Obscure Chinese DAPs

[skc2047]

I have uploaded two screen capture from Taobao for your reference:





The first picture are the differences of XS-03 to XS-02, such as the use of 4493 instead of 4490, use of class A for amplification, 3.5 balance output, the additional USBDAC function and a larger battery. The second explains that of XS-02 and XS-01, the XS-02 uses dual 4490 while XS-01 mono 4490.

I think XS-03 is an upgrade of XS-02, it supports more file format, has more functions and provides balanced output. XS-02 does not provide any balanced output. Only XS-01 has the option for swapping the op-amps according to the pictures I saw on Taobao.

Hope this helps.

 

[smorgar]

Thank you very very much!

Still on the fence between XS-03 and PAW 5000 MK2.... Some reviews says the XS-02 has a bit smoothed sound and maybe not so much details but i have no idea if the PAW 5k mk2 is better or worse in this regard.
A heavy sellingpoint for the PAW is the PEQ but i almost never EQ so thats not for me...

Maybe ill give the XS-03 a go since its one third of the price from PAW 5k mk2 and almost doubble the battery.

 

[cqtek]

Hello friends!

Can i ask what the difference is between the F.Audio XS-02 and XS-03? Is the XS-03 better in all aspects or not?

There is very little to none information about these two devices. It seems like the 02 is end of life and the 03 is the new replacement?
It seems that XS-02 has 2,5mm BAL or is it 3,5mm BAL? I cant find any info on this on the XS-03 but judging from the images on aliexpress etc it seems to have two 3,5mm jacks? No BAL?

Im not sure i will change the AMPs that seems to be possible so thats not so important for me, but if i can i would not say no to the option in the future. How about that on the XS-03? I read that the XS-02 have two variants one that can change the AMPs and one that is solderd on with no sockets for easy swap.

Im looking for a DAP with good SQ and i have been looking at the Lotoo PAW 5000 MKII for quite some time now but the 6h battery grinds my gears a bit... The ACMEE MF-01 seems good but to early to tell and the display is probaby as fun as my Sansa Clip+ display (not so much).

All pointers and recommendations are super welcome! Does F.Audio have a official website?

For me, if you are hesitating between the xs-03 vs MF-01, I have it clear: the xs-03 is in a lost drawer and the MF-01 I carry with me. The FAudio XS-03 is a product joke, a DAP can not deliberately lose 6dB in bass, if someone wants less bass, you can use the equalization or use headphones with less bass. But if I want more bass, what do I do? use an equalizer that only deforms the signal instead of providing gain in bass? I feel deceived, especially when I have tried to contact them to find solutions and they never answered. while ACMEE have answered my questions and they are trying to improve the product. As for the sound, flat response, you can see my graphs of both in this thread.

 

[cqtek]

On the other hand F.Audio XS-03 has a useless balanced output, because it is 3.5mm. Has anyone seen a balanced 3.5mm connector? Because I'm still looking for one, or at least some converter. I only recommend it if you like brilliant sound without bass. I had a lot of hope in that DAP, because I have the FAudio S1 that I love, for its sound and battery life, despite the flaws it also has, including a slight drop in bass, but only 2dB.

 

[HungryPanda]

Chinese companies were pushing for 3.5mm balanced equipment as 2.5mm was viewed as easily broken, but 2.5mm and 4.4mm seemed to have won that battle. I actually have a couple of earphones that came with 3.5mm balanced cables.

 

[cqtek]

Chinese companies were pushing for 3.5mm balanced equipment as 2.5mm was viewed as easily broken, but 2.5mm and 4.4mm seemed to have won that battle. I actually have a couple of earphones that came with 3.5mm balanced cables.

That's good, because in the future I'll be able to use that connection. So, has F.Audio anticipated the future? Hahaha

 

[Slater]

Chinese companies were pushing for 3.5mm balanced equipment as 2.5mm was viewed as easily broken, but 2.5mm and 4.4mm seemed to have won that battle. I actually have a couple of earphones that came with 3.5mm balanced cables.

Look at how many questions about balanced cables we see on a daily basis, from people that have no clue if they even have balanced, much less if they need balanced or what balanced even means.

I can only imagine the number of devices that would fry their circuit boards if 3.5mm became the widely-adopted standard for balanced. I could easily see scenarios where people would plug single ended cables in by accident because they mixed up the SE/LO/balanced jacks, or knowingly plugged in a single ended cable into the balanced jack “because I heard balanced is better”.

Manufacturers would have a mountain of warranty claims, and they don’t want that headache.

2.5mm and 4.4mm helps protect people from themselves

 

[deltecdpa]

On the other hand F.Audio XS-03 has a useless balanced output, because it is 3.5mm. Has anyone seen a balanced 3.5mm connector? Because I'm still looking for one, or at least some converter. I only recommend it if you like brilliant sound without bass. I had a lot of hope in that DAP, because I have the FAudio S1 that I love, for its sound and battery life, despite the flaws it also has, including a slight drop in bass, but only 2dB.

I found and ordered a 3.5 balanced mmcx cable on AliExpress, to upgrade my ue900s to be paired with Xs-03. It was quite long search, few devices have 3.5 bal out so few cables 3.5 bal are available too.

Xs-03 -6db in bass? Wow, I have not seen your measurements. But as I shortly heard the Xs-03 have good bass and sub-bass with Ue900s (normal PO output for now) even if is a bit rolled off compared to Aigo z6pro, but it does not seem by -6db. I think is a good pairing, as Ue900s are a bit bass enhanced.

I said "shortly" because I wanted to open it, but due to improper handling I broke something in the circuit and no more sound (( I ordered already another... that will remain closed!

Pairings can be sometimes unpredictable, I remind Xuelin 770c, nice with some dynamic earphones, a disaster with Ue900s (heavily rolled off bass and almost no sub-bass)

 

[HungryPanda]

The plan was to have sockets designed so the 3.5mm SE plugs would have a shoulder so would only go in so far whilst the 3.5mm balanced had none so they would go in further

 

[Nayparm]

I found and ordered a 3.5 balanced mmcx cable on AliExpress, to upgrade my ue900s to be paired with Xs-03. It was quite long search, few devices have 3.5 bal out so few cables 3.5 bal are available too.

Xs-03 -6db in bass? Wow, I have not seen your measurements. But as I shortly heard the Xs-03 have good bass and sub-bass with Ue900s (normal PO output for now) even if is a bit rolled off compared to Aigo z6pro, but it does not seem by -6db. I think is a good pairing, as Ue900s are a bit bass enhanced.

I said "shortly" because I wanted to open it, but due to improper handling I broke something in the circuit and no more sound (( I ordered already another... that will remain closed!

Pairings can be sometimes unpredictable, I remind Xuelin 770c, nice with some dynamic earphones, a disaster with Ue900s (heavily rolled off bass and almost no sub-bass)

What did you break?

 

[Themilkman46290]

On the other hand F.Audio XS-03 has a useless balanced output, because it is 3.5mm. Has anyone seen a balanced 3.5mm connector? Because I'm still looking for one, or at least some converter. I only recommend it if you like brilliant sound without bass. I had a lot of hope in that DAP, because I have the FAudio S1 that I love, for its sound and battery life, despite the flaws it also has, including a slight drop in bass, but only 2dB.

Well, why not get a regular, braided cable (4-8 core) and solder a 4 pole 3.5mm jack on it. I didn't buy balanced cables, just simply soldered on a 2.5mm 4 pole in place of the 3.5mm 3 pole, works fine..

 

[deltecdpa]

What did you break?

I don't know, I applied some force on the circuit when pushing it off the chassis and push it back into it (no space to slide in/out easily circuit and battery) The player seem to work normally, menu and UI, but no sound from PO output apart ftom a short sounding when pressing pause. From balanced out the sound is monophonic and strange, a kind of short circuit of L-R channels. I may ask some electronic shop to check it, if cheap.

 

[oneula]

cqtek
question

Xngee X2 ? or
ZIKU HD-X9 ? or
Tempotec V1a ?

I have the Ziku and Tempotec on order from Ali

I like the double card capacity of the "do it all" Tempotec V1A but the Ziku HD-X9 seems like a better sounding version of my Zishan DSD with the same power

 

[Slater]

The plan was to have sockets designed so the 3.5mm SE plugs would have a shoulder so would only go in so far whilst the 3.5mm balanced had none so they would go in further

Ah, gotcha.

Well, interestingly, I had come up with a simple way that there could have been a universal 3.5mm jack that had no chance of damage.

Why it wasn’t thought of is beyond me.

It goes like this:

The balanced we know and love looks like this:



The balanced TRRS plug has this configuration:
T is R-
R is R+
R is L+
S is L-

A normal TRS 3.5mm single ended plug has this configuration:
T is L+
R is R+
S is shared gnd (L-, R-)

If they had made TRRS 3.5mm balanced like this:
T is L+
R is R+
R is L- (or R-)
S is R- (or L-)

Then it would be impossible to short out of a SE plug is accidentally plugged into my proposed 3.5mm balanced TRRS socket. In that case, the last 2 pins in my proposed jack would just ‘short’ together into a harmless shared ground.

Make sense?

 

[lior777]

hello,

https://item.jd.com/100006989540.html

can i make order out of china?