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Astell&Kern XB10 Bluetooth DAC/Amp
01 / 07
Astell&Kern XB10 Bluetooth DAC/Amp
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754 Sold
Product Description
We’d all like to improve the sound quality coming from our smartphones, but with traditional portable DAC/amps come additional cables that get in the way. Not so with the Astell&Kern XB10: a small circular device that wirelessly transmits audio data from your smartphone via Bluetooth Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downCreech
22
Mar 1, 2018
Hope I can help here. I have been using this for over a year now and frankly it's quite an improvement over the integrated DAC/AMP in any smart phone (including V10/V20 models but only regarding quality for them). This can run with ease low powered IEMs and most average cans (32 - 60 ohm) anything more and it's just not enough. I still don't know the DAC even though I searched a lot for it. I genuinely recommend this to anyone who wants to listen to music from his phone. Especially for $85 that's a great deal, keeping in mind that this retailed for just under $200 from A&K when it was new. The main flaw of this device is the battery. It's really bad! I usually get about 4-5 hours of play time which means that this is charging every night for me. It might be different for you but I don't see how anyone can get through two days without recharging it. Now I won't compare it with any non-portable DAC/AMP, but there are better options out there. I am going to compare it to other AptX HD enabled devices. You can connect it to a an IPhone but why should you when one of its main selling points is that this is the 1st Bluetooth DAC/AMP to support AptX HD. And here is the bad news, it's not the best anymore. There have been a couple of new devices that have been released since. You can check them out here https://www.aptx.com/products?field_aptx_type_tid=483&field_product_category_tid=All, but one sticks out and its Radsone EarStudio ES100. I found it on indiegogo last year and immediately bought 2 for $54 each. I waited a long time until they arrived but the wait was worth it, this thing is better in every way possible. Better sound quality due to a number of factor (more info here - https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/fb72a4_48ff552d02de42ef9e2d5041c3fe29ee.pdf and on the site), better more powerful AMP and most important of all - easily 3 times the battery life. I frankly don't leave the house without it. I think that this info is enough for here you can easily find more information online. Hope this helps you decide if you need this.
ZALHERA
843
Mar 3, 2018
CreechThanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions. I was gonna jump in on this, but decided the Redsone EarStudio is probably the better choice for me; I highly value battery life.
bhigh
57
Mar 1, 2018
A quick search for this item will show you someone selling it for $75 with free international shipping.
AstellnKern
9
Astell&Kern
Mar 3, 2018
bhighNote from Manufacturer: Please take note that Massdrop is an authorized reseller for Astell&Kern in North America. When purchasing from Massdrop all units are direct from us as the manufacturer and are covered with a 1 year warranty. Astell&Kern does not provide warranty services for any products purchased through unauthorized resellers and it cannot be determined whether these products are used, refurbished, counterfeit, stolen or otherwise compromised. Buyer beware, AccessoryJack is not an authorized reseller for Astell&Kern products.
mrbinary
344
Mar 3, 2018
AstellnKernI don't really care about that because I'm outside USA.
Massdrop warranty means nothing for me because I need to pay a lot just for the shipping alone for the warranty claim.
Thanks anyway for the clarification.
mrbinary
344
Apr 7, 2018
Before you guys buy this, please make sure your phone does support APX-HD if you want the 24-bit/48-kHz benefit .
frostfiree
26
Mar 1, 2018
What are the gains from using this vs. the on-board audio of an iPhone X? Is there a significant improvement or is it just marginal?
RyCan
144
Mar 1, 2018
Since I found the description here fairly lacking
https://us.astellnkern.com/collections/accessories/products/astell-kern-ak-xb10
It does handle AptX HD
Santhu
3
Apr 6, 2018
Can it drive a 300 ohm headphone?
P.S. I am planning to buy Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones(300 Ohm)
P.S. I am planning to buy Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones(300 Ohm)
Santhu
3
Apr 11, 2018
@Sloblo Thanks for your response. I already have Creative Sound Blaster X7 Limited edition connected to my XBOX and Speakers. I am looking for an amplifier(prefer portable) for my Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones(300 Ohm) which will be delivered after 30th Aug(current drop). All i am confused is whether AK XB10 can drive HD XX to its potential. Please advise.
thebigdirt
11
May 21, 2019
I have both. The soundblaster sounds great. But battery is an issue and it's about 10x bigger
hiilari
70
Mar 27, 2018
Have now listened 4-5 hours through the XB10, plus used it to connect to laptop for webinars and skype calls. I still don't have a phone with aptX-HD (but soon will) so my bluetooth is still the regular aptX. Early comments:
The sounds quality compared to Dragonfly Red is surprisingly close. The headphone amp is really good, but some high-end sparkle and 'air' seems to get lost via the wireless. Still, quality sound indeed. When nothing is being played the amp is dead quiet through the two IEMs I have.
Pleasantly surprised how far an Android phone and XB10 stay connected. Better connection than my old Phiaton neckband design.
To my taste the volume increments are too big. One step in either direction either adds or reduces volume too much.
Really wish I had shorter earbud cables. Ideally the XB10 is attached to shirt collar for easy access to the controls, and mic placement for calls. The cable should then only be 30 cm/1 ft. or so. I wonder where to get such cables?
The sounds quality compared to Dragonfly Red is surprisingly close. The headphone amp is really good, but some high-end sparkle and 'air' seems to get lost via the wireless. Still, quality sound indeed. When nothing is being played the amp is dead quiet through the two IEMs I have.
Pleasantly surprised how far an Android phone and XB10 stay connected. Better connection than my old Phiaton neckband design.
To my taste the volume increments are too big. One step in either direction either adds or reduces volume too much.
Really wish I had shorter earbud cables. Ideally the XB10 is attached to shirt collar for easy access to the controls, and mic placement for calls. The cable should then only be 30 cm/1 ft. or so. I wonder where to get such cables?
koolpep
929
Mar 2, 2018
Guys, I am using this little thing for quite some time, especially to turn my IEMs into wireless headsets. And all that even with a balanced output, which means I dont even have to swap cables of my iems to use them as headsets....woohoo. Meaning wireless to the phone to give me freedom during conference calls etc. however, I realized how good the sound quality is even for listening on the go, be it aac with the iPhone X or apt x hd with my oneplus 5t the xb10 is really an awesome device. My only negative is that due to the excessive weight savings, it feels rather flimsy. However it works perfectly well. Now that I think about it the second negative is that the battery level (can be shown on the connected android or iPhone) warning really comes only in the last 10 minutes of use, a small reminder 30 mins out, maybe even a spoken one would be much better....
swiftsword69
146
Mar 9, 2018
lextherivalSooner or later it'll all get owned by either the Chinese or the Russians
LongLiveRock
153
Apr 26, 2018
I love my LG V30. I recently discovered that it routes MQA-decoded music from Tidal through the AptX HD Bluetooth connection to my A&K XB10. I confirmed this by playing the same track over and over but from two different versions of the same album, one version MQA "Master" quality, the other simply HiFi quality. The track was Augustin Hadelich's Paganini: 24 Caprices, No. 1 in E major. Even when routed through the XB10 (which to my knowledge doesn't itself decode MQA), Tidal indicated that the MQA version was MQA authenticated, and the music quality was markedly better than the HiFi version. Hadelich's violin was closer, more realistic and warm, his breathing more audible. Again, this is simply comparing the same track from the same album but from two different quality Tidal versions, routed from my LG V30 using AptX HD through my XB10 to my 1more Quad IEMs.
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