Aune X1S Anniversary Edition DAC/Amp & X7S Amp

The X1S Anniversary Edition commemorates 10 years of the X1 series. Now in its sixth generation, this DAC/amp takes all of the company’s knowledge from over the years and packs it into a great unit for desktop and full-size setups. This edition’s biggest improvement is to the amplifier section, which is now rated 200 mW at 300 ohms—an increase from 80 mW at 300 ohms in the previous iteration. The high-quality master clock reduces unwanted jitter, while the asynchronous USB connection ensures you receive only the most transparent and detailed signal from your digital source. Equipped with the ESS 9018K2M chipset with three filter modes, the X1S Anniversary Edition supports up to 32 bit / 384 kHz and DSD128, plus all the new high-end codecs currently on the market.

From the designer behind Aune’s classic Panda and B1 amplifiers, the X7S is a powerful Class-A balanced headphone amp available for an accessible price. It’s equipped with eight power transistors split into four groups for a truly balanced output, and has three gain levels for driving most headphones and IEMs on the market. Delivering a natural yet musical sound against a truly dark background—THD+N 0.00013%—this amp is compact enough for use in your office, study, or bedroom. The X7S is, according to Headfonia, “more powerful than a number of $1,000+ amps,” and its sleek, polished appearance ensures it’ll look good as part of any desk setup.