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Showing 1 of 36 reviews about:
xDuoo TA-30 Tube Headphone Amplifier + DAC
ndgns
223
Jul 7, 2022
checkVerified Buyer
not 2 tubey
All -in -One tube, DAC's are kind of a uncommon. Excellent build quality and sound, like most xduoo amps, at reasonable price is a rarity. With this new acquisition, i now have the trifecta TA20, TA03s and TA30.
I played it through the aux in,( hoping it would only use the all tube section) with my RME A2I-2 DAC, comparing the sound with the other 2 and after lots of tube rolling and A/B ing, its a bit disappointing that any difference in sound quality is barely discernible.
My disappointment is mostly from reading some pro reviews, suggesting these were easily better then the other 2, as well as Drops description saying it uses 5Z3P tubes, which wont fit, it actually takes 5U3C/5U4G. Xduoo probably uses the same or similar internal components, resulting in the same "house sound". Sounding like the TA20( Hybrid tube ) at twice the price and by adding the DAC section, combined with cooler looks, bigger size and power, somehow justifies the cost, i suppose.
Correction I got the 5Z3 with no P, my bad Drop. I have an adapter now.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
Pflugshaupt
47
Aug 1, 2022
ndgnsOwning both TA-20 and TA-30 myself, I strongly disagree they sound the same. The TA-20 uses a balanced design and the dual triode tubes are being fed the mirrored signals during the tube amplification stage. This means that all asymmetrical tube coloration is cancelled out - resulting in nearly no 2nd /even harmonics in the distortion profile. The TA-30 however is unbalanced and has strong 2nd harmonic distortion (which is sometimes associated with 'tube warmth'. The tube rectifier in the TA-30 also adds tube character to the power supply part which results in dynamic compression at high volumes.
So to my ears the TA-20 sounds cleaner, but the TA-30 has more tube character. Additionally the TA-30 is much better at driving demanding planar headphones due to more output power.
ndgns
223
Aug 2, 2022
PflugshauptAppreciate the discourse and agree with your observations and technical conclusions. I never put a lot of stock in burn in but in this case, I did notice more "warmth" and "depth" adding to some of that harmonic non linearity, after the second week. Probably should revise my review, which was written while looking to off load amps after acquiring a couple of ampsandsound amps.
What other tubes amps have you tried? If you have never listened to ampsandsound, you owe it to yourself. Cheers ;-)
(Edited)
LincolnSixAlpha
5
Nov 28, 2022
ndgnsI too also own the TA-20 rolled with Genelex Gold Lions 12AU7 combined with a Topping D70s which was my main source of audio using Mass Drop Elex and just recently added the Focal Clear MG's to my collection. I even own the TA-10 but that's been shared with my son-in-law for his listening enjoyment. I've recently purchased the TA-30 and rolled it with a '54 RCA 5U4G Rectifier, and was able to obtain two Philips E80CC 6085 Platinum Matched tube's for the audio needs. I can certainly say that this DAC/Amp combo is very vibrant and lively compared to the TA-20/D70s which I'd almost categorize as sterile in its sound capabilities. While I'm still A/B comparing the Elex and the Focal Clear Mg's, this DAC/Amp was well worth the coin in my opinion, and now has become my main listening combo. I will admit that I'm familiar with the J&J 12AU7 ECC87 tubes that come with the unit are very awesome on their own, but I prefer a bit more. But to each his/her own as they say. TA-20 cannot compete with the TA-30 in my humble opinion. Just two different classes of amps' if you will.
(Edited)
ndgns
223
Dec 30, 2022
LincolnSixAlphaAppreciate your comments, after adequate burn in, i agree with your observations
Pfhjvb0
0
Feb 25, 2024
LincolnSixAlphaWhat did you ultimately decide regarding the Elex vs Clear MG? I have a pair of the latter and am thinking about picking up the TA-30.
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