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

[Ardis]

I am the happy owner of this wonderful dac.
I can confirm all the praise. I have not encountered any problems. Works perfectly on my Samsung m21.

About my experience. Initially, before the first connection to the PC, I installed the drivers downloaded from the off site. I listened to it, I liked the sound very much. But I noticed that the volume is clearly not 500 mW. It plays the same as my Fiio BTR5. I connected it to a Samsung m21 phone and was very impressed with the volume I got. It was two or even three times louder. Started looking for a reason why I was not getting the same amplification from my PC. I tried a dozen different cables, but nothing helped. I came up with the idea that the problem might be in the driver. Uninstalled it, rebooted the PC. And what was my surprise, without the official driver, on the default Windows 10 driver, the sound became as loud as on the phone. After reading the whole thread I didn't see anyone writing about this.

I would like to hear from the developer why the official driver underestimates the gain on PC?

P.S. Sorry for my English.

 

[smegel]

If it is for flatout performance in an unlimited fight for a portable device, RS6, RS8, Mojo, Hugo2, Kann Cube is my perferred listening device.

Hi, I just did a quick look at the Kann Cube.
I noticed that they have built in wi-fi but no BT.

Just out of curiosity... have you ever tried using it w your phone where your phone is a hotspot and you connect the Kann Cube to the phone via wi-fi?
(The idea is to use it as a wireless DAC) Would that even work? (In theory it should ) Looks like they list Tidal Masters but no Airplay2 or Spotify Connect?

Thx.

 

[Lépine]

I am the happy owner of this wonderful dac.
I can confirm all the praise. I have not encountered any problems. Works perfectly on my Samsung m21.

About my experience. Initially, before the first connection to the PC, I installed the drivers downloaded from the off site. I listened to it, I liked the sound very much. But I noticed that the volume is clearly not 500 mW. It plays the same as my Fiio BTR5. I connected it to a Samsung m21 phone and was very impressed with the volume I got. It was two or even three times louder. Started looking for a reason why I was not getting the same amplification from my PC. I tried a dozen different cables, but nothing helped. I came up with the idea that the problem might be in the driver. Uninstalled it, rebooted the PC. And what was my surprise, without the official driver, on the default Windows 10 driver, the sound became as loud as on the phone. After reading the whole thread I didn't see anyone writing about this.

I would like to hear from the developer why the official driver underestimates the gain on PC?

P.S. Sorry for my English.

Silly question, did you go into Windows and make sure that the interface you are connected with is set to 32bit - 96K or better with the system volumes all maxed out? If not, your music software maybe not giving you full resolution or volume. This even affects direct and kernal connections. I'm listening to the Kann again otherwise I would have shown you the settings for the ONIX. Same principle.

 

[Lépine]

Hi, I just did a quick look at the Kann Cube.
I noticed that they have built in wi-fi but no BT.

Just out of curiosity... have you ever tried using it w your phone where your phone is a hotspot and you connect the Kann Cube to the phone via wi-fi?
(The idea is to use it as a wireless DAC) Would that even work? (In theory it should ) Looks like they list Tidal Masters but no Airplay2 or Spotify Connect?

Thx.

The Cube is pretty old. There's far newer AK Kann models, I don't think you can even buy a Cube anymore except used. And no, it makes for a bad wireless endpoint.
The Cube is great for directly connected to a usb source.

 

[smegel]

The Cube is pretty old. There's far newer AK Kann models, I don't think you can even buy a Cube anymore except used. And no, it makes for a bad wireless endpoint.
The Cube is great for directly connected to a usb source.

Hmmm... It looks to be available on their web site, but good to know.
And it looks to be competitive to the Hugo2 in that its both portable (transportable) and can tie into a desktop stereo system.
(You could do this w the Alpha if you get a USB-C splitter device)

I'll have to check out some of the other models out... And I think Onix has a competing DAC/DAP in that price range too.

In terms of wi-fi... its on the 2.4 mHz which is lower power.

I'm surprised that it has wi-fi but is a bad endpoint.

Thx

 

[Ardis]

Silly question, did you go into Windows and make sure that the interface you are connected with is set to 32bit - 96K or better with the system volumes all maxed out? If not, your music software maybe not giving you full resolution or volume. This even affects direct and kernal connections. I'm listening to the Kann again otherwise I would have shown you the settings for the ONIX. Same principle.

Of course. I always set it to 32bit 384kHz. It has no effect on the gain. But it affects the presence or absence of installed official drivers. And it's also quite strange that it's officially claimed to support 768kHz, but even with the official drivers the maximum available is 384kHz.

 

[Lépine]

Of course. I always set it to 32bit 384kHz. It has no effect on the gain. But it affects the presence or absence of installed official drivers. And it's also quite strange that it's officially claimed to support 768kHz, but even with the official drivers the maximum available is 384kHz.

It's funny, I haven't tried on an android phone. My current phone is an Apple Iphone 12 Max Pro and it just doesn't have the power or the magic to make the ONIX sound as good as a bigger rig. I don't think any dongle sounds good on Apples due to the power limitations.

 

[Musicis]

Compared to my old ibasso D14 dac amp, it has its disadvantages and advantages.
Onix wins in bass, smoothness, intimate and warm
D14 wins in soundstage, treble, separation, fuller sound.
Overall paired with my HD650 I like the D14 better.

FYI I'm not an audiophile expert, just looking for a D14 upgrade

 

[Ardis]

It's funny, I haven't tried on an android phone. My current phone is an Apple Iphone 12 Max Pro and it just doesn't have the power or the magic to make the ONIX sound as good as a bigger rig. I don't think any dongle sounds good on Apples due to the power limitations.

It's not about magic, it's about the fact that without official drivers it started to play loud, at its fair 500mW, as it plays from my Samsung m21, on which no drivers need to be installed. And with drivers installed on the PC it played as loud as my Fiio BTR5, which has a power of 220mW.

 

[Lépine]

It's not about magic, it's about the fact that without official drivers it started to play loud, at its fair 500mW, as it plays from my Samsung m21, on which no drivers need to be installed. And with drivers installed on the PC it played as loud as my Fiio BTR5, which has a power of 220mW.

I understand, I think something is not set correctly in your computer. With my Windows 11 PC, I only need 30/100 for great listening volume with my Sony IER Z1R out of the balanced 4.4 port. I install no additional drivers and I am using JRiver MC 32 with the [Direct Sound] interface.

 

[Ardis]

I understand, I think something is not set correctly in your computer. With my Windows 11 PC, I only need 30/100 for great listening volume with my Sony IER Z1R out of the balanced 4.4 port. I install no additional drivers and I am using JRiver MC 32 with the [Direct Sound] interface.

In terms of sound settings, I'm pretty sure they are the same in both cases.

Need someone else who has a lower volume when running from the PC than when running from the phone to verify this.

It is important to restart the PC after uninstalling the official driver, because without a restart the "removed" driver continues to work.

 

[ybbobserrot]

Silly question, did you go into Windows and make sure that the interface you are connected with is set to 32bit - 96K or better with the system volumes all maxed out? If not, your music software maybe not giving you full resolution or volume. This even affects direct and kernal connections. I'm listening to the Kann again otherwise I would have shown you the settings for the ONIX. Same principle.

You know that the sound FORMAT can go up to 32bit, 384000 Hz, right?

 

[ybbobserrot]

anyone who using S22 Ultra as source have some problem like me?
sometimes Onix Alpha XL1 work perfectly but sometimes it won't work when connect XL1 then screen of XL1 was on but sound came out from S22 Ultra Speaker
and then I try to unplug XL1 and connect again it seem XL1 didn't work the screen didn't turn on I've to wait for 5-10 mins and connect again XL1 seem to work
but some won't work same problem screen on but sound came out from s22 ultra speaker.

That is odd. It's working pretty well with my S23 Ultra without any hiccups.

 

[Lépine]

You know that the sound FORMAT can go up to 32bit, 384000 Hz, right?

Lower sample rate less loss of sync changing from PCM to DSD files that causes the "White Noise"

 

[ybbobserrot]

Lower sample rate less loss of sync changing from PCM to DSD files that causes the "White Noise"

all my files are flac