ONIX Mystic XP1 – High-End Portable DAC/AMP
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Neeoo
Head-Fier
Pros: Portable Swiss army knife due to its multiple I/O options
Mid-bass that hits you like a lightning bolt
Desktop-grade performance especially for high-impedance headphones
Built like an elegant tank
TF card feature allows offline playback through SD Card via Shanling Eddict Player
Totl AKM dual flagship chips that offer a dark background to my ears
Impedance match settings to avoid distortion in sensitive iems
Price – yes there is just too much value in this product
Mid-bass that hits you like a lightning bolt
Desktop-grade performance especially for high-impedance headphones
Built like an elegant tank
TF card feature allows offline playback through SD Card via Shanling Eddict Player
Totl AKM dual flagship chips that offer a dark background to my ears
Impedance match settings to avoid distortion in sensitive iems
Price – yes there is just too much value in this product
Cons: Can do a tad better in details and resolution
Soundstage is not a wide presentation that spreads too far.
For headphones full potential is only realised on DC power.
Unpolished and half-baked UI of Eddict player
Soundstage is not a wide presentation that spreads too far.
For headphones full potential is only realised on DC power.
Unpolished and half-baked UI of Eddict player
Disclaimer: I am a bass head and I prefer a sound that is wide with natural timbre, excellent imaging and thumpy mid-bass with moderate decay and clinical precision when it comes to instrument separation. I am highly averse to bright-sounding transducers and sibilance in my music.
This unit was sent to me by Audio Geek India as part of the Onix Mystic Xp1 tour. I thank Audio Geek India & Sandeep Agarwal for this opportunity to listen to and review this device, which happens to be his belonging. My views aren’t influenced either by Audio Geeks/Sandeep in any way.
Introduction: Ever since the launch of this device I was intrigued as I could see the potential of emerging as ‘One source to rule them all’. A single transportable device that has dominion over sensitive iems and hard-to-drive headphones as well and that too from the SD card which makes it a fully functional DAP for my use case as I mostly play music from SD card.
A joint venture by Onix & Shanling that offers the best from both brands. “Based around a pair of flagship AKM AK4499EX DACs, combined with their matching AK4191 modulator. The fully balanced headphone amplifier utilizes TPA6120A2 and it was optimized for use with full-size headphones. And with an additional Muses8920 circuit for the balanced line-out/pre-amp function. All enhanced by the in-house “Brighton” I/V Conversion stage.” – https://onixhiend.co.uk/introducing-onix-mystic-xp1/
When the DAC reached me, I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality. At 583 grams it's quite a chonk and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to pocket it.
Volume and On/Off functions are controlled by the gold-plated volume wheel itself. Along with standard 3.5mm (Single-ended) and 4.4mm(balanced) ports it also inculcates a 6.5mm single-ended output.
Battery: 7000mAh and has a dedicated Type C charging port as it also functions as a DAC if you want to connect it to a digital source via type C. So one port is for charging only and the other is for digital input via a computer/phone/DAP/tablet.
On the other side of the device there are:
Coaxi in, Aux in, Impedance match switch, LO, Power selector switch (battery or DC power), type C charging port and type C USB DAC port, Micro SD card Slot and a DC input slot.
It has a switch up top and a small screen to show the volume and the input used for playback. XP1 can be controlled by eddict player as well in TF card mode.
Bluetooth impressions: - Sorry, no Bluetooth impressions. I don’t recommend and intend to use Bluetooth on this sophisticated device. Just a preference.
Lows: Tuning wise this is the best aspect that I found in Xp1. It just sounds like a woofer is outputting the low end when connected to the PSU power alternatively known as M- Power on Xp1. There is a switch to turn the XP1 on M power when you connect the PSU to it. The mid-bass attacks are punchy, ‘hit you like a wall’ and also the texturing; reeks of flagship low end. I cannot emphasize enough how delighted the basshead in me was, with Onix’s low-end presentation.
Mids: The mids seem very balanced to my ears. Neither forward nor too subdued. A little warmth from the low passes on to the lower mids and male vocals sound lush at the same time female vocals don’t sound harsh at any time during the playback. Despite the gargantuan quantities of bass, there is not a shred of mudding or anything remotely close. Both feel very distinctive and clean. I would desire a little more dynamics in the vocals though. I don’t mind the clarity-focused vocals either but yeah, a little more dynamics in vocals would be a cherry on the top.
Highs: Here the XP1 went with a pretty inoffensive and a smoothed-out high end makes the sound completely inoffensive. The focus here is not on delivering a lot of details but rather on maintaining the star of the show – which is the low end; in the spotlight. Transducers that are a tad balanced or V-shaped should work great with XP1 as I never found anything remotely sibilant/harsh in its highs and in fact in some pairings I felt that I could use a little more quantity in highs.
Technicalities: Interestingly, despite the raw power at hand it is not a very wide-sounding presentation. For eg. The ibasso Dx320 with Amp14 spans much wider. Having said that, it still manages to deliver a spacious and grand-sounding presentation. The way it achieves this is by having ridiculous amounts of ‘Heft’ to the sound. Especially on headphones, it gives even high-impedance headphones so much power to perform that especially the mid-bass feels like it's being delivered by a giant floor-standing speaker.
Instrument separation and timbre are top-notch. Overall I don’t see it garnering a lot of details in its presentation but leaning more towards a musical presentation rather than an analytical one. It sounds more clean than precise to my ears.
UI: In the words of Adele, ‘We could have had it all”. This device was just too good to resist until I was disappointed by the half-baked Shanling Eddict player interface with Xp1.
Every time I turn on the device and connect it to the Asus ROG phone 7 Ultimate, the connection albeit seamless takes 3-5 minutes to refresh the library. Every time!
I started to listen to my library on the TF card, inserted in the XP1 whilst using the Eddict player on my phone. Other functions like switching digital filters, and backlight on/off worked just fine. The only caveat is that I can't search for music. The searched keyword shows no result, at all. I left the phone unattended as well thinking it might be slow, but it never worked.
I tried listening on ‘random’ and thought I could just keep adding songs to my playlist and create playlists on the Eddict app. I could only add songs to favourites as the ‘Save’ function didn’t seem to do anything when I tried to name and save a playlist.
This renders the amazing TF card feature rather obtuse.
The silver lining is that, hopefully, an OTA update can resolve these issues and It will be golden.
Pairings:
ATH – R70X – Boy oh boy. I knew I would relish this pairing as R70X is a 470ohms power guzzler but with Xp1 it was like; an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Seems more like a head massage when I turn the volume up. With 40-50% headroom left, I was left satisfied and in awe of the impact and texture the Onix offers. R70X is inherently a wide-sounding open-back and synergized amazingly with XP1. 11/10 pairing. One of the very few transportable devices that can do justice to this headphone.
Thieaudio Monarch MK3 – So I have lately been resenting the V shape signature of the MK3 and again with the XP1 it balanced the high end so well that it rendered the tuning that I want from Mk3. The low end on the MK3 is unparalleled and the whole experience on M power makes it feel like I am listening to a headphone. This is peculiar about XP1 – the ‘Heft’ in its low end. Without any harshness, I enjoyed my time with Mk3.
Nightjar Singularity – This was a review unit from Audiogeeks and unfortunately didn’t fit my ears well. Still, I did manage to lie down and take impressions for Onix XP1 without moving around. It felt like an in-ear massage. The texture of Singularity’s sub-bass and mid-bass sounded thunderous on Singularity. However, despite the amazing low end on singularity, I feel that the pairing becomes too smooth, even for my liking. A little more sparkle would have made this pairing much more engaging.
Sennheiser HD6xx – So here, as soon as you turn on the power, our Clark Kent loses the spectacles and reveals the Superman inside. From a ‘not-spacious’ sounding headphone it suddenly feels grand. The vocals pop like crazy and the presentation is coherent beyond measure. It brings the best aspects of HD6xx out and takes its maximum potential.
P.S. – On iems the difference using M power is not that much as it is on headphones. Yes, there is a difference but nothing that will malign your experience or remotely close to that but on headphones, you do always turn on the M power. Michael Caine will nod at you whenever you turn on M power.
There is an Impedance match switch as well so that one can communicate with the device what is being plugged into the output port. You can either switch it to ‘IEM’ or ‘Headphones’.
Conclusion: At 1499 USD the amount of value it delivers I believe is very well worth the price. I can envisage a scenario for whom it would be a perfect device. Let's say I travel a lot and sometimes have to stay overnight. Now I can't take my desktop gear with me but with this device around I feel it fills the need for a portable and a desktop device. I see people mostly camping at one spot and listening to this device as the TF card mode which can(at least for me) will make the XP1 replace my DAP if I could listen to music without any Eddict player issues.
I was able to find a couple of loose pyjamas which could hold this chonky device but then again, I can't even think of adding a digital source in my pocket. To feed the XP1. If Shanling/Onix fix the issues with the app then I see it as a device with which you can walk around as well. It would be quite neat and give you that ‘Hefty’ sound on the move.
If you like the tuning and if it fits your use case then by all means, go for it. I don’t see anyone regretting buying this device for its versatility and performance.
This unit was sent to me by Audio Geek India as part of the Onix Mystic Xp1 tour. I thank Audio Geek India & Sandeep Agarwal for this opportunity to listen to and review this device, which happens to be his belonging. My views aren’t influenced either by Audio Geeks/Sandeep in any way.

Introduction: Ever since the launch of this device I was intrigued as I could see the potential of emerging as ‘One source to rule them all’. A single transportable device that has dominion over sensitive iems and hard-to-drive headphones as well and that too from the SD card which makes it a fully functional DAP for my use case as I mostly play music from SD card.
A joint venture by Onix & Shanling that offers the best from both brands. “Based around a pair of flagship AKM AK4499EX DACs, combined with their matching AK4191 modulator. The fully balanced headphone amplifier utilizes TPA6120A2 and it was optimized for use with full-size headphones. And with an additional Muses8920 circuit for the balanced line-out/pre-amp function. All enhanced by the in-house “Brighton” I/V Conversion stage.” – https://onixhiend.co.uk/introducing-onix-mystic-xp1/
When the DAC reached me, I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality. At 583 grams it's quite a chonk and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to pocket it.
Volume and On/Off functions are controlled by the gold-plated volume wheel itself. Along with standard 3.5mm (Single-ended) and 4.4mm(balanced) ports it also inculcates a 6.5mm single-ended output.
Battery: 7000mAh and has a dedicated Type C charging port as it also functions as a DAC if you want to connect it to a digital source via type C. So one port is for charging only and the other is for digital input via a computer/phone/DAP/tablet.
On the other side of the device there are:
Coaxi in, Aux in, Impedance match switch, LO, Power selector switch (battery or DC power), type C charging port and type C USB DAC port, Micro SD card Slot and a DC input slot.
It has a switch up top and a small screen to show the volume and the input used for playback. XP1 can be controlled by eddict player as well in TF card mode.



Bluetooth impressions: - Sorry, no Bluetooth impressions. I don’t recommend and intend to use Bluetooth on this sophisticated device. Just a preference.
Lows: Tuning wise this is the best aspect that I found in Xp1. It just sounds like a woofer is outputting the low end when connected to the PSU power alternatively known as M- Power on Xp1. There is a switch to turn the XP1 on M power when you connect the PSU to it. The mid-bass attacks are punchy, ‘hit you like a wall’ and also the texturing; reeks of flagship low end. I cannot emphasize enough how delighted the basshead in me was, with Onix’s low-end presentation.
Mids: The mids seem very balanced to my ears. Neither forward nor too subdued. A little warmth from the low passes on to the lower mids and male vocals sound lush at the same time female vocals don’t sound harsh at any time during the playback. Despite the gargantuan quantities of bass, there is not a shred of mudding or anything remotely close. Both feel very distinctive and clean. I would desire a little more dynamics in the vocals though. I don’t mind the clarity-focused vocals either but yeah, a little more dynamics in vocals would be a cherry on the top.
Highs: Here the XP1 went with a pretty inoffensive and a smoothed-out high end makes the sound completely inoffensive. The focus here is not on delivering a lot of details but rather on maintaining the star of the show – which is the low end; in the spotlight. Transducers that are a tad balanced or V-shaped should work great with XP1 as I never found anything remotely sibilant/harsh in its highs and in fact in some pairings I felt that I could use a little more quantity in highs.
Technicalities: Interestingly, despite the raw power at hand it is not a very wide-sounding presentation. For eg. The ibasso Dx320 with Amp14 spans much wider. Having said that, it still manages to deliver a spacious and grand-sounding presentation. The way it achieves this is by having ridiculous amounts of ‘Heft’ to the sound. Especially on headphones, it gives even high-impedance headphones so much power to perform that especially the mid-bass feels like it's being delivered by a giant floor-standing speaker.
Instrument separation and timbre are top-notch. Overall I don’t see it garnering a lot of details in its presentation but leaning more towards a musical presentation rather than an analytical one. It sounds more clean than precise to my ears.
UI: In the words of Adele, ‘We could have had it all”. This device was just too good to resist until I was disappointed by the half-baked Shanling Eddict player interface with Xp1.
Every time I turn on the device and connect it to the Asus ROG phone 7 Ultimate, the connection albeit seamless takes 3-5 minutes to refresh the library. Every time!
I started to listen to my library on the TF card, inserted in the XP1 whilst using the Eddict player on my phone. Other functions like switching digital filters, and backlight on/off worked just fine. The only caveat is that I can't search for music. The searched keyword shows no result, at all. I left the phone unattended as well thinking it might be slow, but it never worked.
I tried listening on ‘random’ and thought I could just keep adding songs to my playlist and create playlists on the Eddict app. I could only add songs to favourites as the ‘Save’ function didn’t seem to do anything when I tried to name and save a playlist.
This renders the amazing TF card feature rather obtuse.
The silver lining is that, hopefully, an OTA update can resolve these issues and It will be golden.
Pairings:
ATH – R70X – Boy oh boy. I knew I would relish this pairing as R70X is a 470ohms power guzzler but with Xp1 it was like; an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Seems more like a head massage when I turn the volume up. With 40-50% headroom left, I was left satisfied and in awe of the impact and texture the Onix offers. R70X is inherently a wide-sounding open-back and synergized amazingly with XP1. 11/10 pairing. One of the very few transportable devices that can do justice to this headphone.
Thieaudio Monarch MK3 – So I have lately been resenting the V shape signature of the MK3 and again with the XP1 it balanced the high end so well that it rendered the tuning that I want from Mk3. The low end on the MK3 is unparalleled and the whole experience on M power makes it feel like I am listening to a headphone. This is peculiar about XP1 – the ‘Heft’ in its low end. Without any harshness, I enjoyed my time with Mk3.
Nightjar Singularity – This was a review unit from Audiogeeks and unfortunately didn’t fit my ears well. Still, I did manage to lie down and take impressions for Onix XP1 without moving around. It felt like an in-ear massage. The texture of Singularity’s sub-bass and mid-bass sounded thunderous on Singularity. However, despite the amazing low end on singularity, I feel that the pairing becomes too smooth, even for my liking. A little more sparkle would have made this pairing much more engaging.
Sennheiser HD6xx – So here, as soon as you turn on the power, our Clark Kent loses the spectacles and reveals the Superman inside. From a ‘not-spacious’ sounding headphone it suddenly feels grand. The vocals pop like crazy and the presentation is coherent beyond measure. It brings the best aspects of HD6xx out and takes its maximum potential.
P.S. – On iems the difference using M power is not that much as it is on headphones. Yes, there is a difference but nothing that will malign your experience or remotely close to that but on headphones, you do always turn on the M power. Michael Caine will nod at you whenever you turn on M power.
There is an Impedance match switch as well so that one can communicate with the device what is being plugged into the output port. You can either switch it to ‘IEM’ or ‘Headphones’.
Conclusion: At 1499 USD the amount of value it delivers I believe is very well worth the price. I can envisage a scenario for whom it would be a perfect device. Let's say I travel a lot and sometimes have to stay overnight. Now I can't take my desktop gear with me but with this device around I feel it fills the need for a portable and a desktop device. I see people mostly camping at one spot and listening to this device as the TF card mode which can(at least for me) will make the XP1 replace my DAP if I could listen to music without any Eddict player issues.
I was able to find a couple of loose pyjamas which could hold this chonky device but then again, I can't even think of adding a digital source in my pocket. To feed the XP1. If Shanling/Onix fix the issues with the app then I see it as a device with which you can walk around as well. It would be quite neat and give you that ‘Hefty’ sound on the move.
If you like the tuning and if it fits your use case then by all means, go for it. I don’t see anyone regretting buying this device for its versatility and performance.
ILuvAudio
100+ Head-Fier
Pros: - All bells and whistles supplemented by well implemented ToTL Dac
- Power with Mpower mode and adapter
- Works with Planars, Dynamics and Hybrids alike
-
- Power with Mpower mode and adapter
- Works with Planars, Dynamics and Hybrids alike
-
Cons: - High O/I
- Mind volume with sensitive gears and also check on the FR on those iems
- Mind volume with sensitive gears and also check on the FR on those iems
The Onix Mystic XP1 is a high-end portable DAC and amplifier designed by Onix and manufactured by Shanling. It is designed to deliver high-quality audio performance with a robust build and versatile connectivity options, making it a great choice for audiophiles on the go.
This is priced at $1499, unit I have in hand was kindly provided by @deep2285 , it is his personal unit and I thank him for giving me an opportunity to try this high end portable dacamp.
Onix XP1 has Dual AKM AK4499EX DACs paired with AK4191 modulators for high-resolution and natural sound tuning, the overall sound signature is warm (high output impedance) and smooth, it utilizes TPA6120A2 for the headphone amplifier, which is optimized for full-size headphones, with an additional Muses8920 circuit for balanced line-out/pre-amp functions. Talking about power, I have used XP1 with several headphones and I can assure you, this has tons of power, to put into perspective, once you connect the supplied LPS (LPS helps in providing enhanced output power, up to 2360 mW at 32Ω and 480 mW at 300Ω), and move the toggle switch behind the unit to headphones and the MPower switch to on, you are in a treat, this will make you question your desktop all-in-one dacamps for sure. With the settings I just mentioned and moving the gain to high out of low, medium and high available, I have used ZMF Auteur at 65-70% volume, this is a 300 Ohms headphone and often work with OTL amps than solid states but I couldn’t believe I was listening to it via a portable solution, this got it close to the Feliks Echo 2 amp, where the Echo 2 pulls ahead is pushing the mids sweetness tad bit more and makes the Auteur scale in sound.
Another challenge I put the XP1 through is the power hungry Hifiman HE6 and I am not kidding, it can power HE6 very well, again I cannot compare it with the power of something like Cayin IHA6 but man on 85-90% volume, high gain, Mpower mode on, connected to LPS, you can enjoy HE6 on this, I would have not thought that portables can go any justice to planars in general but I was wrong.
XP1 also supports lossless MicroSD playback, allowing for direct playback of Hi-Res and DSD files, one can use micro SD card upto 2 TB, For some reason, with eddict app on iphone 13, I could never make it work, it always showed scanning library, not sure if the same issue will persist with other phones.
XP1 has high-performance XMOS XU316 USB input, Bluetooth 5.0 with LDAC, aptX HD, and AAC support, and combined SPDIF Coaxial/Optical input.
With its 7000 mAh battery, offering up to 10 hours of playback, I have never realized the XP1’s battery drying up soon, used it with efficient headphones, inefficient headphones, iems, pairs with everything, only thing I would like to mention is if your iem is warm and sensitive, it might not work well, in that case, move the toggle switch on back of the device to earphones, it would make it better.
From the construction point of view, XP1 is crafted from high-grade aluminum with a gold-plated volume wheel and vintage dot-matrix OLED display.
I have used Camelot paired with their Lancelot cable and listing on the Onix Mystic XP1, this dacamp has dual AK4499 + AK4191, I have used this dac in the past (Topping E70V) and know the characteristics really well, the Onix produces a great balance between smoothness and details, the dac used is the AK’s ToTL dac and it shows in the sound, there is enough resolution that you are able to hear every instrument with outstanding clarity with nothing of it too forward to bother you, it maintains the smoothness extremely well.
We are in that phase of the audiophile timeline wherein Portable dacamps are improving in terms of sound but also the size, we are looking at the likes of XD05 Pro, Ibasso D16 and now the Shanling Onix Mystic XP1. Each of these are beasts in their own.
With XP1, you get an all-in-one solution, I would go overboard and say that this may be the only portable solution one would ever need, with top-of-the-line Dac, premium build quality, tons of power, aesthetically pleasing, almost all kind of digital inputs and a dedicated LPS for pumping added power.
I have used XP1 in Bluetooth mode with my iPhone and android phone, the sound quality over LDAC is marginally better however with AAC the quality was consistent, when you put your phone and XP1 in different pockets, there’s a minute drop out which gets back again with signal.
I highly recommend ONIX Mystic XP1 for its high-end performance and versatility, it is a solid choice for audiophiles looking for a portable and powerful DAC/amp solution.
This is priced at $1499, unit I have in hand was kindly provided by @deep2285 , it is his personal unit and I thank him for giving me an opportunity to try this high end portable dacamp.
Onix XP1 has Dual AKM AK4499EX DACs paired with AK4191 modulators for high-resolution and natural sound tuning, the overall sound signature is warm (high output impedance) and smooth, it utilizes TPA6120A2 for the headphone amplifier, which is optimized for full-size headphones, with an additional Muses8920 circuit for balanced line-out/pre-amp functions. Talking about power, I have used XP1 with several headphones and I can assure you, this has tons of power, to put into perspective, once you connect the supplied LPS (LPS helps in providing enhanced output power, up to 2360 mW at 32Ω and 480 mW at 300Ω), and move the toggle switch behind the unit to headphones and the MPower switch to on, you are in a treat, this will make you question your desktop all-in-one dacamps for sure. With the settings I just mentioned and moving the gain to high out of low, medium and high available, I have used ZMF Auteur at 65-70% volume, this is a 300 Ohms headphone and often work with OTL amps than solid states but I couldn’t believe I was listening to it via a portable solution, this got it close to the Feliks Echo 2 amp, where the Echo 2 pulls ahead is pushing the mids sweetness tad bit more and makes the Auteur scale in sound.
Another challenge I put the XP1 through is the power hungry Hifiman HE6 and I am not kidding, it can power HE6 very well, again I cannot compare it with the power of something like Cayin IHA6 but man on 85-90% volume, high gain, Mpower mode on, connected to LPS, you can enjoy HE6 on this, I would have not thought that portables can go any justice to planars in general but I was wrong.
XP1 also supports lossless MicroSD playback, allowing for direct playback of Hi-Res and DSD files, one can use micro SD card upto 2 TB, For some reason, with eddict app on iphone 13, I could never make it work, it always showed scanning library, not sure if the same issue will persist with other phones.
XP1 has high-performance XMOS XU316 USB input, Bluetooth 5.0 with LDAC, aptX HD, and AAC support, and combined SPDIF Coaxial/Optical input.
With its 7000 mAh battery, offering up to 10 hours of playback, I have never realized the XP1’s battery drying up soon, used it with efficient headphones, inefficient headphones, iems, pairs with everything, only thing I would like to mention is if your iem is warm and sensitive, it might not work well, in that case, move the toggle switch on back of the device to earphones, it would make it better.
From the construction point of view, XP1 is crafted from high-grade aluminum with a gold-plated volume wheel and vintage dot-matrix OLED display.
I have used Camelot paired with their Lancelot cable and listing on the Onix Mystic XP1, this dacamp has dual AK4499 + AK4191, I have used this dac in the past (Topping E70V) and know the characteristics really well, the Onix produces a great balance between smoothness and details, the dac used is the AK’s ToTL dac and it shows in the sound, there is enough resolution that you are able to hear every instrument with outstanding clarity with nothing of it too forward to bother you, it maintains the smoothness extremely well.
We are in that phase of the audiophile timeline wherein Portable dacamps are improving in terms of sound but also the size, we are looking at the likes of XD05 Pro, Ibasso D16 and now the Shanling Onix Mystic XP1. Each of these are beasts in their own.
With XP1, you get an all-in-one solution, I would go overboard and say that this may be the only portable solution one would ever need, with top-of-the-line Dac, premium build quality, tons of power, aesthetically pleasing, almost all kind of digital inputs and a dedicated LPS for pumping added power.
I have used XP1 in Bluetooth mode with my iPhone and android phone, the sound quality over LDAC is marginally better however with AAC the quality was consistent, when you put your phone and XP1 in different pockets, there’s a minute drop out which gets back again with signal.
I highly recommend ONIX Mystic XP1 for its high-end performance and versatility, it is a solid choice for audiophiles looking for a portable and powerful DAC/amp solution.
SHOOTINGTECHIE
100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Bass is improved in both definition and extension
Sub-bass also better defined and has more extension
Notes are more defined
Dynamics are improved
Wider and taller headstage
Holographic or 3D presentation of the instruments
Powerful AMP and DAC
BT support till LDAC
MicroSD support for easier use without phone
Multiple input and output and line out also present
External power for desktop mode usage
Large battery 7000 mah
Sub-bass also better defined and has more extension
Notes are more defined
Dynamics are improved
Wider and taller headstage
Holographic or 3D presentation of the instruments
Powerful AMP and DAC
BT support till LDAC
MicroSD support for easier use without phone
Multiple input and output and line out also present
External power for desktop mode usage
Large battery 7000 mah
Cons: Tonality is on neutral to slightly clinical side (depends on the headphone/iem being used)
No added accessories like case etc
No added accessories like case etc
ONIX MYSTIC XP1- A portable OX
ONIX is one of the old companies which started from UK and has been acquired by a Taiwanese company and has started the journey from AMPs for speakers to now small form factor amps and dacs. Then, ONIX cooperated with Shanling Audio from 2003 and has now been making many more audio equipment since many years and well known in the international and British audiophile market. Today I have been first exposed to their portable DAC-AMP along with desktop solution, the ONIX MYSTIC XP1 and given the packing I love it already.
DISCLAIMER-
The Onix Mystic XP1 is part of a review tour organized by A.G. team and @OnixAudio and @Shanling in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 20 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can learn more from the official product website from the link- ONIX MYSTIC XP1
PACKAGING-
I love the package of changing colours, tried hard to record it. Inside you see the ONIX DAC-AMP in all its black Aluminum case. Below the foam, there is an sub C to C cable, USB C to USB A cable that doubles as a charging cable, a SPDIF cable and 4 white feet to put on the ONIX. Then comes another packet containing a DAC power cable and another cable that attaches to the ONIX- switching power supply so can be used in any region. Given the price, I expected this to come with a case or atleast a microfiber cloth, that makes it look great. I would also like to suggest all packets to add foam on the top too, as I did see some scratches on the top corners as it is heavy and will hit the corners of the packet during shipping.
BUILD-
First holding the big DAC-AMP, it feels like a premium brick
. Its made from CNC aluminum and the feel of the volume wheel was great. On the top theres a small screen with dot-matrix oled display that in a way looks cool too. The aluminum body is coated with black paint feels good to touch but is a good fingerprint magnet. The gain button feels great to click and the small button on top also feels great. The back M power button is solid and feels great to toggle on or off. On one of the very few equipment’s, I have seen is a UAC 1.0-2.0 switcher which is great to see as some devices would require that.
I/O-
Lots of them, I will show them to you that a much better way.
CONNECTIVITY-
It has separate USB C slot on the rear for both input and working as data transfer. There's also Bluetooth support till LDAC and this is a welcome thing as now it can used with your phone without plugging in. MicroSD slot here works on its own, and you can use it as a way to have fully lossless playback directly from the device. Otherwise, Eddict player app can be used to easily browse and select songs from the phone. Then there an aux port and also an coaxial/optical input port and also an line out port.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Weight: 583g
System Platform: Ingenic X2000
CHIPS- Dual AKM AK4499EX DACs, combined with their matching AK4191 modulator
AMPS- Fully balanced headphone amplifier utilizes TPA6120A2 and it was optimized for use with full-size headphones. And with additional Muses8920 circuit for the balanced line-out/pre-amp function. All enhanced by the in-house “Brighton” I/V Conversion stage".
Headphone Outputs: 3.5mm & 6.5mm Single-Ended, 4.4mm Balanced
Analog Output: 4.4mm Balanced, with pre-out function
Analog Input: 3.5mm Jack
Battery: 7000 mAh, dedicated USB-C charging port
BATTERY LIFE: tested it runs for 9hours and 24 mins with Blon bl03 attached to laptop running on battery.
3.5MM & 6.5MM SINGLE-ENDED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 2.6V@32Ω (211mW@32Ω), (THD+N<0.023%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 5.1V@32Ω (812mW@32Ω), (THD+N<1%) / 6V@300Ω (120mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Output Impedance: 4.7Ω.
4.4MM BALANCED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 4.9V@32Ω (750mW@32Ω) (THD+N<0.01%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 8.7V @ 32Ω (2360mW@32Ω) (THD+N<1) / 12V @ 300Ω (480mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz (-0.5dB) THD+N: 0.0005% @32Ω (A-Weight)
Dynamic Range: 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Channel Separation: 101dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio : 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Noise: 111dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Output Impedance: 6.6Ω
BT- BT 5.0 with LDAC / aptX HD/ aptX/SBC/AAC
TESTING OF M Mode and EAR/HEAD TOGGLE-
M power usually increases the volume by about 7-12 on the volume given in the ONIX with any headphone or iem you are running it off from.
While Headphone or Earphone switch, increases volume by 5-7 while using any audio equipment (Used decibel meter on phone and subjective listening to confirm this with the given headphones used)
EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
Let’s start with the smallest and portable setups that can be used and then turn to the big guys-
BLUETOOTH-
Using BT 5.0 also worked with ONIX, I used LDAC from my S23 to play music directly into the ONIX and not a single bit of drop out. The range was decent around 10ft going through two- 30cm thick walls. LDAC does sound great when used with something like Qobuz and on device lossless music.
Blon BL03-
You would be thinking that what changes would it bring to such an old and cheap iem, but let me tell you this sources with amps change the sound a lot. This becomes quite evident overall. The most change that I heard was the spaciousness and clarity of the notes that improved. Width of the headstage didn’t change much so that it becomes noticeable, but the presentation changed overall and become holographic. Bass was tighter and its still easy to drive.
No such power requirement changes as even smallest of power at Low gain was able to handle this easily, it though improved in Medium gain with very low power of around 12 volume
Penon FAN-
This set didn’t love the onix mystic as much well. This is due to the fact that this is already a very treble heavy set and very defined, making it more defined and wider made it much more clinical. But the soundstage became holographic making it more enjoyable atleast in orchestras and also it did add a bit of sub-bass and bass, making it much better. The upper mids addition that I felt much more refined made it more clinical, its just this amp is so good you hear everything haha.
BGVP DMA AND PHANTOM-
Both the iems are wonderful in their price segments. Addition of the ONIX mystic XP1, showed that the sub-bass and bass even became more defined and enhanced. The holographic soundstage is much more subtle in case of DMA but in case of Phantom, it was wonderful to listen to. The only thing I felt better in Phantom was adding to definition to subtleties and enhancement of stage when compared to DMA. Here One more interaction was worth nothing, DMA had its upper mids and treble sharpness, a little bit more reduced but more definition was added to the notes, which I loved as this meant longer listening sessions.
ISN NEO 3-
ISN Neo 3 is a great bassy, mid centric and energetic iem, using ONIX Mystic XP1 made it so much better, that if you are going for a source and have headphones too (more on the interaction between them later in the review). There is increased separation between the instrument notes and also the instruments. I felt like the headstage has widened a bit and also the placement of improved has been more accurate. There is also improvement in notes definition and the sub-bass and bass had more defined impact which was felt. The extension is much more defined and controlled and just made better to hear overall.
JOMO AUDIO SKYLINE-
Skyline is already a very matured and perfect iem for a wonderful live experience. This source added to the skyline matured it much more but not made it clinical which is wonderful to listen to. Now, skyline had much more definition to notes and a little more extension to the sub-bass and bass. Upper mids are much more handled better. Individual notes are much more handled beautifully and they are much better defined. There is also decrease in the ‘sss’ in the voices of singers and they are much more sweetly and defined. The improvement is well noticed coming from a more low end source like PAW S1 to this. Don’t think PAW S1 is bad as a DAC but this is something way much more better, you can easily feel the notes definition changes and also paw S1 with an external amp like A30s with burson v5i still wont match the power of ONIX MYSTIC XP1.
NOW WE COME TO HEADPHONES-
Let’s start with the old classic-
Sennheiser HD558-
This is a very old set but still goes strong and is still used by me since last 9 years. It’s a wonderful set with good distinction of sound coming from either direction, what it lacked is refinement in placement, it felt like all of the instruments were bunched up either in the left or right or middle mostly. This was all alleviated by ONIX. There is now much more holographic headstage with more proper placement of instruments. The notes are much more defined and bass took a good hit and now goes a little bit more deep and has more impact. Sub-bass has more clarity too. Upper mids are more defined and it did add more subtleties to music by enhancing the nuances of each iem.
HIFIMAN DEVA-
This is a planar and this ran ONIX to the max of its ability. Hifiman deva is easy to run but give it juice and it will scale. It takes on power like a pro and went on to High Gain 55 volume with M -power mode on entirely. I loved this set with ONIX, the bass was more impactful, more holographic headstage and even the sub-bass had more definition. Separation did increase along with notes clarity. Mids became nuanced and also had more structure to the voices and they reached higher in the headstage. This thing could run any of the headphones I have (more on them later) and this combo still managed to impress me a lot. Loved it !!! Plus the fact that you can get ONIX running on only BT and DEVA plugged into ONIX even at lower sound levels would satisfy you so you can save a lot of battery life and when needed GIVE IT POWER TO RUN ON STEROIDS hehe!!!


BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300-
TYGR 300 is DD that doesn’t like to move with the beats unless you add high watts to it. It’s a 300 Ω headset and loves power. It shines only though in tubes and Hybrid only for the fact that it’s a treble headset (normal by Beyerdynamic standards). There were interesting things that I noticed. First of all even though the bass was good not great, with onix it became more impactful, you could feel the punch, sub-bass got added too (earlier felt like very less). There was also upper mid energy reduction to keep it in balance with the music and also similarly happened with treble frequencies. There was reducing in sharp sounds and 'sss' sounds in vocals of the singers. This also saw a more longitudinal increase in notes height which made this headphone a orchestra type of listen (which is still why I bring this headphone out whenever orchestra came in my playlist. This also saw a mild enhancement on notes edges definition, and it became more clear than ever before. Mids were great and I saw a bit of neutral to warm feeling over this being added and that felt great. Overall, a great and powerful companion to the mystic.
FOCAL CLEAR OG-
This set needs no introduction, the only set beside my first headphone the Sennheiser that will go till my end of my life. Clear saw a definite change in treble sharpness with it being energetic but this bad boy handling the sharpness like a pro. Upper mids also saw an eventual decrease in sharpness and also better tonal height and width (more here). The width of the soundstage did increase a bit but clear is already holographic so adding this just added cherry to the top. Mids were great and there was I felt a little reduction in sss of the female vocals. Bass definiton was much better and impact was much greater, but the best thing was sub-bass being having great definition and improved defintion. Overall great addition to clear.
ZMF AEUTEUR –
Aeuteur is another headphone which requires power and is quite flat on the get go too. Its also a 300 Ω headphone and requires power. The bass impact has improved drastically with increase in impact, and energies in the notes too. The dynamism in the notes also improved with different heights being reached by each of the different instruments with better definition to the notes. They are much more separated and wider but now having elliptical soundstage. There is more energy in the treble region making it much more enjoyable. Mids though felt the same except female vocals where at the top their voice they sounded more vibrant. Sub-bass extension was much more pronounced, and I Loved it. This brought more energy into this headphone with better and more powerful additions.
SAMSUNG Q990C soundbar-
It was a ghetto setup and using ONIX from coax cable to a splitter and then optical to sound bar and using USB C as input for ONIX to play music. To be honest I didn’t expect many changes, but there was many. They had more spaciousness to the sound, notes were more defined, vocals were much clearer and foreword. Never thought I would try this but it worked and I loved it.
SUMMARY-
A very wide, large, 3D/holographic presentation on the instruments in the head stage, best defined notes, Quality bass and subbass, very good presentation of notes with very natural extension and dynamism of the notes is really good. It also tries to accentuate the individual sound adding wider stage.
VERDICT-
A very powerful source of audio which can run mostly anything (except something like Susvara etc). The addition of Bluetooth and making this an independent device with SD card and you can just enjoy your music whenever your phone battery is low. Plus, addition of Eddict player is great which can check on the music libraries and choose from your phone along with this one charger for both your USB C phone and this too (except old gen apple phones). In addition this would provide you a good biceps exercise while traveling too. So for me, this is very much recommended as an ALL IN ONE SOLUTION.
ONIX is one of the old companies which started from UK and has been acquired by a Taiwanese company and has started the journey from AMPs for speakers to now small form factor amps and dacs. Then, ONIX cooperated with Shanling Audio from 2003 and has now been making many more audio equipment since many years and well known in the international and British audiophile market. Today I have been first exposed to their portable DAC-AMP along with desktop solution, the ONIX MYSTIC XP1 and given the packing I love it already.
DISCLAIMER-
The Onix Mystic XP1 is part of a review tour organized by A.G. team and @OnixAudio and @Shanling in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 20 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it

PACKAGING-
I love the package of changing colours, tried hard to record it. Inside you see the ONIX DAC-AMP in all its black Aluminum case. Below the foam, there is an sub C to C cable, USB C to USB A cable that doubles as a charging cable, a SPDIF cable and 4 white feet to put on the ONIX. Then comes another packet containing a DAC power cable and another cable that attaches to the ONIX- switching power supply so can be used in any region. Given the price, I expected this to come with a case or atleast a microfiber cloth, that makes it look great. I would also like to suggest all packets to add foam on the top too, as I did see some scratches on the top corners as it is heavy and will hit the corners of the packet during shipping.

BUILD-
First holding the big DAC-AMP, it feels like a premium brick


I/O-
Lots of them, I will show them to you that a much better way.

CONNECTIVITY-
It has separate USB C slot on the rear for both input and working as data transfer. There's also Bluetooth support till LDAC and this is a welcome thing as now it can used with your phone without plugging in. MicroSD slot here works on its own, and you can use it as a way to have fully lossless playback directly from the device. Otherwise, Eddict player app can be used to easily browse and select songs from the phone. Then there an aux port and also an coaxial/optical input port and also an line out port.

SPECIFICATIONS-
Weight: 583g
System Platform: Ingenic X2000
CHIPS- Dual AKM AK4499EX DACs, combined with their matching AK4191 modulator
AMPS- Fully balanced headphone amplifier utilizes TPA6120A2 and it was optimized for use with full-size headphones. And with additional Muses8920 circuit for the balanced line-out/pre-amp function. All enhanced by the in-house “Brighton” I/V Conversion stage".
Headphone Outputs: 3.5mm & 6.5mm Single-Ended, 4.4mm Balanced
Analog Output: 4.4mm Balanced, with pre-out function
Analog Input: 3.5mm Jack
Battery: 7000 mAh, dedicated USB-C charging port
BATTERY LIFE: tested it runs for 9hours and 24 mins with Blon bl03 attached to laptop running on battery.
3.5MM & 6.5MM SINGLE-ENDED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 2.6V@32Ω (211mW@32Ω), (THD+N<0.023%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 5.1V@32Ω (812mW@32Ω), (THD+N<1%) / 6V@300Ω (120mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Output Impedance: 4.7Ω.
4.4MM BALANCED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 4.9V@32Ω (750mW@32Ω) (THD+N<0.01%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 8.7V @ 32Ω (2360mW@32Ω) (THD+N<1) / 12V @ 300Ω (480mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz (-0.5dB) THD+N: 0.0005% @32Ω (A-Weight)
Dynamic Range: 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Channel Separation: 101dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio : 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Noise: 111dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Output Impedance: 6.6Ω
BT- BT 5.0 with LDAC / aptX HD/ aptX/SBC/AAC

TESTING OF M Mode and EAR/HEAD TOGGLE-
M power usually increases the volume by about 7-12 on the volume given in the ONIX with any headphone or iem you are running it off from.
While Headphone or Earphone switch, increases volume by 5-7 while using any audio equipment (Used decibel meter on phone and subjective listening to confirm this with the given headphones used)
EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY

SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
Let’s start with the smallest and portable setups that can be used and then turn to the big guys-
BLUETOOTH-
Using BT 5.0 also worked with ONIX, I used LDAC from my S23 to play music directly into the ONIX and not a single bit of drop out. The range was decent around 10ft going through two- 30cm thick walls. LDAC does sound great when used with something like Qobuz and on device lossless music.
Blon BL03-
You would be thinking that what changes would it bring to such an old and cheap iem, but let me tell you this sources with amps change the sound a lot. This becomes quite evident overall. The most change that I heard was the spaciousness and clarity of the notes that improved. Width of the headstage didn’t change much so that it becomes noticeable, but the presentation changed overall and become holographic. Bass was tighter and its still easy to drive.
No such power requirement changes as even smallest of power at Low gain was able to handle this easily, it though improved in Medium gain with very low power of around 12 volume
Penon FAN-
This set didn’t love the onix mystic as much well. This is due to the fact that this is already a very treble heavy set and very defined, making it more defined and wider made it much more clinical. But the soundstage became holographic making it more enjoyable atleast in orchestras and also it did add a bit of sub-bass and bass, making it much better. The upper mids addition that I felt much more refined made it more clinical, its just this amp is so good you hear everything haha.
BGVP DMA AND PHANTOM-
Both the iems are wonderful in their price segments. Addition of the ONIX mystic XP1, showed that the sub-bass and bass even became more defined and enhanced. The holographic soundstage is much more subtle in case of DMA but in case of Phantom, it was wonderful to listen to. The only thing I felt better in Phantom was adding to definition to subtleties and enhancement of stage when compared to DMA. Here One more interaction was worth nothing, DMA had its upper mids and treble sharpness, a little bit more reduced but more definition was added to the notes, which I loved as this meant longer listening sessions.

ISN NEO 3-
ISN Neo 3 is a great bassy, mid centric and energetic iem, using ONIX Mystic XP1 made it so much better, that if you are going for a source and have headphones too (more on the interaction between them later in the review). There is increased separation between the instrument notes and also the instruments. I felt like the headstage has widened a bit and also the placement of improved has been more accurate. There is also improvement in notes definition and the sub-bass and bass had more defined impact which was felt. The extension is much more defined and controlled and just made better to hear overall.
JOMO AUDIO SKYLINE-
Skyline is already a very matured and perfect iem for a wonderful live experience. This source added to the skyline matured it much more but not made it clinical which is wonderful to listen to. Now, skyline had much more definition to notes and a little more extension to the sub-bass and bass. Upper mids are much more handled better. Individual notes are much more handled beautifully and they are much better defined. There is also decrease in the ‘sss’ in the voices of singers and they are much more sweetly and defined. The improvement is well noticed coming from a more low end source like PAW S1 to this. Don’t think PAW S1 is bad as a DAC but this is something way much more better, you can easily feel the notes definition changes and also paw S1 with an external amp like A30s with burson v5i still wont match the power of ONIX MYSTIC XP1.

NOW WE COME TO HEADPHONES-
Let’s start with the old classic-
Sennheiser HD558-
This is a very old set but still goes strong and is still used by me since last 9 years. It’s a wonderful set with good distinction of sound coming from either direction, what it lacked is refinement in placement, it felt like all of the instruments were bunched up either in the left or right or middle mostly. This was all alleviated by ONIX. There is now much more holographic headstage with more proper placement of instruments. The notes are much more defined and bass took a good hit and now goes a little bit more deep and has more impact. Sub-bass has more clarity too. Upper mids are more defined and it did add more subtleties to music by enhancing the nuances of each iem.
HIFIMAN DEVA-
This is a planar and this ran ONIX to the max of its ability. Hifiman deva is easy to run but give it juice and it will scale. It takes on power like a pro and went on to High Gain 55 volume with M -power mode on entirely. I loved this set with ONIX, the bass was more impactful, more holographic headstage and even the sub-bass had more definition. Separation did increase along with notes clarity. Mids became nuanced and also had more structure to the voices and they reached higher in the headstage. This thing could run any of the headphones I have (more on them later) and this combo still managed to impress me a lot. Loved it !!! Plus the fact that you can get ONIX running on only BT and DEVA plugged into ONIX even at lower sound levels would satisfy you so you can save a lot of battery life and when needed GIVE IT POWER TO RUN ON STEROIDS hehe!!!



BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300-
TYGR 300 is DD that doesn’t like to move with the beats unless you add high watts to it. It’s a 300 Ω headset and loves power. It shines only though in tubes and Hybrid only for the fact that it’s a treble headset (normal by Beyerdynamic standards). There were interesting things that I noticed. First of all even though the bass was good not great, with onix it became more impactful, you could feel the punch, sub-bass got added too (earlier felt like very less). There was also upper mid energy reduction to keep it in balance with the music and also similarly happened with treble frequencies. There was reducing in sharp sounds and 'sss' sounds in vocals of the singers. This also saw a more longitudinal increase in notes height which made this headphone a orchestra type of listen (which is still why I bring this headphone out whenever orchestra came in my playlist. This also saw a mild enhancement on notes edges definition, and it became more clear than ever before. Mids were great and I saw a bit of neutral to warm feeling over this being added and that felt great. Overall, a great and powerful companion to the mystic.

FOCAL CLEAR OG-
This set needs no introduction, the only set beside my first headphone the Sennheiser that will go till my end of my life. Clear saw a definite change in treble sharpness with it being energetic but this bad boy handling the sharpness like a pro. Upper mids also saw an eventual decrease in sharpness and also better tonal height and width (more here). The width of the soundstage did increase a bit but clear is already holographic so adding this just added cherry to the top. Mids were great and there was I felt a little reduction in sss of the female vocals. Bass definiton was much better and impact was much greater, but the best thing was sub-bass being having great definition and improved defintion. Overall great addition to clear.
ZMF AEUTEUR –
Aeuteur is another headphone which requires power and is quite flat on the get go too. Its also a 300 Ω headphone and requires power. The bass impact has improved drastically with increase in impact, and energies in the notes too. The dynamism in the notes also improved with different heights being reached by each of the different instruments with better definition to the notes. They are much more separated and wider but now having elliptical soundstage. There is more energy in the treble region making it much more enjoyable. Mids though felt the same except female vocals where at the top their voice they sounded more vibrant. Sub-bass extension was much more pronounced, and I Loved it. This brought more energy into this headphone with better and more powerful additions.
SAMSUNG Q990C soundbar-
It was a ghetto setup and using ONIX from coax cable to a splitter and then optical to sound bar and using USB C as input for ONIX to play music. To be honest I didn’t expect many changes, but there was many. They had more spaciousness to the sound, notes were more defined, vocals were much clearer and foreword. Never thought I would try this but it worked and I loved it.

SUMMARY-
A very wide, large, 3D/holographic presentation on the instruments in the head stage, best defined notes, Quality bass and subbass, very good presentation of notes with very natural extension and dynamism of the notes is really good. It also tries to accentuate the individual sound adding wider stage.
VERDICT-
A very powerful source of audio which can run mostly anything (except something like Susvara etc). The addition of Bluetooth and making this an independent device with SD card and you can just enjoy your music whenever your phone battery is low. Plus, addition of Eddict player is great which can check on the music libraries and choose from your phone along with this one charger for both your USB C phone and this too (except old gen apple phones). In addition this would provide you a good biceps exercise while traveling too. So for me, this is very much recommended as an ALL IN ONE SOLUTION.