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100% would recommend to a friend 
Aune X7S Balanced Headphone Amp
01 / 07
Aune X7S Balanced Headphone Amp
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Product Description
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 Read More
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Customer Reviews
4.8
(9 reviews)
5star(7)
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keyboard_arrow_downMorri2
81
Apr 12, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
This is a great amp with clear detailed sound and powers all of my headphones (32 to 250 ohms) easily. It also works great as a preamp. I highly recommend!
Recommends this product? Yes
Zionys
24
Aug 9, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Love it!!!
It is better than a Magni 3, but not like a night and day difference. It is noticeable. I believe it is totally worth the price for it.
Recommends this product? Yes
tehnecro
2
Jul 24, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Was using the X1S as a DAC/AMP, X7S massive step up
I'm new to the whole, spending too much money on good audio thing...Bought an X1S DAC/AMP and was using it for a while...but it felt like it was missing something. Decided to try and add the X7S to it (and balanced inputs)...Instant night and day difference...Just set it up, put on a song I've listened to 100 times and its a whole new experience. Aune stack FTW...Go on amazon and buy a 50$ pair of balanced cables though.
Recommends this product? Yes
MusicLover
566
Jul 24, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Still Early and right out of the box I’m thrilled
Too early to write a review as I’ve only had it for a few hours. So far an amazing amp for the money. Definitely going to find a Dac to pair with it.
Recommends this product? Yes
lvetofly
6
Jul 7, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Powerful & detailed
Paired with an adcom dac, & it sounds fantastic with great detail! Even better with balanced 4pin XLR to 2.5mm corded IEM"S. I am very impressed at how real & believeably live it sounds!
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
Jail4banksters
86
May 5, 2019
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This is a review of the X7s with the HD6xx's. I'm lucky, I have a big boy hi-fi. It is a Linn MDSM/2, and I also have an Oppo 105D. In other words I have a couple of world-class DAC units. I have single strands of cable that cost more than this amp. I know that sounds dickish, but all I'm really trying to say that hey, I have a good system, and good ears. I bought the X7s because I wondered if I could improve on what I was getting out of the HDxx's from the jacks of my two incredible DACs. To make a long story short, when I connect the amp via RCA cables (Linn blacks) to either one of these two DACs, it does make the headphones sound better. More grunt, more slam in the low end, a little bit smoother, just generally more of everything, in a good way. These observations come from using a stock Senn 6.5 mm headphone jack on all three units, the two DACs alone, and then the amp connected to each of the DACs and to my LG v30 via a 3.5mm to RCA adapter, so five different conditions. Presently, my favorite condition is the Oppo into the Aune. It surprises me, the Linn does deliver a little bit more detail, but the Oppo just does a better job at putting out a little bit more sparkle, which I think the 650s need because they're so ....650. Maybe that'll change later as I swap back over to Linn, but I'm really enjoying the Oppo to Aune right now. Linn's concept of how to build a hi-fi is, "source first". So for those of you thinking about whether to buy the combo or the amp alone, if you don't have a good source, think about getting the combo first. It seems many commenters here are saying the amp in the X7s is better. But consensus holds the DAC in the combo is pretty good. Use the combo as a stepping stone, sell it when you get a little bit more money and buy a stand alone DAC, and the X7s. And then keep going in a never-ending upgrade cycle. I'm now almost exclusively using the XLR output on the Aune amp. I got a $45 XLR cable off eBay, it's decent enough with the overall setup value, and I will comment that the XLR cable has increased the output, and the general goodness, of the system. I'm burying the lead here, because my main purpose for writing this review was to speak to the issues several people here are commenting on. I also am having hum/buzz issues with the amp. I bought the above XLR cables for the 650s, and now when I use them this hum is even louder. I get no hum when listening directly via 6.5 mm from either of the excellent DACs. The hum is also much less when listening to the 6.5 mm jack on the Aune. Because of this I'm guessing Aune has some issues either with its board or its power supply. I did an interesting test where I went around my house, turned off everything in the panel except for my hi-fi circuit (and all the hifi equipment), and then listened to see if I could decrease the hum. No improvement. I then turned off everything at the breaker except one of my (ungrounded) kitchen splits, plugged in the amp and still had the same amount of hum using both jacks on the amp. Clearly I have some garbage power in my apartment building, which I guess is par for the course given the circuitry in an apartment building. But then I walked 2 m outside my apartment door, and plugged the amp into a dedicated circuit for the fire department. This immaculately grounded, never used circuit, had completely no hum, and was inky black on both the Aune amps 6.5 mm and XLR outputs into the 650s. Another poster here has linked to an improved power supply that Aune is now offering. Given that the rest of my hyper expensive system doesn't exhibit this problem, I'm gonna guess that Aune has made a nice $200 amp, but has some serious compromises in its power supply or other parts of its topology that make this unit susceptible to dirty power. Maybe that's why this different power supply is now on offer on their website. So if you got hum issues with the amp, you're not alone, you're not crazy, it's clearly a shortcoming in this device. I've been kicking around the idea of getting a proper power conditioner for my big boy system, and I've decided that I'm going to take a little plunge and start with something called the PS Audio Dectet. On the rare occasions I use the headphone set up I would like to have this hum issue eliminated, and it probably wouldn't hurt the rest of my system. If nothing else it would provide a decent amount of protection from this noise, and more importantly power surge issues. I'm also going to drop some money on some nice Hubble plugs for my whole hi-fi circuit (sadly not a dedicated line), which people say is also helpful in the never ending search for perfection. I'll try to report back here on if it helps the amp hum in any way. So if you've read this far, yes, buy the amp. I find it amazing that, to my ears, it can improve on the sound from my two spectacular DACs. Both units have dedicated headphone circuitry, and do a great job on their own, but the Aune X7s amp adds just that little bit more. Is it 200 bucks more? Yes.
Edit: I now have the Dectet, and the hum wasn't reduced at all. I'm now finally going to organize a proper ground from panel to equipment, and all the other outlets on the circuit. Maybe this sensitivity of the Aune to crappy power can be viewed as a feature...a power analyser?
Edit 2 Ok, so I've now grounded the circuit correctly. All the other plugs in the circuit are grinded too. The main hifi plug is a Porter Port receptacle
Should a well designed audio power supply reject this hash? Yes! Did any other of my hifi components have this problem? No. Have my other components benefited from these tweaks? Golly gosh willikers yes! The X7s still exhibits noticeable hum on my, now significantly optimised, hifi circuit. Is this acceptable for a $200 amp? I'll agree, probably not. Does this mean it will hum on any typical residential electrical system? This, ladies and gentlemen, is the key question you're probably asking yourself if you're reading this.
Does anyone else use a comparably priced, Class A, half XLR amp that hums, or doesn't? It's not mission critical for me, so I'm not going to change, but suggestions will certainly be valuable to others reading this.
And you too Aune! I'm now in touch with somebody to try to source an Environmental Potentials Digiplug ($175) to see if that will harvest the noise on my circuit. There are several manufacturers who make devices like this starting from $100ish to sky's the limit. I'll continue to report if the Digiplug clears things up. If you're counting, it seems I'll have spent nearly a thousand dollars (new retail pricing plus shipping) to eliminate the hum in this amp. I'm really doing it to provide the best possible environment for the main hifi. The Aune is doing a fantastic job being the canary in the coal mine, while helping my mid-fi 650's sound better when used. In my home, using my equipment, to my ears, electrical tweaks (contiguous ground is a must) have made an audible, very profound, impact on my system. To my ears, and I never thought I'd say this out loud: power cords and plugs make a big difference once your system has reached a certain level.
Jail4banksters
86
Aug 31, 2019
That the Aune sounds perfectly silent on the fireman's plug, but hums anywhere in my home, does that mean something other than a ground loop? Or is it maybe the cumulative sound of my neighbours ground loops?...which is nothing I can do anything about?
valveguy
4
Aug 31, 2019
Jail4bankstersnoise arising from ground loops is one of the most pernicious and aggravating issues to deal with - it can drive one bonkers; i know, i've been there. sometimes, all it takes is the insertion of one new component and the system which was so well behaved suddenly goes south. sometimes an acceptable solution can be found by trying the not so obvious - such as changing various interconnects to the noisy component. in my case, i eliminated about 80% of the noise by changing my hi-end cables to cheap radio shack ones. it was a compromise that wasn't 100% satisfactory, but it made things listenable & enjoyable.
at the time, i'm not sure the granite audio device existed, but my final solution was to eliminate the components which were susceptible to ground loops - my gorgeous tube amps.
in the end, each person's situation is somewhat unique - you gotta do what you gotta do.
so, either get rid of the aune & try something else or try the ground zero (get the latest version). & one final suggestion ... check out the vids from bing or google searches on "how to eliminate ground loop noise" - here's one to get you started: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+eliminate+ground+loop+noise&view=detail&mid=D777C7A4020DCE9774BDD777C7A4020DCE9774BD&FORM=VIRE
Mfrost15
18
Jul 16, 2018
checkVerified Buyer
Best headphone amp ever.
srdhussain
33
Aug 15, 2018
checkVerified Buyer
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Good amplifier at its price, especially as a pre-amp. It can create problems with headphones with very low resistance as its output resistance is relatively high.Inconveniently placed gain switches