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Product Description
A new and improved version of the popular TA-01, the xDuoo TA-01B DAC/amp can easily drive high-end headphones, packing a lot of power into a compact piece of gear. The 12AU7 tube brings some warmth to the sound signature, hitting the sweet spot between analytical reference and homemade hi-fi Read More
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I got the DAC/AMP shortly after my HD6XX's arrived and at first, there wasn't much difference from my motherboard's built-in DAC/AMP and it sounded a bit muffled and muddy. I read that the tube shipped in the unit is pretty bad, so I ordered a Gold Lion because why not. Worth every cent.
Received my unit and had from the first second a robotic like sound. Tried it with a tube change but no change of the effect.
Drop support checked options and as they could not offer a replacement they gave me without any discussion a very fair complete refund!
Not possible to rate the product but as it is defect would be a 1 out of 5, but service is 5 out of 5. So overall a 3 ;)
its an ok tube amp/dac, nothing too amazing, you get a bit of that tube action while sounding reasonably well, but not really enough to make it a recommend
I found some very old probably Gen 1, iPod earbuds. For wahtever reason they only sounded broken from any source besides coming from this amp. ?? Go figure.
The amp itself sounds great but stock Chinese 12AU7 tube died after about 20 hours of using the device.
If you are ok with replacing the stock tube with something more reliable - go for it. But it is a bit dissapointing having 20$ spend on replacement tube for 120$ amp in a first week of use. Be aware.
Not only that it looks nice and drives all of my Headphones, IEMs, earbuds and so on perfectly well (up to 250 Ohm no problem at all). No, it also got a nice playfactor for people, who like to fiddle around with their tech stuff. You can buy tubes, switch them back and forth, listen to music and find the differences between them. So much fun. I love it. :)
And there is a Win10 driver for it, that allows additional settings (Format, ASIO buffer etc.).
Oh, the sound ... well, it's very good overall, but how it is exactly depends on the tube used. You can actually chose your personal sound. Neutral sound? yep. More bass ? np. More detail? sure. Both? Hell yeah! Heavy bass? Even that is possible, but was too much for me. :) I use an Electro-Harmonix atm, but I also like Beckman-Sylvania (5963 old) and JJ802S. The original tube and an old GE 5814A are also nice.
My unit with a $10 Electro-Harmonix 12AU7 EH tube will be two years old in a few days and has performed flawlessly, driving Monoprice M1060C, HiFiMAN HE400i, Fostex T50-RP mk3 mod, Thieaudio Phantom, TIN HIFI T2 Plus, Monoprice Modern Retro and now BLON BL-30.
No matter what I plug into the single-ended 6.3 mm TRS socket, the experience for non-critical listening is the same: it sounds great and the nice chunky volume knob can't be turned far because there is so much power. The mechanical switch to power the tube has a firm, satisfying click. With the USB-C connector and any suitable data cable, it connects to any of my desktop or laptop computers running various Linux platforms and just works (which is the normal experience).
For the entry-level price, this little desktop DAC/amp combo adds serious power, tubiness and a a nice tactile experience for little to no more than just about any basic DAC/amp combo.