🔷 xDuoo XD-05 Basic

[Argomedo]

Yes. The one that comes with the unit came in bad condition so i changed with a better one. It is a chance that the orange USB-C cable that comes with it ruin the inner usb port?

[Argomedo]

Ok i reply myself with the solution.

I’ve found that this issue happens on Windows when i haven’t installed the official drivers in the first place. That was the problem! I realize that on a Mac and on a Samsung S20+ i don’t have the problem but on Windows only (trying with 2 different PC).

And that’s it. Xduoo Drivers for windows solved the case. It may be helpful if someone encounter the same issue.

[Popkinjop]

Bought the basic, the original op-amp is garbage. Change the op amp, it will be 3x better the sound quality

[Masta_Mulla]

Hey I’m sort of a novice on this but could you steer me to the proper op amps that work with the xduoo basic ? If you can post a amazon link that be amazing thank you.

Oh one more question to you or anyone else out there, on the product info there’s a diagram that shows the basic connected to ps4 thru usb c and fiber digital in. Question was why isn’t it shown using the usb DC in for power and instead shows the dac usb in connected to ps4 running off battery cuz I tried to connect it this way to my ps4 pro and I never got any usb data connection to establish so is this dac amp meant to be able to be used as a dac for ps4? Maybe someone can clarify what the proper setup is or settings ? Thanks yall

[skian]

Burson v5i is a nice upgrade. Very smooth sounding. The stock op-amp is very grainy in comparison.
Make sure you get the dual so its both L & R channels in the 1 op amp.

Supreme Sound Opamp V5i - Burson Audio

[Aramaki]

Burson V5i Dual Opamps | Hybrid Opamps (Pair)

[bruh.wav]

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend the V5i. IMO they’re popular only because they’re from a name audiophile brand, not really because of their performance. The sound is a little bit bloated in the low end and the quality of that low end is not the best. In terms of the tech that they use, it’s also overpriced because it’s only an IC opamp with a cap and heatsink. Personally if you want to spend a premium on opamp, I would suggest a Sparkos SS3602 for a more neutral sound, OPA627BP for a more engaging and elevated low end, Muses 03 for a better sound stage, but a little bit rolled off treble and dark sounding, and an AD827SQ for a better imaging and a more neutral sound presentation. But these are based on the XD05 and XD05 plus, I don’t know how it will do with the basic.

Edit: Sorry I can’t help with your PS4 problem since I don’t have a ps4.

[rgdelato]

I had a similar experience as well, I strongly preferred the AD827SQ over the V5i and over the MUSES01/MUSES02, but this was all from op amp rolling with the XD-05 Plus.

To be fair, the V5i was still a big step up over the stock op amp!

EDIT: Adding link to the op amp I liked:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Analog-Devices/AD827SQ?qs=%2FtpEQrCGXCwzB8F8R4nKuA%3D%3D

[bruh.wav]

@rgdelato

To be fair, the V5i was still a big step up over the stock op amp!

Yea I agree with that, I just feel like V5i’s price is a little bit too high for what it offers.

[Masta_Mulla]

Thanks for advice on the Burson I do agree it’s to expensive at least for me it is right now, if anyone can link a compatible op amp from Amazon that works with the BASIC ID be grateful, for some reason I’m not having luck finding the correct part when I search amazon( I have gift card balance )

One more try on the ps4 usb c dac question…anyone have experience using this with ps4 ? I mean as of now it works just fine using the usb c plug into a wall wart for power and connecting digital in from my vizio tv. My question is with that configuration aren’t I still just using the TV or ps4 as a dac and just have a really expensive desk top amplifier currently ? Here’s the diagram I’m talking about . Anyone know if this device is meant to be used as a DAC as well with ps4 ? Thanks…

[Kron]

Whilst I don’t have experience of specifically what you asked, optical from your tv to the xd05 will be using the dac of the xd05 since its a digital signal to the dac rather than a line in signal to the amp of the xd05.

[Masta_Mulla]

Ok that makes sense. So it im using usb c and spdif at same time and obviously I can only choose one input so spfif provides sound while usb doesn’t so yea guess case closed. Thanks for clarification:)

[Masta_Mulla]

Can anyone please provide a amazon store link to any opamp that will be a upgrade over the xduoo BASICS stock opamp? I can’t find any on there bcuz it’s a little confusing for me. Thanks for any help.

[Nvar]

I’m waiting for my t60 argons to be finished and need to decide on an amp. I know Zeos raved about the xduoo xd-05 plus with argons and also mentioned that the Basic can drive them. Does anybody have any experience with the basic or plus paired with argons? Is there a huge difference between the two?

[CTOXmas]

got my XD05 a couple days ago and my V5I today… heck yeah killer combo

[LeDechaine]

Xduoo XD05 Basic (AK4490) Review: "This is not chi-fi, this is great engineering."

TL,DR: This is a big review of this big block of metal full of surprises. Tested with Sennheiser HD6XX’s, Fostex T50RP’s and Nad HP50 headphones. The XD05 is the perfect companion to enjoy detailed music on the go (macrodetails). And when you get home, you plug it straight into a better headphone amplifier, and it will show you all the little details (microdetails) hidden in its great AKM chipset implementation. Yes, this is also a great desktop DAC (I mean, it’s as big as one too). It will also take bitperfect audio and switch Bitrate/Khz when a change is detected, via USB (my Android phone) or via coax. This is “low-cost hi-fi” paradise, really. It’s a bit like the Fiio BTR5 for people who need power on the go. Definitely a great value… Even at full price.

If you buy this new, you’ll probably get the ESS version. But the original “XD05 Basic” had the AK4490 chip. I bought mine used, and got an AK4490. I honestly hoped my XD05 was the version with an ESS chipset (inexpensive implementations of these tend to have a prevalence for treble), because my desktop DAC is an SMSL Sanskrit 10th, with a prevalence for bass and low-mids (which is, I believe, an AK4493) and I wanted a change. Well, I got my XD05, played some songs, and I actually thought it was an ESS chipset… Until I opened it and realized it was an AK4490 inside. Implementation is everything, and it’s a well-implemented AKM chipset. A surprise at this price point. Neutral, clear, detailed, with sufficient treble, whether portable or not (plugged in an external headphone amplifier or not). Some cheap – read: bad – AKM implementations can sound muddy: Definitely not this one. Good.

Details:
The XD05 Basic is damn fast. i.e.: Fast, loud details are perceptible and never lost in “mud”, one detail never covers another because it happened too rapidly before or after. Fair warning, this is not a portable “detail monster”. But, like, “what’s the point” : You’re probably always surrounded by noise. You hear a lot of good things with the XD05 Basic at medium to high volumes. Drums hit hard. Voices sound natural, and quite believable actually. Loud voices, loud guitars, loud instruments are all full of details. And I don’t even know the name of the thing, or what it is made of, but in songs with (real) drums, I can clearly hear if the “round puck” hitting the bass drum is made of “rubber”, or if there’s a bit (or a ton) of cloth over it, or not. Clearly. Simply put, the “amount of times I’ve told myself it sounds life-like to price ratio” with this ~150$ thing is incredible. Thanks to the XD05, I think I now know the definition of “macrodetails” (versus subtle, i.e., “micro” details). In the worst case scenario (like… treble-y T50RP planars) these “macrodetails” can be a problem, though. Headbang responsibly, enjoy macrodetails with moderation.

Technicalities, gain and powah – Level 3 gain is useless/broken:
More importantly, the headphone out got a fair amount of soundstage, naturalness, instrument separation and depth – even with my T50RP’s, which some people say often sound “mechanical” and “lifeless”. Not here. In terms of naturalness and macrodetails, the XD05 Basic can even make my T50RP’s sound a bit like my Sennheiser HD6XX’s, something that 100$ desktop amplifiers (JDS Atom, Liquid Spark) never did. Impressive stuff.

This headphone out is also 500mW of power @ 32 ohms, so you can go anywhere and rock your planars with it – and that’s what I do. This is a portable 500mW per channel metal brick that will hit your ears like a metal brick if you ask for it. On gain level 3 it’s a bit too much, though. The three gain levels are like, “4/10, 8/10, and 11/10”. Gain level 3 is overdone, max gain and half volume with T50RP’s is painful and I believe I even hear distortion sometimes. It’s just too much. On top of that, there’s channel imbalance unless the volume is high, sometimes too high. So the gain stays at level 2 on mine, and smooth music sounds smooth and energetic music sounds energetic, with no trace of distortion or channel imbalance whatsoever.

The DAC part: “And oh, you wanted more subtle details? Surprise: the DAC’s got it”.
I also use the XD05 Basic as a “desktop dac”, using the USB input and the 3.5mm coaxial input – yes this exists and yes adapters exist – and the 3.5mm output, which is a “line out”, i.e.: DAC mode, no volume control, straight to my Aune X7S (a 300$ Class A desktop headphone amp). Another surprise: This DAC can be more detailed than my SMSL Sanskrit 10th desktop DAC. The Sanskrit 10th is a great DAC. I’ve enjoyed, discovered, and re-discovered hours and hours of music with it. It’s hard to play anything with this DAC and “hurt your ears”. But it’s “too smooth to be life-like”. There’s too much bass and mids in female voices, for example. So, guess what, I exchanged it with my XD05. The XD05 Basic is now also my preferred desktop DAC. (Funnily enough, the XD05 Basic is an AK4490 chipset and the Sanskrit 10th is an AK4493. Did I tell you “implementation is everything” ?)

As a desktop DAC: Coax (to computer) + USB (power/recharge) in + USB (to computer) + 3.5mm line out (to speaker/headphone amps).

An odd quirk is, to activate the 3.5mm “line out” (i.e.: always 100% volume output, to use the XD05 as a desktop DAC), you need to turn on the XD05… by turning the volume knob up. Which means you’ll also be able to power a second pair of headphones via the unit’s headphone out at the same time. Well, why not. Makes A/B-ing stuff easier. Or bring a friend.

Bluetooth part: LDAC is great, but may be unreliable.
Yes, I also got the little bluetooth module. Play, pause, next track and last track buttons on it are useful. It works great… when LDAC works. I remember having it set to 990kbps (24bit/96khz and forced “highest quality”), and it still managed to add a bass boost and compress my 16bit/44.1khz/320kbps (or less!) mp3’s, making it a night-and-day difference when I removed the module and used the “USB IN” instead. Oh well, maybe it’s my phone, too (…even if it said LDAC in the Bluetooth infos on my phone, and the “bluetooth module” light was white, which also means LDAC data is received). Or maybe I got one of the 100 Android or USB Audio Player Pro config options wrong that time. Anyways, good luck. (By the way, if LDAC changes from 990kbps to something else, you’ll hear a little, very subtle “pop”.)

I’m not done: You can also switch opamps. And it makes a HUGE difference.
I also bought this XD05 Basic used, with a Burson v5i opamp in it… which I promptly uninstalled. There were “cracks and pops” between songs, and sometimes when turning the volume up/down. Something was wrong. And the cracks and pops between songs even happened via the 3.5mm line out. I also felt like I was drowning in mids, which, among (a ton of) other things, completely killed the soundstage. Maybe the Burson v5i could be good for the 1 watt per channel XD05 Plus/Balanced/etc., but was too much for the XD05 Basic, which is half the power? I don’t know. Anyways, all this review, all the technicalities, all the problems with the gain mentioned in this review, it was all with the XD05 and a JRC 5532DD opamp in it (the stock one, I guess).

I also tried a TI NE5532P opamp… It smoothens everything, to the point of making the XD05 “boring”. The bit I said about being able to know what kind of “round puck” was hitting the bass drum? I’ve just learned it’s 100% because of this JRC opamp acting kind of like a “peaky” bass boost (at 75hz-100hz?). So, whatever Xduoo did, the XD05 responds very well to “opamp rolling”. Another surprise. Yup, the XD05 is not “chi-fi”. This is great engineering.

Battery (batteries) life(s).
Well, don’t forget to charge your phone. And don’t forget to charge your XD05 Basic… and don’t forget to charge the bluetooth module, too. Still:

• I was expecting the mini bluetooth module to die first… Until I checked the website and it said it had 12 hours of battery life. I probably used it more than 12 if not 24 hours already, haven’t recharged it yet.
• I was expecting maybe 6 hours of battery life for the XD05 itself… With T50RP’s, max gain (…don’t), volume at 11 O’clock, blasting mostly electro, rock and metal, I got 10 hours. This is basically the worst case scenario.
• I was expecting an external, battery-powered DAC to still drain my phone’s battery power a bit: Nope. Even with USB Audio Player Pro and the screen option set to “always on”, I lose one percent battery life every 5 minutes.
• By the way, you can play music while charging the XD05, too.

So if you’re worried about battery life… Your smartphone battery will surely die first, after more than 8 hours of music playing.

Small downsides:
-Under the sun, you can’t see anything on this screen. Activate the bluetooth “module”, you’ll see the blue light. Power the XD05 on, with a bit of luck you’ll see the “orange” ring around the volume knob. But the screen basically just looks like a mirror. If you rely on it, just crank the volume, find the right input with the switch and wait for the “happy jumpscare” to confirm you still have battery.
-It will never shut down automatically after X minutes of (nothing) playing. I forgot it on in a room and the battery just drained. So, don’t forget to turn it off!

So, for all these reasons, I repeat: This thing is “low-cost hi-fi” paradise, really. It’s a bit like the Fiio BTR5 for people who need power on the go. Definitely a great value, even at full price. The XD05 is not chi-fi. This is great engineering. I’ll watch Xduoo’s stuff more closely from now on. I’ll probably buy another XD05 Basic (the ESS version) to compare with this AKM chipset version. No, this is not an “endgame” DAC/amp combo. But for 150$? This is great stuff.

[CTOXmas]

if you didn’t check there could be a firmware update available, I know people used to talk about not being able to use high gain in certain situations but I haven’t had issues even after swapping to a Burson V5I OP AMP which even more people said made high gain not work

[lrjshabaz]

Love this unit. For the price, if you don’t mind a bit of a brick I don’t think anyone else combines this level of power, build and battery, single-ended too! Great pot and switches. Could easily be a desktop combo unit for a lot of folks, with the added flexibility of battery and BT. When folks ask about budget stacks and don’t have big power demands - I think this is a super-smart contender. This offers plenty for most planar and 300 ohm headphones. Adore that it is 1/4" out. That 1/2 watt goes a long way.

Gripes, the BT module isn’t a stupendous integration. I wish you could charge both units simultaneously from the BT module port. Still have no idea how to assess its battery on its own. Bass boost is typically a bit too rich and high-reaching of a shelf for my ears.

Wanted this for a long time and finally grabbed one on one of the rip-roaring Linsoul deals prior to this current one. Most people will benefit from the build/flexibility here than require the extra power of a K5 Pro for instance.

[LeDechaine]

Yeah. This is going in the The “Too good for the price” list.

Bass boost is good with HD6XX’s, for example. But I agree, it could be a few dB less. With older recordings it’s great, or with any calm, smooth, or “soft rock” music. But with newer recordings where everything got more bass, sometimes it’s like I’m half-ashamed to keep it on and I’m half-ashamed to keep it off.

[LeDechaine]

6 months later: I’m still using it as a desktop DAC. Still bringing it everywhere when I leave the house for more than one day. Still loving it. Still recommending it. Especially because you can easily buy it used for ~100$ USD. Don’t forget you only need to plug the LDAC module’s “Coaxial” plug, allowing you to use the “line out” to speakers, changing it into a desktop bluetooth DAC.

Incredible value. Poor man’s iFi Gryphon.