amp Iām building will be lighter by comparison at ~40 Lbs, maybe 45 Lbs due to the chokes, then again, maybe the 300Bs have Plate Chokes making them even heavier. Mine uses 6080s and equivalents with CCS on the plates of the drivers and on the power tube cathodes, making it substantially lighter, that and the transformer is toroidal and provides 150V only (when rectified itāll be higher though) with the heater winding being 6.3V for all tubes. Iād imagine the 300Bs are being run with maybe 300V, or higher, and possibly more windings due to the transformer having to heat a 300B and the driver tubes, each at different voltages (Or a separate transformer for heaters and plate voltage).
Idk I thought I was going overboard at 40 Lbs.
Oh also, Iāve heard the Xduoo amp is purely tube, but idk, seems weird that it can produce 3000mw into a 32 ohm load using just 12AU7s. Maybe itās internally balanced using phase splitters on the RCAs, and uses OT to take the balanced signal back to unbalanced, although it is rather small or maybe it has a particular biasing but idk.
Still Iām curious to see someone open this sucker up and see how it works.
For headphones I use a cayin ha300 and itās a pretty awesome amp ngl
1 Like
Oh Iāve seen how that thing looks on the inside, absolutely fantastic build quality, and such a extremely specialized Power Supply, having 4 tube rectifiers and power supply dedicated to each of the amplifiers tubes, essentially each tube gets whatever it needs, dedicated just for itself.
Also, apparently the 6SN7s work balanced, and then halfway through become unbalanced to run with the 300Bs, idk if it gets balanced again via output transformer or if itās left unbalanced through an output transformer and the Actual XLR output is just a commodity, it has internal relays though so maybe it is balanced and the relays detect whether the balanced or unbalanced port is used, or maybe itās more simple than that and those relays are for another function, maybe a safety for the amp since it has speaker and headphone outs, so you canāt damage the headphones on accident?
I donāt own one but itās always fun to speculate the smaller details. Still just from the internals, it looks absolutely amazing and most likely sounds great too.
1 Like
Yeah I am done with tube speaker amps lol, the aries cerat stack is all that I will ever need, absolute units of amps (and the highest I can currently afford to go lol)
I need to update this statement and say the ta-30 IS a hybrid and that is confirmed directly by xduooā¦ sorry if I mislead anyone
1 Like
Thanks for the info, I wasnāt sure either lol 
2 Likes
Has anyone received theirs ? Any updates ?
xDuoo TA-30 at $639 now only 3 days
I love my TA-30 so much. It really does pair extremely well with most of my collection. Iām also confirming that E80CC tubes will work with no socket adapters perfectly.
This makes this amp MAGIC if you were on the fence definitely an easy buy and would recommend swapping the 12AU7 with the E80CC
2 Likes
So Iām trying to figure out if I have an issue with one of the tubes/and or sockets on my TA-30. I am aware that not all tubes light up with the same glow, and that that quality is not necessarily an indication of functionality, but I have had something interesting crop up that I think may be an issue.
One of the tubes no longer lights up like it once did. I canāt distinguish any sound difference (it seems to work fine to my virgin ears), but I know that both of the front tubes once lit up in the same fashion.
Do I need to replace the tube, or is it perfectly fine for a tube to change this characteristic during its lifespan?
Hey looks like its just an LED underneath that went out the right tube seems to be lit up just fine. This wonāt affect the sound just the aesthetic.
As long as the tips glow red youāre fine. You should have no problems with the amp sound wise most of the components are over built. The unit gets super hot. Iād recommend if youāre going to use your TA-30 through out the day to keep it on all day then. Tubes donāt like to change temp too much.
Long term review time I think soā¦ :
I swapped all the tubesā¦ Then went back to the original rectifier cause that original rectifier really gives that smooth sound I love from this amp. The speed I got from my reflector rectifier tube was nutty so this amp is extremely capable and I can see why the designers chose this pairing. The driver tubes I changed to a pair of E80CC Tungsramās and WOW the soundstage and treble just incredible wow its not a mustā¦ But if youāve enjoyed the amp definitely a must have combo.
It runs hot VERY HOT if you donāt run a fan in your room the unit will bake itself to death Iām talking over 100 degrees. its packing so much in the package I understand why itās getting so hot. With a fan on barely at 40 degrees celcius
I donāt mind enthusiast compromise on products certainly Iām no stranger to products that need a bit more care.
What do you get out of it?? Its so smoothā¦ its tone for me is so inviting I work an incredibly high pressure job and for me I love it. It feels like tube for solid state Iām so happy they matched the solid state components to the tubes cause this is as close to a tube to run solid state.
Thatās my favourite part about the amp I donāt have to worry about what headphone will match with my OTL tube amps cause its solid state delivery hook up low or high impedance doesnāt matter works everytime its exactly what I wanted. Want to use that focal elex with a tuby sound but worried about bloated bass on the tube amp no worries works great with the TA-30 Especially for my Fostex X00 which doesnāt play nice with OTLās god send amp for that headphone. In fact letās run through the Gauntlett:
T50rp Argon mod (Protein leather and lambskin pads):
More than enough power to drive the famously hard to drive Argons and not only that drives them extremely well. Adds to the width the bass is TIGHT and the mids still have that magic that made me fall in love with them.
As Argon enjoyers know the treble can be aā¦ Little on the weird on the proteins the smoothless on the amp really takes care of some of that and makes it more on the relaxed but more even neutral side which is great since I love the soundstage of the Protein leather.
Lambskins pads experience ā¦just perfectā¦ Iād say the more audiophile sound for sure. [Im dying to try them with some cowhides I hear theyāre the most relaxed pad choice Iāll report back later on that]
This my go to come home and chill setup with the Argonās + TA-30 I honestly use this with bluetooth to my phone and just chill on lounge with a huge cable and itās bliss and so much FUN itās a blast.
I think this is one of the more important headphones to go over the DCA Ether CX:
As Ether CX enjoyers/users will know this headphone is 95% work 5% fun this amp now makes this headphone 25%ā¦which is HUGE for this headphone this is the only amp I now use my Ether CX with for pleasure. This is a feat even my ghetto Darkvoice to THX 789 couldnt make it this fun. Very impressive definitely more detail on the THX but my Ether CX is always trying to murder me with detil so great change of pace.
Focal Elex:
Now THIS is one my favourite combos itās just too easy tight bass, excellent mid range and the best of all. The treble off the wrong amp with this headphone is UNFORGIVING with the TA-30 just perfection for detail, energy and liveliness. Itās smooth and still exciting. Busy passages are handled perfectly with this combo
ZMF Aeolus w/perf Suede pads with Bopp filter removed:
Excellent and I have a really hard choice between OTL tubes or the TA-30 which is a huge compliment. If you plan on running a ZMF off of this amp you still get 80% of the dynamic range increase like you would from normal tubes which is awesome bass is punchier of course off of this amp than tubes which I believe would really be the main draw for running this top end still beautiful mid range magic preserved so a great pairing Iād choose this over any other solid state.
Fostex X00 Mahogany w/Dekoni Sheepskins:
Excellent solution for a tube sound for the X00 as you want more mid range and preserved Bass and calms the treble heat of this headphone for sure a lot of fun the sensitivity of this headphone is the concern you barely turn the volume pot and youāre already as loud as you want a pre-amp to control the volume is highly recommended.
Koss KPH30i w/ Yaxi Pads / KSC75ās w/Yaxi pads:
Oh yeah that mid range magic is so sweet soundstage is perfect same with the KSC75ās I feel you could blow apart the KSC75ās with the potential of this amp my favourite gaming combo as well incredible soundstage layering and texture wow what a combo. Sendy Aiva: It drives them so perfect I dont really have words it suits the character of the headphone so much its remarkable. In summary you have to keep a tab on how hot its getting in all the fun. Itās the only draw back amongst all the fun you have to sober up from time to time to double check how the amp is going but if youāre willing youāre in for a treat with this amp. I donāt really think there is too much like it out there thatās the best part really itās extremely unique and drives some odd or hard to drive headphones really well I never had an issue but it is strongly advised to pair with a pre-amp for volume purposes as it is such a high gain design.
1 Like
Iāve had my TA-30 for many months now and have been loving it. For the past couple of weeks Iāve started having pops and clicks when listening to music via USB. It gets worse every time I use it. Never had this issue previously. It ruining my listening experience. It sounds like a static pop or like vinyl with surface cracks/pops. Nothing has changed. It sits in the same spot. There is nothing around it that would generate static or noise. I rolled it when I first got it. Iām going to try and see if there is any change by putting the original tubes back. Has anyone else experienced this issue with the TA-30?