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Xduoo XD-05 Plus DAC/Amp
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Xduoo XD-05 Plus DAC/Amp
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Product Description
Building on the success of the highly regarded Xduoo XD-05—a DAC/amp that changed the game with its versatile desktop-to-pocket portability—the Xduoo XD-05 Plus keeps old favorites while adding a host of new features. New on the XD-05 Plus are an AK4493EQ DAC and XMOS XU208 USB chipset to improve sound quality, as well as onboard USB-C ports to update connectivity Read More
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RyanPin
325
Aug 17, 2020
RyanPin
325
Sep 7, 2019
The TL:DR I like it and don't have regrets upgrading. Would recommend to new buyers and people considering upgrading.
I'm not an audio expert, so please bear with me with the terms and a lack of proper vocabulary. Having said that, there is an improvement. I was switching between the original and the plus while connected to the usb on my computer and playing music on Tidal. The first thing I noticed was that the plus was already cleaner and more detailed than the original, this is also taking into effect that the original had the a v5i op amp installed. I was achieving the same sound volume at the 12 o clock position on the plus that I had at the 1 or 2 o clock position on the original while using my 6xx headphones on low gain. I have the volume at the 11 o clock position on the highest gain.
Having switched over the v5i op amp into the Plus, the sound is even cleaner and more detailed. Tiny little nuances are more readily picked up. There is less noise as compared to the original as well from what I could tell. The original had an issue for me with the v5i where if I put it to the highest gain and turned the volume up, it would cut off and go into safety mode until it turned it off and on again. On the Plus, I had full range of the gains at all volumes. Vocals and treble seem brighter, but not harsh. Listening to Sinnerman by Nina Simone from the Pastel Blue album is amazing. There is a extra detail that I didn't notice before on the clapping portion. You can even hear the puffs on the microphone when she say "Prayin'" and "power". Very cool to get such little details like that.
AUX in is extremely clean and even less noise than the original one. Hooked it up to my Fluance rt80 record player and there was little to no hiss that I could tell. Very nice and marked improvement.
The bluetooth adapter works for both the original and the Plus, but it feels more secure in the plus than the original, or at least mind does. Works with the coaxial port and uses the headphone jack to secure it to the back. You have to charge it separately.
Don't get me wrong, the original was pretty good, but I feel that there are enough improvements to consider getting this one. If you're buying it on this site, I think that the difference in price would be worth it. If you already have one, that's your call. I would say do it and sell the original one to someone to cover some of that cost.
On a further note, some of the things I don't like. The input is a button on the side now instead of the switch up front. I liked the switch. Instead the switch is a thing called boost, which after switching it back and forth on USB mode, I couldn't tell a damn thing. The input button replaced the display button on the original, which when help down would turn off the display. I never had a need to turn off the display, so the loss of that means nothing to me.
The USB c charging and link ports on the back are simple and clean. Blue link light turns on during USB mode and red blinking light for charging when its plugged in. Iphone users will still need to use the USB camera adapter, but you will want to consider getting a short throw usb a to usb c cable, or else you'll have to use the long ass cable that comes with it.
Android users have the choice between a short throw micro usb to usb c cable or a short throw usb c to usb c cable. You have options there.
Hope that a random stranger's thoughts on the internet help you decide either way on ordering.
(Edited)
afk.or.feed
145
Nov 17, 2019
RyanPinStill waiting on mine to ship from ebay. I kinda regret not getting it with my dac from shenzhenaudio, since that came so fast. Can't wait to be out and about streaming LDAC :D
Techland
27
Sep 7, 2019
The original xduoo XD-05 sucked as much as their feedback (none) and support (none) as well as Massdrops attention to shipping buggy products (none). See here:
https://drop.com/buy/xduoo-xd-05-dac-amp/talk/614934
I have zero reason to believe that anything has changed.
rvcjew
103
Sep 8, 2019
I also love mine and do feel the filters do work right. But what I want to know is if @Techland has measured one since launch, the bt adapter for example is still getting under the hood changes based on my above post and they never mentioned that, I only got my xd last year and perhaps they have fixed the firmware but never said anything. That being said I don't have the equipment to test, just my ears. I'm just saying let's be objective and not mean.
A community member
Sep 5, 2019
What's the black module attached to it in picture 5?
(Edited)
afk.or.feed
145
Nov 21, 2019
EDITED: Additional notes and photos below first set of photos.
Posting this here in case this interests anyone, but for anyone interested in a belt clip for the XD-05 Plus (or the original XD-05) I can't recommend the Ghostek Universal Holster enough. It fits into the grooves along the side of the unit perfectly and it honestly feels like it was made for it. Check out the photos I've attached below. You can get it on Amazon here. The product is unfortunately discontinued by the manufacturer, so I'd pick one up sooner than later. Also check out my big comment I posted earlier for some more details about the XD-05 Plus.
(Edited)
Conrad.L
2
Nov 22, 2019
afk.or.feedThis is exactly what I’ve been looking for thank you so much!
A tip if you’re in the UK, buy it from Amazon US instead of the UK site P&P is so much more cheaper if you get it from the US site because it ships from Amazon Sweden but if you order it from the UK site it well ship from Ghostek in New York, US…very strange
afk.or.feed
145
Nov 22, 2019
Conrad.LGlad to help! It's funny cuz I had just been talking to a friend in the UK who wanted one of these clips and, while he was able to find this on Amazon UK, he also noted how expensive the shipping would be. While trying to find other options, we realized that these type of belt clips are nearly non-existent on Amazon UK. There's at least 6 different brands or so that come up on Amazon US when I search for "universal belt clip". The only other one we could find on Amazon UK was one where you adhere the clip to the back of the device, and that didn't look too secure. Otherwise, every other result is for pouch-style phone holsters. Are those common in the UK or something? We both forgot entirely that he could just order from Amazon US instead 😂. I let him know after reading your post so he's going to be getting one soon!
On a different note, I found some more useful things you can do with this clip and added a second section to the original post above! Check it out, everyone.
afk.or.feed
145
Nov 17, 2019
I already own this, but for anyone wondering, it's not a bad price for the unit, considering it goes for around $250-$260 on most other stores. However, I got mine through Shenzhenaudio for $221, and they have free fast shipping worldwide (I live in the US and got it within 8 days of ordering), so the price here really isn't anything special either unfortunately. Shenzhenaudio was even nice enough to include a compatible torx driver for me outside the box.
They also sell the new 05bl Pro bluetooth module, which is an updated version of the old 05bl that was released originally for the XD-05 (though it was also compatible with the XD-05 Plus), for a lower cost than I've seen on most other sites ($58). There's a couple listings on eBay that are cheaper by a few dollars if you don't mind waiting weeks to get it. The Pro model is updated to support USB-C as well as aptX HD/LL and LDAC. The release of the 05bl Pro is actually what finally pushed me to buy the XD-05 Plus, as I had been trying to decide between it and the Fiio Q5s for some time, and one of the main things attracting me to the Q5s was its LDAC support. You can see what the module (05bl and 05bl Pro look nearly identical) looks like when attached in the last product picture above.
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I'll also include this bit in here so more people see it, but I've left a similar comment as a reply on a couple other posts below. As some people have noted, a standard USB-C to USB-C cable will not work as intended with the XD-05 Plus. I don't believe this is out of any malicious intent to sell proprietary cables however, especially considering I can't find their cable on sale separately anywhere. I believe this has something to do with how USB type C works, and an attempt to utilize a more efficient connection between the phone and DAC.
On older DACs that use USB Micro B ports, you're usually required to use an OTG adapter on the phone, which forces the phone to act as a USB host. This means that, much like how your PC supplies the power for USB peripherals attached to it, your phone is forced to send power to the DAC. That is not to say the DAC is fully powered by the phone as it utilizes its own battery, but a certain level of power draw is unavoidable. Some DACs also included some method of acting as a USB host itself (the Sound Blaster E5 for instance has a full sized USB port on it), but this again requires that the DAC now, at least to some extent, send power to the phone. Whether the phone or DAC is acting as a host, the big downside of this is that one device has to send power to the other device, even though both devices are independently powered by their own batteries.
While this didn't change when phones started utilizing USB-C, it did add some other options for how device-to-device connections could work without utilizing an OTG adapter (for instance, connecting two phones via type C and switching between either phone charging the other). A specific use case came from USB-C headphones, such as the ones that come bundled with many USB-C phones with no headphone jack now. One thing that I noticed when connecting USB-C headphones is that the usual USB mode menu doesn't pop up in the notification panel. Instead I get a quick, temporary notification when connecting or disconnecting the headphones. What I'm seeing is that when I connect the XD-05 to my phone with the included USB-C to USB-C cable, it behaves the exact same way. The permanent notification that pops up when either using an OTG adapter, or connecting to other USB-C devices via a standard USB-C cable is not present. Instead I get a quick notification when connecting or disconnecting. (Interestingly however, when I connect the cable alone, without the XD-05 connected, I do see this notification, however none of the options can be selected.)
What I believe is happening here is that xDuoo intentionally designed the XD-05 and its included cable to register as USB headphones do in Android to avoid the high power draw on the phone when utilizing a full USB-C connection, or acting as a USB host via an OTG adapter. This is most likely done via some sort of pin configuration (shorted/bridged/disconnected pins), much like how OTG is implemented, which causes Android to recognize the connected device as headphones (i.e. not proprietary). (To be clear, I've been specifically referring to active USB headphones that bypass the phone's DAC and receive a digital signal, and suggesting the XD-05 behaves the same way. Passive USB headphones rely on the phone's DAC and receive an analog signal. Clearly that's not ideal functionality for a DAC.)
The last piece of this is that it's not entirely true that other cables do not function at all with the XD-05. I've found that other cables will indeed work, but only if utilizing a proper OTG adapter. When you do so, as I mentioned above, your phone will act as a USB host and drain into the XD-05 a bit, but it's better than nothing (and its exactly how portable DACs worked before, so it's nothing new).
Finally, a quick disclaimer is required, since I'm by no means an expert on how the USB protocol works. As a tech enthusiast, I have a fairly good idea of how it works as well as a good amount of experience using it, and I've put this information together the best I can based on my understanding of it, but I very well could be wrong on some or all of this. If anyone knows better about any part of this, please feel free to correct me below.
--
Edited for some grammar, additional detail, and clarity.
(Edited)
daveysprocketbrew
31
Sep 13, 2019
FlorimerOK. Mine just came in from Amazon. Listening to it now. This thing packs a serious punch! The highest gain setting is a pretty big jump over the other 2 settings. Really makes even mediocre headphones come alive. Like others have said, this is a noticeable upgrade over the already enjoyable original XD-05. The Type C USB input is very welcome and the sound is very lively and tight. I'm really going to enjoy this. The new Tool album was made for this.
Hoangphuong
0
Mar 7, 2020
Hi Ryan can you comment avout xduoo xd05 ưith two sing v5i. Is it issue when turn volumn?
Tbone519
23
Aug 14, 2020
legaceezSo apparently this is a recurring theme. Mine was just delivered, ordered black and received silver. Seems like so many people are having this issue it might be intentional. If they had offered a discount for the silver model I may have gone that route.
legaceez
90
Aug 14, 2020
Tbone519We definitely need to complain en masse. This can't be acceptable. It's a simple bait and switch.
welinder
46
Sep 5, 2019
whose bright idea was it to not include pictures of the front and back face plates?
MiniMax
76
Sep 5, 2019
welinderIndeed, it seems to be an eternal law of electronic products like TVs or amps, that forbids to show those back face plates with those uninteresting connectors. But not all obey:
https://hifigo.com/blogs/news/8-upgrades-in-xduoo-xd-05-plus-dac-amp-vs-xd-05-basic-hifigo
Basdas
34
Jun 8, 2020
I price match this on apos audio and ordered it at Saturday, it came today. i recommend doing the same if you dont like waiting
rudbear
200
Jun 9, 2020
BasdasThat's actually not a bad idea considering the issues customer support is having.
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