[Modified]

  Can't wait direct comparison with X20U.
It is pretty shame is not based on X208..

"X20U Pro will have 2 of the new ESS 9028 DAC chips.  $899.99  $30 more than the last one."

 

[filo9s]

   
Is there any other methods? How about buying through an agent? Or have a vocation in China?

ahah sadly no...
However, i've bought the used teac which seems quite nice for the price... Can't wait to have it

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

"X20U Pro will have 2 of the new ESS 9028 DAC chips.  $899.99  $30 more than the last one."

Now this have me interested. Hope they have upgraded the USB chip to support DSD512 too. And that would be a very nice Xmas gift!

 

[hugoboss]

Agree they should opt for the new XMOS X-200 chipset. 
i hold my wallet till i see A new Dac with AKM 4497 or ESS 938 using Xmos X200 series chipset
sure it will increase the price around $50 compare to the older xmos u8. but for most i thinks will choose the new XMOS X200
specially after the raving of singxer F1 and su1 which using xmos x200

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Preliminary Specifications?
 
Aside from the ES9028 chip..
 
Do we see an additional discrete headphone amplifier as w/ A20H?
 
Upgraded Xmos chip?

 

[canthearyou]

x20 pro with ES9028.it will sell on meddle of November.Now shenzhenauduio accept pre-order.
shenzhenaudio.com

I don't see it.

 

[chrispiyux]

I don't see it.

Same here, i don't find it on shenzhenaudio.com

 

[milezone]

Just picked up one of these. Incredibly solid unit. The headphone out seems very quality even from the single ended output with my trusty AKG K501s. Balanced is supposedly better on this unit though I haven't tested and don't see why it would be. Playing direct out of the balanced out to a pair of Genelec active monitors yields excellent results. The dac has a certain heft and palpability. Great resolution with pcm recordings. Have not tried DSD settings and don't really plan to as the obscure music I enjoy isn't available in DSD recordings as far as I'm aware. Extremely impressed with the sound as well as the build quality. I wasn't expecting this level or refinement at such a price point. I look forward to testing my HD600s through the balanced output.

 

[milezone]

To describe the sound in brief. Extremely dry, neutral and fast. It also has a certain power and weight to the sound. I'm really impressed.

 

[EvenR]

  To describe the sound in brief. Extremely dry, neutral and fast. It also has a certain power and weight to the sound. I'm really impressed.

Would this dryness go well with other Sennheisers aswell, like HD800S? If not, how much of a difference is there to the tube setting? 

 

[guitardave]

Any word on when this will be available in the US?  I have been considering the Questyle 600i but if this sounds as good I will be getting this!  I assume no comparisons are available yet?

 

[milezone]

I purchased mine via the seller Foxremen, so available in the USA currently as the unit has 220/110v modes. I've been out of the headphone game for a bit and have never heard a pair of HD800s surprisingly. My preference by a vast margin is Stax electrostatic headphones. They are simply and honestly a lot better than all headphones period. You're wasting your time reading this forum trying to get answers to convince you otherwise. Even the most expensive dynamic headphones aren't even remotely comparable. Audeze are a joke by comparison - really. I saw a pair in a audio shop recently and demoed them while killing some time. It's laughable what they charge for this junk when you can purchase a used Stax headphone from the 1970s that is significantly superior for a lot less dough. I wouldn't spend more than $300 on a pair or dynamic headphones and don't advise doing so. These new Focal headphones, what a screwing joke.
 
 
Back on topic, my K501's sounded best out of the A20H and very good at that. My Beyerdynamic DT48e 25ohm headphones sounded terrible (incredible headphones though). I'll report back about my findings with the HD600s when I have a listen out of the balanced output.

 

[milezone]

I've heard many a nice dac in my day but cannot provide direct comparisons. The Questyle boasts pretty good specs and I suspect it's very good. I cannot compare. I'm very fond of AKM chips hence my purchase of this DAC. The best descriptors I can give for the A20H are clear and robust.

 

[guitardave]

   Audeze are a joke by comparison - really. I saw a pair in a audio shop recently and demoed them while killing some time. It's laughable what they charge for this junk when you can purchase a used Stax headphone from the 1970s that is significantly superior for a lot less dough. I wouldn't spend more than $300 on a pair or dynamic headphones and don't advise doing so. These new Focal headphones, what a screwing joke.
 
 
 

Well, as they say, to each his own.  The Focal Utopias are certainly one of the most satisfying pieces of gear I have heard or purchased.  Every time I put them on, I am literally delighted with my purchase!  Expensive, certainly, but totally satisfied on every level.

 

[milezone]

I've never heard them and frankly don't have the funds to justify such a purchase. I definitely believe in the use of Beryllium for dynamic speaker designs and am sure they are very good. In my experience with electrostatic headphones and speakers, nothing comes close. While perhaps a bit hyperbolic in my previous post, I genuinely believe that electrostats are very significantly superior to everything else. I owned a pair Acoustat X speakers recently that I modified to the nth degree with updated components (Zfoil resistors throughout like found in TotalDAC) and a simplified circuit. That for me was the ultimate. No pair of speakers I've heard can touch those. Agreed, to each their own. I currently use a pair of Genelec 1029 speakers and they're useful for me as I produce my own music from my home and they're very dependable for that purpose and like the low stress small form factor aspect. In my experiences with these speakers I've found the near field experience offers something that no other listening experience does - the production of a very holographic image l've never heard before. As far as where I'd spend that kind of money - never on headphones - electrostatic or dynamic. I'd maybe pick up a pair of imported Genelec 8351s (despite their measured lf distortion) or 8260s - IMO superior to Focal's offerings. Or maybe experiment with a near field diy monitor using TAD2001s though it'd feel like a bit of a hack compared to the Genelecs. Not much else is of interest to me these days. 007s and 009s can be had for less money these days and those are the greatest headphones ever produced IMO. Barring a really well implemented design using graphene or something similar in an electrostatic design, I don't really see that fact changing.