ONIX Alpha XI1 - Smallest & Most Affordable ONIX DAC - High-Power Portable USB DAC/AMP

[Shanling]

Any ETA for the update @Shanling ?

Our engineers are checking on it.

 

[dakchi]

I mean, you're comparing it to a RU7, which is more than double the price. Imho, this dongle hits some specifics that are above it's price and does nothing worse than dongles around it's price, so i can see why people recommend it. As for reviewers, i'm guessing many of them compared it against products in the same price bracket, at least i know i do that (and state it explicitly) when i review things. But yeah, it's a relatively neutral dongle, if you don't want that i'd look at something else or just use EQ.

All this hype around this dongle comes from the fact that it is said to perform better than much more expensive dongles. The hype was initiated by Andy who basically said it is perfect and gave it the best ranking out of all of the dongles he tested including Cayin RU7 and others. He also told me that it performs on par with iBasso DC Elite. He even said that it is better than desktop setup. Honestly, I don’t agree at all with him. It is a standard dongle that performs like any other dongle at this price. It lacks the fun factor and the musicality that can be found in other dongles. As I said, if this is what you are looking for then it is a good dongle, but most people like in your face sound with emphasis either in bass or treble
At least now I know that I don’t have the same preferences in sound as Andy and I will be careful when buying a dongle based on his review

 

[easylive]

All this hype around this dongle comes from the fact that it is said to perform better than much more expensive dongles. The hype was initiated by Andy who basically said it is perfect and gave it the best ranking out of all of the dongles he tested including Cayin RU7 and others. He also told me that it performs on par with iBasso DC Elite. He even said that it is better than desktop setup. Honestly, I don’t agree at all with him. It is a standard dongle that performs like any other dongle at this price. It lacks the fun factor and the musicality that can be found in other dongles. As I said, if this is what you are looking for then it is a good dongle, but most people like in your face sound with emphasis either in bass or treble
At least now I know that I don’t have the same preferences in sound as Andy and I will be careful when buying a dongle based on his review

Yeah, you are right, it is best to wait for the experience from people hear.. Im also tired from all these hype reviews.. and yes, the preferences of reviewers are very important...

 

[D1N0]

I think people are overlaying their own expectations over Andy's review and are now blaming him for it. Comparing delta Sigma to r to ryou know the character will be very different. Why would you expect a delta Sigma dac to outperform R to R if you already prefer the latter? Anyway, DHL will be shoving it in the letterbox this evening. I can compare it to the iBasso DC04 pro

 

[0ostin0]

Has anyone compared it to the Fiio KA17?
I too ordered this dongle after Andy's review. And I guess it's not as good because I don't like the r2r sound as much as Andy.
But, there were never really bad dongles in his 5-star list. Therefore, these are not big risks for little money)
And for myself, I would like to hear feedback on the comparison with KA17, because it is next on my list)

 

[tommo21]

The Onix for me have a better synergy with the Arya Organic than the KA17 have. The KA17 is more powerfull if you need that, but the soundstage width, depth and height on the Onix is much better than the KA17 and more to my taste. It's not pushing the treble details like the KA17, but they are not missing either. Bass is more neutral than KA17, but the KA17 can be equlized and made to sound more like how you want. Both are keepers, and the most negative thing I have on them is that the KA17 get very varm after a few hours use, and the Onix don't as much.

I also have the Questyle M12i, but that can't drive the Arya Organic. Waiting for a few IEM's now, but MP145 also sounds better(to me) on Onix as a reference.

I'm waiting for the Ibasso DC07 Pro now.

 

[0ostin0]

the soundstage width, depth and height on the Onix is much better than the KA17

Thank you!
And what would you say about the resolution of these devices?
Does the Onix really compete with the Fiio KA17, or is the micro-detail in the Fiio significantly higher?
This is very important to me)

 

[tommo21]

Thank you!
And what would you say about the resolution of these devices?
Does the Onix really compete with the Fiio KA17, or is the micro-detail in the Fiio significantly higher?
This is very important to me)

I think it depends on what your gonna listen to them on....If you like detail pushed a bit forward, for sure the KA17, but I really don't think you loose out on detail on the Onix. I really don't think the KA17 feels more airy than the Onix, but certainly a bit more treble(and bass) focused, and possibly a bit more dynamic as a few others have mentioned. For me I'd still pick up the Onix more times than the KA17. I still feel that they both will be used with certain types of IEM or HP because of the different synergy possibillities.

 

[mf15]

All this hype around this dongle comes from the fact that it is said to perform better than much more expensive dongles. The hype was initiated by Andy who basically said it is perfect and gave it the best ranking out of all of the dongles he tested including Cayin RU7 and others. He also told me that it performs on par with iBasso DC Elite. He even said that it is better than desktop setup. Honestly, I don’t agree at all with him. It is a standard dongle that performs like any other dongle at this price. It lacks the fun factor and the musicality that can be found in other dongles. As I said, if this is what you are looking for then it is a good dongle, but most people like in your face sound with emphasis either in bass or treble
At least now I know that I don’t have the same preferences in sound as Andy and I will be careful when buying a dongle based on his review

Yeah that makes sense, kinda forgot about that. I did watch Andy's review after buying the dongle, but i'm so used to the reviewer's honeymoon period where everything sounds better than everything that came before, that i take those "this is better than stuff that costs 5x more" with a grain of salt. He likely enjoys more neutral stuff and favors portability (he's hinted at this many times), so it makes sense he would prefer it to a desktop setup. I'd say the sum of it's parts makes a good deal for me (no other dongle at this price hits all my needs), but that's it.

Edit: And now you got me curious about the RU7 so i might have to get that too, damnit

 

[mf15]

I think it depends on what your gonna listen to them on....If you like detail pushed a bit forward, for sure the KA17, but I really don't think you loose out on detail on the Onix. I really don't think the KA17 feels more airy than the Onix, but certainly a bit more treble(and bass) focused, and possibly a bit more dynamic as a few others have mentioned. For me I'd still pick up the Onix more times than the KA17. I still feel that they both will be used with certain types of IEM or HP because of the different synergy possibillities.

I was going to get the KA17 before i found this one, went for this one because some people complained about RFI with the KA17 (i think it's pricier too)

 

[flansterdam]

Just bought this on Ali last night! Can't wait to get the added power in a dongle form factor!

 

[NexGen]

Sorry if that was mentioned before because I didn't read all pages in this thread : inmho changing volume is to slow and should be overlocked. When screensaver is on I have to switch pause/play button twice to make an effect so it should work for once even with screensaver. Onix is really nice dongle !

 

[gto88]

just had this, my XI1 doesn't connect to iphone11 like before. the phone said it draw too much power!
but I did it many times before, and then I found out it only happened if I don't have iem connected when I connect
to iphone.
If you had issue with other phone, maybe this is the reason?

 

[serveg]

just had this, my XI1 doesn't connect to iphone11 like before. the phone said it draw too much power!
but I did it many times before, and then I found out it only happened if I don't have iem connected when I connect
to iphone.
If you had issue with other phone, maybe this is the reason?

Another one on the list of what we still can't find out what it is, due to having a problem with cell phone charging.

 

[conspibro]

inmho changing volume is to slow and should be overlocked. When screensaver is on I have to switch pause/play button twice to make an effect so it should work for once even with screensaver.

Volume change is slow, if the button is held down for multiple level changes. There is a slight wait before volume starts to change (maybe a provision for some kind of secondary command/combo?). If it's for single-level changes (press-and-release), it seems to be fine.

It gets out of screensaver with one click of the Play button for me. Or are you referring to getting into the Settings screen?