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

[CactusPete23]

Ok...
So you say its overheating.
Can you share your configuration?

What phone/source?
What are you driving? Headphones / IEMs? which ones?

Where did you buy?

Thx

-Mike

You can see my previous posts for more info. HIFIGO. Too hot to touch driving low power IEMs, both from phone (LG-G6, When it sometimes connected and worked); And from Windows 11 Lenovo Laptop. LOW gain, 3.5mm out, 40 to 60% volume level. It was very hot. Something must have shorted inside?. Shanling rep said it should never get very hot; and that I should return it to seller.
Also had clicking noise on left earpiece. Had the Same results with several different efficient IEMs.
Initially Phone did not connect or light up the XI1 all. Then worked with a splitter.. , Then only worked sometimes. Then got very HOT connected to PC; and Also same heat from Phone..., when it would randomly connect with or without splitter.

All this with under an hour of total listening time.

- Anyway Returned for refund. But see several other mention similar and different issues, like display not working right, etc. Seems like more issues than most rollouts to me. But I don't have any more data that what I read here. And My experience could be slanting my point of view....

 

[smegel]

You can see my previous posts for more info. HIFIGO. Too hot to touch driving low power IEMs, both from phone (LG-G6, When it sometimes connected and worked); And from Windows 11 Lenovo Laptop. LOW gain, 3.5mm out, 40 to 60% volume level. It was very hot. Something must have shorted inside?. Shanling rep said it should never get very hot; and that I should return it to seller.
Also had clicking noise on left earpiece. Had the Same results with several different efficient IEMs.
Initially Phone did not connect or light up the XI1 all. Then worked with a splitter.. , Then only worked sometimes. Then got very HOT connected to PC; and Also same heat from Phone..., when it would randomly connect with or without splitter.

All this with under an hour of total listening time.

- Anyway Returned for refund. But see several other mention similar and different issues, like display not working right, etc. Seems like more issues than most rollouts to me. But I don't have any more data that what I read here. And My experience could be slanting my point of view....

There were a couple of pages here.... I remember the posts about using a splitter....
But thanks for the response.

Its good that you returned it for a refund.

In terms of roll out... this is Onix's first foray into this space and price point.
From the 50 pages of posts... (please correct me if I missed something.)

1) First release had to be recalled to implement a firmware update. (IIRC that there was an initial Chinese release...?)
2) Not compatible w all devices. (Hence the USB-C issues. )
This was the most reported issue.
Couldn't get the device to either powerup or respond.

3) You reported over heating... not sure if anyone else.

4) Clicking sound, but disappeared w different cable or different connection.

5) Shutdown of interface unless re-seated and rebooted.

Did I get everything?

Now I want this device to work. Got great review from that crazy Cannuk, Tone Deaf Monk.
No US dealer... yet. I talked w both... I was told by one that there is a 30 unit minimum order quantity ...

Shanling at least has been responsive here.

So I guess I'll wait...

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

I still love mine pairing with a brighter source sounds amazing.

That bieng said I hope a solution can be found for the USB compatability issue some are having.
I Bought the iBasso CB19 Cable but funny enough only have to use it on the ONIX XM5.

 

[Shanling]

Now they released upgrade cable for Onix...
Onix OL1
https://hifigo.com/products/onix-alpha-ol1

This is same cable as Shanling L6. Normally these cables are only sold on Chinese market/Chinese sellers, not something we export much to international market.

It's a premium choice for users that want USB cable made from higher-quality materials for potential improvement in audio quality. It's mainly aimed at users of ONIX XP1, not the budget XI1.

It doesn't fix any issue, it works same as the stock cable.

If you need cable for Lighting, you can get the cheaper Shanling L3 cable.

So we need to buy new cable?? Oh no...that is not fair..

No, definitely do not "Need" it and nobody is even saying that.

 

[D1N0]

A lot of cross talk here. Someone posts something about a Cable a non official reseller is offering and immediately assumptions and critism galore

 

[D1N0]

You can see my previous posts for more info. HIFIGO. Too hot to touch driving low power IEMs, both from phone (LG-G6, When it sometimes connected and worked); And from Windows 11 Lenovo Laptop. LOW gain, 3.5mm out, 40 to 60% volume level. It was very hot. Something must have shorted inside?. Shanling rep said it should never get very hot; and that I should return it to seller.
Also had clicking noise on left earpiece. Had the Same results with several different efficient IEMs.
Initially Phone did not connect or light up the XI1 all. Then worked with a splitter.. , Then only worked sometimes. Then got very HOT connected to PC; and Also same heat from Phone..., when it would randomly connect with or without splitter.

All this with under an hour of total listening time.

- Anyway Returned for refund. But see several other mention similar and different issues, like display not working right, etc. Seems like more issues than most rollouts to me. But I don't have any more data that what I read here. And My experience could be slanting my point of view....

So did it get hot and click with the phone as well? Otherwise I would attribute that at least partly to the Laptop. The G6 is a 6 year old phone with Android 9. No surprise support is failing.

 

[Loy Kun]

Hi @Shanling , whats the specification of the OL1 cable?

Since you mentioned that it is the same as L6, I looked for L6's specifications instead and found nothing. It looks to me that OL1 it is marketed as an upgrade cable for the XI1 though, judging from the promotional pictures. I'm considering an OTG for XI 1 and this looks great but preferably wanna know the materials first.

 

[CactusPete23]

So did it get hot and click with the phone as well? Otherwise I would attribute that at least partly to the Laptop. The G6 is a 6 year old phone with Android 9. No surprise support is failing.

YES it got hot with the Phone too; (As I have stated 3 times in these threads.)
The LG-G6 meets their specified minimum Android 8 Standard. Surprise to me when a phone with Android 9 does not work with a device that is specified to need Android 8 minimum. And Sometimes it did work.. Sometimes not. Don't think this is a "phone only" issue. Never had any dongle DAC act this strangely. This is the first audio device that I have ever had to return because it failed in several ways...

 

[smegel]

So did it get hot and click with the phone as well? Otherwise I would attribute that at least partly to the Laptop. The G6 is a 6 year old phone with Android 9. No surprise support is failing.

And this is why I asked that when people complain about noise or issues, to provide some details about the setup.
I don't do Android... So I don't much about their hardware and phone options.

In terms of PCs, same problem. Lots of things can cause issues because of variations in the MB and their suppliers.

So far there have been some issues and only two seemed to be Onix related which could have been a bad unit.

 

[khtd]

YES it got hot with the Phone too

How hot does it gets? I also felt that the device was getting hot, so I measured it's temperature with an infrared thermometer - with ambient temperature of 32C, the device was 40C. While some of my other dongles are not even felt as hot, 40C is actually not "hot". For example, my CPU is running for many years 60-70C during the hot time of the year when idle, and it is still fine.

 

[smegel]

YES it got hot with the Phone too; (As I have stated 3 times in these threads.)
The LG-G6 meets their specified minimum Android 8 Standard. Surprise to me when a phone with Android 9 does not work with a device that is specified to need Android 8 minimum. And Sometimes it did work.. Sometimes not. Don't think this is a "phone only" issue. Never had any dongle DAC act this strangely. This is the first audio device that I have ever had to return because it failed in several ways...

I just did a quick look, and the lastest releases of Android are 14-15.
A 6yr old phone could have issues as well. Note that while you say you haven't had trouble... and I know that you already sent it back... did you try it on a friend's phone?
Also, same for the make/model of PC. (laptop/desktop)?

I'm not saying that you didn't get a bad device, but that there are a lot of moving parts here.

 

[BCAMPOS]

How much time does it needs to be playing to achieve optimum working temperature?

 

[Devarin]

Ok worked out a deal with the reseller and they will be sending me a new unit as the return shipping is prohibitively expensive for a return (would have cost about the same as the unit lol). Hopefully better luck the second time around! I’m still going to pick up a Schiit stack for home use so I don’t have to rely on the Onix at home but fingers crossed…

 

[Altes]

Hi @Shanling , whats the specification of the OL1 cable?

Since you mentioned that it is the same as L6, I looked for L6's specifications instead and found nothing. It looks to me that OL1 it is marketed as an upgrade cable for the XI1 though, judging from the promotional pictures. I'm considering an OTG for XI 1 and this looks great but preferably wanna know the materials first.

I saw on a Chinese website the OL1 is a silver-plated OFC cable. Personally, I would not get it for my XI1 and Shangling isn't recommending it either.

 

[ybbobserrot]

I just got my unit fresh from Japan today and so I'm off to the races to test this out on some iems and headphones. Initial impressions from a non-reviewer's POV, the hype is real and justified. Warm, syrupy, velvetty, chocolatey sound so far.

I hope I get none of those issues people in here are lamenting about. Fingers crossed!