xDuoo XA-10 DAC/Headphone Amp

” Historical inaccuracies aside, the line pretty well sums up xDuoo’s latest feature-rich offering. With top-of-the-line decoding, tons of inputs and outputs, and massive output power, the XA-10 contains all the prerequisites of a truly audiophiliac machine.

Full MQA decoding Did you know that MP3 files deliver just 10% of original studio recordings? That’s one-tenth of the nuance, depth, and richness that the artist intended for you to hear.

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) files, on the other hand, deliver the full, uncompressed sound of the original master recordings in all their richness. The XA-10 features full MQA-decoding, delivering the best possible version of your music.

Top-of-the-line decoding Thanks to double AKM AK4493EQ DAC chips, the XA-10 can decode the highest sample rates outside of MQA. 4mHz DSD512.

A newly developed capacitor filter allows the chips to achieve all this while using far less power consumption than previous generations. Fully-balanced architecture The XA-10 was designed with purists in mind.

4,000mW output power The XA-10 boasts 4,000mW of output power, allowing you to drive popular high-impedance headphones like the Sennheiser HD 660 S, the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro, and the Audeze LCD-4. 4,000mW of power isn’t quite enough to drive passive speakers, but you could use the XA-10 as a preamp for a pair of powered speakers.

0008%. Great, you may be thinking, but, uh, what does that mean?

It can be difficult to wrap your head around the concept of a “pure” signal, so let’s speak in terms of liquid. Imagine that the XA-10 outputs drinking water instead of sound.

2 milliliters of it would be “impure”. That’s about the size of a grain of sand.

9992% of it is pure and potable. 120dB SNR If you’ve ever cranked an old stereo system without any music playing, you probably noticed a hissing noise.

That’s the noise we’re talking about in SNR, or Signal-to-Noise Ratio. The higher the number is, the better.

An SNR of 120dB means that you’d have to crank the XA-10 louder than an ambulance siren before hearing hiss. For the love of your hearing, please don’t do that.

Eight ins and outs With eight ins and outs, the XA-10 is an exceedingly capacious hub for most audio systems. On the back panel, you can connect a turntable via RCA, a laptop or desktop via USB, a phone via Bluetooth, and a gaming console via coaxial or optical.

4 TRRS or 4-pin XLR. ” noise that occurs when turning on some amps.

Not only is this sound annoying and painful, but it can damage your headphones and eardrums. Do yourself a favor and never hear it again.

9” (22 x 7 x 10cm) What’s included xDuoo XA-10 Power cord USB cable Bluetooth antenna ⅛” female to ¼” male adapter What pairs well Sennheiser HD 660 S Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro Audeze LCD-4