Aune X1

General Information

1). Design :

A. Special laser printing for front panel, Never Fade
B. Multiple –color LED
C. X sharp design , can be vertical or horizontal display.
D. Modern appearance design, combined with other products of X-series
E. Hidden upgrades functions

2.) Highlights :

Plug and play and support USB 16bit
Coaxial and optical 24BIT/192K ,24bit/192K music playback
Modular headphone-amp design , OP+BUF framework
Aluminum chassis with vertical and horizontal display
Part of a complete set with X2 amp and X3 loudspeaker which combines into a mini( high quality )audio system
Linear power supply , sound clearer
Multi-point MCU and dual LED control, with upgrade interface
Synchronous switching three kinds of audio inputs and one analog input
Drive 32-300 ohm HIFI headphone
One standard HIFI CD output format
Single switch to dual line design ,power supply abundant

3.)Specifications :

Function ,USB Sound Card ,DAC,headphone –amp ,pre-amp
Input :SIF×1 USB(1.0)×1 OPTICAL×1 , Analog RCA *1
Output : Output terminal , Analog RCA * 1 , 6.5MM headphone ×1
Frequency :10HZ---20KHZ (-1dB)
THD : 0.01%
Headphone output : 0.05%
Choose button :Input choose ×1 Output choose ×1
Headphone output :p-Pmax:10V
Headphone output impedance :32 ohm---600 ohm
Line output :2Vrms
Size (chassis ):135*51*170 (mm)
Weight : 2KG

Latest reviews

cleg

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: great price, lots of connectivity options, plenty of power, DSD support
Cons: sound is smoothed, lacking minor details
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I don't know why, but Aune's X1 Pro doesn't get so much attention as it's brother T1. Maybe it's because of T1's tube magic, who knows... But in my humble opinion, X1 Pro is very interesting DAC/amp for those, who have limited budget.

Aune constantly improves their X1, current revision, released in 2014, is fourth in a row. It got new updated power supply with lowered noise, and Savy Tech's SA9027 as USB chip. New USB interface allowed DSD support and increased USB rate to 96 KHz/24 bit. Not the best numbers nowadays, but still more then OK. By S/PDIF X1 "understand" up to 192 KHz/24 bit, so if you have USB to S/PDIF converter, it can be nice addition to X1.

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Outer box is made from simple brown cardboard, it's task — to protect device during shipment, but main box is hidden inside. It's made from black cardboard and looks really stylish for such inexpensive device (it's retail price $250). Inside you'll find X1 Pro itself, power supply and cord for it, USB cable (pretty good quality) and manual.

Device is made completely from metal, case is thick and solid. Due to it's shape, X1 can be placed flat or upright.

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On the rear panel placed all interfaces: Line In, Line Our, USB, Coaxial and Optical S/PDIF, power socket and switch. On front panel located 1/4" headphone socket, volume knob, two buttons to chose input and output and LEDs to show selected options.

X1's strong part is lots of connectivity options. You can use it as pure DAC or as pure amp, so you aren't limited in step by step upgrading of your system.

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Build quality is also good, no gaps or something like this. Volume regulator moves smoothly and dosn't produce noise.

Sound-wise X1 is more of "tasty" sounding. It uses PCM1793 as DAC and pretty powerful headphone amp, so overall sound signature is tilt toward smooth and musical representation. Sound have small hint of darkness, due to smoothed highs, so overall sound doesn't have those "audiophiliac" neutrality. It's DAC/amp with it's own signature. Soundstage is a little bit less then average, but with good headphones X1's representation is nice.

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Due to big power, X1 isn't good option for sensitive headphones, but if you chose something appropriate, it will be great pairing. I like it with AKG K702 (not the greatest amp for them, but pretty good), and with Fischer Audio FA-011 Japan Limited Edition (extremely well for classic rock and live jazz).

I've also made small video to show X1

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1qlXmA0hHY[/VIDEO]​
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Claus-DK
Claus-DK
The problem with the easy to drive phones is not the amount of power but the type of volume control, most devices use a potential control, which means that the sound is getting the same power for every step, the X1 has a linear control, which makes it very very aggresive from 7 oclock to about 10, when you get past that point it behaves much more politely and actually has a better control of the volume...
I turn down my source to get in that about 12 oclock position...
 
Wonderfull review and the X1 has been one of my favorite budget DAC/Amp for years, so please see my post here as a little help and not some wiseguy who wants to teach you stuff..
cleg
cleg
@Claus-DK, thank you for update!
weijunz
weijunz
Reminds me of the sony pha amplifiers!

Comments

Sp12er3

Headphoneus Supremus
Interested with this, found one priced around $200, but hearing it tto has warm coloration disheartened me, as I already have a Bravo Ocean taking care that "itch"
 
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