Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

xDuoo TA-10 Balanced Headphone DAC/Amp

overview

details

photos0

discussions225

01 / 07

... / AUDIOPHILE / DACS / XDUOO

xDuoo TA-10 Balanced Headphone DAC/Amp

Name: xDuoo TA-10 Balanced Headphone DAC/Amp
Brand: xDuoo
SKU: xduoo-ta-10-balanced-headphone-dac-amp
Price: 109 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Where's the price?

To negotiate the best possible price for our customers, we agree to hide prices prior to logging in.

977 requests

34 Sold

Product Description

A higher-end DAC/amp from community favorite xDuoo, the TA-10 features the flagship AKM AK4490 DAC and a classic 12AU7 tube. Its variety of interfaces make it incredibly versatile and include two sets of auxiliary inputs, a USB input, an SPDIF out, and an RCA out Read More

overview

details

photos0

discussions225

Found 77 results

kukkurovaca

323

Nov 1, 2017

Okay, so I just emailed xDuoo and they helpfully confirmed the amp is single-ended. (Quite fast response, too, good for them.)
Hopefully Massdrop will update the title of the drop and the description to make clear that it's a single-ended amp that includes an XLR output, rather than a balanced amp. (Just like the CTH.)

frankghzhu

Oct 29, 2017

I think the problem is they call it "Fully balanced from input to output" while it don't have balanced input. But the digital input from USB can still be balanced as long as the amp is balanced. And this is the only way I will use this little device. i get the PC to pass the digital signal to it and do hardware decode DSD using TA-10. Sound is actually very good.
i have a pair of HD6xx and a HE4xx one the way too. the HE4xx will be my first planar. Can not wait to plug them in to the TA-10.

kar211psu

Jan 6, 2018

So I thought that it was determined last drop that this amp is not balanced.

rpger9756

Jun 20, 2018

I don't intend to necromance, but I think there is a fundamental misunderstand of the nature of what "balanced" means in this context, and I would love to correct it for future understanding for anyone who reads this should Massdrop re-drop this. "Balanced" means that it is outputting two signals 180 degrees out of phase. Instead of just two pins on your headset per channel, there are instead 3, 2 voltages and a dedicated ground path (in a 4-pin XLR setup, there are +/- pins for each speaker and a shared ground path whereas a single-ended output has a + for each speaker, but the - is wired to the ground, which is itself wired to the cable's Faraday shielding.) At the speaker, the voltages are re-phased so that any noise collected along the way gets "diffed" out. That's ALL "balanced" means. Now there are SEVERAL ways you can produce a "balanced" signal and several places where you can generate the 180-degree phase shift before transmitting it to the output stage in an effort to eventually transmit the most noise-free signal possible. In it simplest implementation, an input signal will get processed and then sent through the amplification circuit, which will then be passed to an output-phaser for balancing. This prevents any noise from the CABLE up to the headphones, and is generally just so you can use ultra-long cables. In its most complex implementation, a phaser will pump discrete input signals to two signal decoders (XMOS chips in a USB situation,) which will then pump that to two DACs, which will then pump THAT to two amplifiers, which will then be attached to individual channels on the output, essentially treating each channel as a discrete DAC+Monoblock, the rationale being that any noise from the DAC and Amp circuit, not just the cable, will be diff'd out as well when they're re-phased. This requires EXTREMELY precise clocks to prevent jitter and is usually exclusive to extremely high-end products. For the TA-10, I would hazard that they are balancing at the output stage (hence the single tube.) The TA-20 appears to move that balancing back to BEFORE amplification, as it does not have a DAC integrated. If you look at a more high-end product like, say, the Schiit Jotunheim, they have a picture of their DAC circuit, which has 2 AKM4490EQ chips on it but only one CM633A USB decoder, meaning its phased before the DAC. So Tl;dr: the TA-10 IS balanced, but at a different level of complexity.

vkaiwar

Mar 30, 2018

Definitely single-ended on the aux inputs but is this "balanced" on the USB input? If not, the description is misleading. Massdrop needs to correct this right away rather than misleading potential buyers.

hametmi

Jan 6, 2018

Is this the same with this current drop? Because it also says balanced here?
Is it balanced or not?

horseman612

Sep 10, 2017

How do you run a fully balanced stereo signal through one 12AU7?

1-T-O-M

Oct 18, 2019

I recently got one of these and in the short time I've had with it I've been pleased. No, it's not a balanced system, it simply has an XLR out for convenience. I knew this before purchasing, so no surprise. The supplied power cord is short and lightweight, I replaced it with a 6' 16 gauge cord from Parts Express. I'm also using a more premium USB cable. The factory tube is all I've used, I do have others on the way. Starting with a NOS GE and a new production Russian Mullard. Only around $50.00 for the pair, so no big loss if neither are winners. I did connect my Modi Multibit to one of the AUX inputs for comparison, and I must admit the built in AKM dac compares well with the Modi Multibit sound. There was no noticeable change in volume using the AUX input. Sound wise, the first thing I noticed was the piano seems so natural that you expect to see it in the room with you. In stock form this unit has already brought several smiles to my face. The tube obviously adds a bit of welcomed warmth to what can be piercing notes from my solid state amps. For me there's a more natural dynamic from this amp. Maybe a bit more analog less compressed sound? I'll try the different tubes, etc and post more later.

kukkurovaca

323

Mar 30, 2018

It is wild that they keep dropping this as "balanced" when xDuoo confirmed it's not, ages ago.

Heefty

1387

Oct 31, 2017

I must say I become suspicious of a device that claims to be "Balanced" but has the same power output on both the balanced and the single ended outputs.
Is that really true, or am I reading the specs wrong?
Also, are there really no other output power ratings than 1 at 32Ω? 6x gain seems a bit high for the 32Ω cans I'm familiar with.

Recent Activity

vpfish

Probably from the equally bewildering answer he got: "the CTH is one of the noisiest amps you'll get" therefore "it's likely you'll be happy with it, yes." ?????

Betatest

Can the xDuoo TA-10 drive powered speakers or an amplifier from the RCA outputs--controlled by the volume control? And is the tube in the circuit of the RCA outputs? How is the active coax out (with a USB input) supposed to be used? Can you feed an outboard DAC and loop it back to the TA-10 via RCA inputs 1 or 2? Is a service manual/schematic available? Thanks.

DeltaG

Sure! :)