Is not always as much as you think what you pay on it.
I have ordered 2-3 things from Massdrop before and it kept within limits.
Even if I order something in China.
The Singxer Sda 2 C was set down in China, and still have paid some customs duty.
Could have had it at Magnahifi directly and it would have been there by the end of the week.
Strangely, customs in Europe usually makes less stupid if from the Usa ordered than from China.
I have the Hifiman he4xx and the Emu Purpleheart durchgewunken get to Germany.beim Fostex Tr X00 Mahogany unfortunately less also there amounted to the cost of 40 ā¬ which was still okay.
At Amazon meanwhile also pay import fees although it is waved through under certain circumstances.
And Amazon rubs his hands at the end.
They have extra people for such things and that is worthwhile for Amazon.
Therefore, I would let it come about Massdrop or China Shenzen audio on it.
The chance that it is waved through also because of Corona is currently greater than ever before.More like scanning it is not.And the people have at customs have just no mood.
They are looking for the big stuff, 
.
I have ordered there aswell and it was okay with Customs and taxes ( HD6XX was still way cheaper than HD650 regularly), but its not always worth it. I had to pay for every single peace i ordered there, even for earpads from Dekoniā¦, payed for 4XX, 6XX, Koss KPH30i
I they have something that i really want, i go for it, for sure. But if i can get it here aswell, im really okay to pay a few bucks more to have it fast and to not have stress if something fails. Sending back to the usa and stuffā¦
I always do the math before ordering something and drop is often a bit cheaper, but the few bucks are not worth the waiting time and missing local support etc.
That is one thing I want, when buying for more than $1000. If something breaks, I want to be able to get help or have a decent refund experience. And especially the latter is impossible when buying from most chinese web-shops.
Does anyone know if the burson v5i gives the original xd-05 better volume control, as in it doesnāt get quite as loud quite as soon? Also I remember hearing about either the high gain or low gain no longer working with the v5i. Is that a thing? Lastly, can the original xd-05 use the single x2 or only the double x1? Thanks in advance.
I havent used the xd-05 without the V5i installed so I cant say how it performs to stock but, on sensitive iems and lower impendence headphones with the V5i, the volume control gets sensitive. For example with my ibasso it03, Im at listening level at 10 but nudged a little closer to 11 and the levels get too loud for me. Not an issue with harder to drive stuff like my 600 ohm beyers. The tygrs are less sensitive but I never get past 12 with them either as reference on low gain. So I could imagine these blowing up iems if the knob gets nudged in the wrong direction.
There isnt a big leap from low to medium gain and its barely noticeable but high gain is a step up. The xd-05 goes into protection mode when I switch the bass on at high gain with the V5i making it unusable on high gain with bass boost. I donāt get this behavior with the AD827SQ opamp in my xd-05 plus.
The single x2 or double x1 will work. I use the double x1 and Iāve seen others using 2 singles pushed up together into the xd-05.
What he saidā¦
I have the plus with the v5i and have used it stock, but donāt recall a difference in loudness management.
Thanks for the info @SkipsMchee and @SM_Music I got the double x1. Even if it doesnāt give me better volume management, Iāve heard nothing but good things about how it sounds.
My initial impressions after a few hours of listening are overall positive, butā¦ Iām not sure if I can recommend the burson V5i-D upgrade. There is definitely a sound change (subtle as it may be), but since swapping an op-amp is not quick or something one should do repeatedly, itās hard to A-B test so I canāt really put it to words yet. Maybe āclearerā if I had to try. Iāll probably swap back to the stock op-amp in a day or two and see if I notice anything more identifiable.
What I can say for certain is the V5i-D has some āquirksā to it. Is seams to drain battery faster (which I was aware of) and it pops when turning it on/off or plugging/unplugging headphones. Neither are a huge deal, but they arenāt good things either.
The op amp need burn in time 100 hours,but i find it change not so many after burn in.
Mine has never poped, neither before or after I got the V5 installed and the battery drainage is not at a level I have noticed.
And yes, both things are not desireble.
Maybe I need to seat mine in the socket better? I felt like I put it in properly, but I was being gentle so maybe I didnāt push it in enough.
Could be, but I wouldnāt know if that can make it pop.
Mine doesnāt pop either when turning on or off.
Did yours do that with the stock op-amp?
There could be a firmware issue. I know earlier versions said āno singleā when nothing was connected, but mine says āno signalā so i suspect there was a firmware upgrade along the way to fix a few things like that.
As far as the v5i, i find it smoother and just more beautiful sounding than the stock op-amp. And it doesnāt loose any detail in doing so. On its own the stock op-amp sounds fine, but in comparison the stock op-amp is a bit grainy. I feel a slightly larger sound stage with the v5i as well.
This is testing mostly with Aeon Closed RT and HE-560 v4
No poping with the stock op-amp. Mine does say āno singleā when nothing is playing. Where would I get the new firmware and how would I install it?
New info that might help identify the cause of the popping, it still happens even when plugging/unplugging the mini-XLR connector on my hart audio cables.
Another update, I swapped back to the stock op-amp and it did not pop at all.
I also gave it a quick listen before putting the V5i-D back in and I think my initial impression was correct. The burson V5i-D is just clearer. Itās kind of like the Lawton driver side tune-up in that itās a subtle change and not really a frequency response change, but itās still noticable.
I found it to have a pretty big difference in terms of sound. The Burson op amp. It made the treble much smoother, improved imaging and separation alot. Tonality was better too. I believe that was really the main differences
Guys,
I have a question, not related to the topic (sorry) more related to the BRAND.
I want a new dac/amp and found this Xduoo XA-10 amezing spects( 2*ak4493 + Clase A amps, balanced output, xmos216 and more) but xduoo is new and I heard some problems with USB and other issues in the past with other productsā¦ they are NO reviews yet because the product is quite new ( a couple of unboxing videos and a short review on youtube but no more than that (I guess I will wait for a bit longer) Cost 479$$
so question: how many issues/problems did you have? would you give it a try ?
( I could get a E30+A50s from topping already tested by many users for that money)
A lot of people here have xduoo stuff, mainly the xd-05 and variants, and I havenāt heard of problems from the Xduoo brand in particular. Heard of āaimpireā selling fake, lo-fi versions of the Topping D10, or topping amps breaking and ruining headphones ( 
), but nothing from xduoo for now.