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

[RIGATIO]

Received the Alpha today and trying it with Ananda Nano EQ'd.
Overall it sounds perfect to me- i dont care much about DACs as most of them sound similar to me and ive had some flagship daps like AK sp1000, Shanling M8, M9, IBasso dx320, Elite dongle and many more. Sure i can hear that the Alpha lacks a bit of clarity and holography in comparison but thats not a problem for me as my headphones are responsible for at least 90-95% of the sound. Since i moved to open back planar over ears, the amp section is way more important to me, especially when using EQ and negative preamp gain.
Here the Alpha delivers in spades. The bass is punchy and makes headphones shacking on my head.
Still experimenting with firmwares as i think i can hear some difference between the first and last one.
With the Nano, i think that the last firmware gives a bit more neutral and linear sound and a more spacious (especially in width) soundstage. The first firmware was bit more closed in and warmer. Also the bass was bit too much to my liking.

 

[smegel]

Received the Alpha today and trying it with Ananda Nano EQ'd.
Overall it sounds perfect to me- i dont care much about DACs as most of them sound similar to me and ive had some flagship daps like AK sp1000, Shanling M8, M9, IBasso dx320, Elite dongle and many more. Sure i can hear that the Alpha lacks a bit of clarity and holography in comparison but thats not a problem for me as my headphones are responsible for at least 90-95% of the sound. Since i moved to open back planar over ears, the amp section is way more important to me, especially when using EQ and negative preamp gain.
Here the Alpha delivers in spades. The bass is punchy and makes headphones shacking on my head.
Still experimenting with firmwares as i think i can hear some difference between the first and last one.
With the Nano, i think that the last firmware gives a bit more neutral and linear sound and a more spacious (especially in width) soundstage. The first firmware was bit more closed in and warmer. Also the bass was bit too much to my liking.

I think you're the first person to say that there was too much bass.

I guess it boils down to what headphones you're pairing the DAC with.

 

[RIGATIO]

I think you're the first person to say that there was too much bass.

I guess it boils down to what headphones you're pairing the DAC with.

Please read carefully- i mentioned that i EQ my headphones. So with the same EQ profile the bass was bit too boomy and overwhelming with the first FW.

 

[smegel]

Please read carefully- i mentioned that i EQ my headphones. So with the same EQ profile the bass was bit too boomy and overwhelming with the first FW.

No, I got that.
I'm used to my Dita Project Ms where I had to boost a bass a little bit.
That's why I said I guess it boiled down to the pairing of the headphones.

 

[Shanling]

Does anyone use this amp with an iPhone 14 Pro?

It works with a USB cable (it came with and other USB-C) with my iPad Air (M1) but it doesn't with my iPhone 14 Pro (lightning), using the official Apple charging cable or 3rd party cable. The dac doesn't light up when plugged in. Does the iPhone not supplying enough power?

For use with Lightning device, you need cable that's designed for use with USB DACs. Your basic Lightning to USB cable will not work.

We sell such cable, called Shanling L3.
There are also options for this from other manufacturers.

 

[Vartan]

Can we see PCB pics of Onix Alpha?

 

[raymondlin]

For use with Lightning device, you need cable that's designed for use with USB DACs. Your basic Lightning to USB cable will not work.

We sell such cable, called Shanling L3.
There are also options for this from other manufacturers.

Thanks

Is it this one? TC- LT?

SHANLING L3 Neotech Pure Silver Audio Cable Type-C/Lightning to Type-C Interface for UA3 UA5 DAC iOS Android
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ezej8pi

 

[Shanling]

Thanks

Is it this one? TC- LT?

SHANLING L3 Neotech Pure Silver Audio Cable Type-C/Lightning to Type-C Interface for UA3 UA5 DAC iOS Android
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ezej8pi

Yes, L3 USB-C to Lightning.

If you are in USA, we recommend shopping at our official Amazon, instead of 3rd party sellers on Aliexpress:
https://www.amazon.com/SHANLING-L3-Adapter-Headphone-Amplifiers/dp/B0BN1VZHXT/ref=sr_1_1

 

[raymondlin]

Yes, L3 USB-C to Lightning.

If you are in USA, we recommend shopping at our official Amazon, instead of 3rd party sellers on Aliexpress:
https://www.amazon.com/SHANLING-L3-Adapter-Headphone-Amplifiers/dp/B0BN1VZHXT/ref=sr_1_1

I am in the UK.

 

[JayNetTech5]

Lately my audio will randomly stop working, like it'll show the player playing back just fine, whether it's a video or audio file, but I'll have no sound coming through the headphones as if it's muted, yet it's showing that it's playing back, not paused or anything, volume sliders set and everything. I have to wait a little bit while all opened players are not "playing sound", then change the video or song, or do a page refresh/reboot or something, but sometimes, I have to end all of the audio/video processes and just sit and wait, then restart the player and/or video window. Once it messes up on one video or audio player, all players opened have no sound when playback is resumed, Spotify, Groove, Chrome, etc, whatever is open at the time, it's just showing that it's playing normally but no sound is coming through.

Basically what happens is, if all audio is paused and not playing on any player, and I decide to switch to the next video or song, such as changing videos/streams, refreshing the pages with media playing, moving the player progress bar to a different timestamp, or changing tracks, there will no longer be sound from all the system's audio, so the problem seems to occur when no audio is playing simultaneously, and there's a new start to the audio playback. What I usually have to do is wait a little bit, usually seconds to minutes, pause everything, and just restart the page for one of the video or song player windows opened as long as all players opened are paused, since it won't fix if there're two players open and playing back at once, and only can be refreshed with the volume slider unmuted but the other player has to be paused, so not sure what's going on. I can't watch a live stream for example, or video while playing a song in the background at the same time without this issue eventually popping up, or sometimes what will happen, is it'll start developing a crackling sound from both the browser video and song audio simultaneously, affecting the audio quality of both players, until the browser window is closed, but when this happened just tonight, the no sound issue happened shortly after. One other temporary fix I found out is changing the sample rate and bit-depth, which fixes the problem despite all audio playing at once, and everything has sound again without having to end my media players, or having to wait until it fixes itself.

I reinstalled the ONIX driver, and I don't know when this issue cropped up, but it seems to have happened within the last week or so, and there hasn't been any major windows 10 update shown in my update history since.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Thanks

Is it this one? TC- LT?

SHANLING L3 Neotech Pure Silver Audio Cable Type-C/Lightning to Type-C Interface for UA3 UA5 DAC iOS Android
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ezej8pi

I bought this. One of my favorite interconnects. It's thin, but it's quite effective, synergizes well, and it's good sonically too.

Lately my audio will randomly stop working, like it'll show the player playing back just fine, whether it's a video or audio file, but I'll have no sound coming through the headphones as if it's muted, yet it's showing that it's playing back, not paused or anything, volume sliders set and everything. I have to wait a little bit while all opened players are not "playing sound", then change the video or song, or do a page refresh/reboot or something, but sometimes, I have to end all of the audio/video processes and just sit and wait, then restart the player and/or video window. Once it messes up on one video or audio player, all players opened have no sound when playback is resumed, Spotify, Groove, Chrome, etc, whatever is open at the time, it's just showing that it's playing normally but no sound is coming through.

Basically what happens is, if all audio is paused and not playing on any player, and I decide to switch to the next video or song, such as changing videos/streams, refreshing the pages with media playing, moving the player progress bar to a different timestamp, or changing tracks, there will no longer be sound from all the system's audio, so the problem seems to occur when no audio is playing simultaneously, and there's a new start to the audio playback. What I usually have to do is wait a little bit, usually seconds to minutes, pause everything, and just restart the page for one of the video or song player windows opened as long as all players opened are paused, since it won't fix if there're two players open and playing back at once, and only can be refreshed with the volume slider unmuted but the other player has to be paused, so not sure what's going on. I can't watch a live stream for example, or video while playing a song in the background at the same time without this issue eventually popping up, or sometimes what will happen, is it'll start developing a crackling sound from both the browser video and song audio simultaneously, affecting the audio quality of both players, until the browser window is closed, but when this happened just tonight, the no sound issue happened shortly after. One other temporary fix I found out is changing the sample rate and bit-depth, which fixes the problem despite all audio playing at once, and everything has sound again without having to end my media players, or having to wait until it fixes itself.

I reinstalled the ONIX driver, and I don't know when this issue cropped up, but it seems to have happened within the last week or so, and there hasn't been any major windows 10 update shown in my update history since.

Sounds like it's time to upgrade to the DCE?

 

[smegel]

I bought this. One of my favorite interconnects. It's thin, but it's quite effective, synergizes well, and it's good sonically too.

Sounds like it's time to upgrade to the DCE?

If you're going to upgrade go for the xduoo XD05 Pro.
Ok so its 8X the price... but you get to play w DACs and Op Amps.

Larger? Sure, but it sounds like you're using it w your PC so being 'transportable' works well enough.

That said... I'd take a look at the capabilities of the dongle dacs and try to keep some of the same levels.
I mean some will argue that 384kHz sampling rate at 24bits is good enough.
Going to 768 / 32 which is what the Onix does is 'overkill'.

That said... the DC Elite is definitely a good choice, but again, there are other ones out there.

Or go w a DAP instead w bluetooth and a battery.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

If you're going to upgrade go for the xduoo XD05 Pro.
Ok so its 8X the price... but you get to play w DACs and Op Amps.

Larger? Sure, but it sounds like you're using it w your PC so being 'transportable' works well enough.

That said... I'd take a look at the capabilities of the dongle dacs and try to keep some of the same levels.
I mean some will argue that 384kHz sampling rate at 24bits is good enough.
Going to 768 / 32 which is what the Onix does is 'overkill'.

That said... the DC Elite is definitely a good choice, but again, there are other ones out there.

Or go w a DAP instead w bluetooth and a battery.

Looks like the XD05 Pro is an r2r DAC amp! That's sweet! The XD05T is the tube amp, and I want one. I'm a TOOB enthusiast.

 

[smegel]

Looks like the XD05 Pro is an r2r DAC amp! That's sweet! The XD05T is the tube amp, and I want one. I'm a TOOB enthusiast.

The XD05 Pro allows you to switch DACs. The R2R dac board isn't out yet. They have ESS, AKM and Rohm dac boards where the reviews are saying Rohm is the best. You can also switch the opamps too... depending on size. The tube amp seems cool but they supposedly can get warm to the touch... although they get good reviews.

 

[JayNetTech5]

Lately my audio will randomly stop working, like it'll show the player playing back just fine, whether it's a video or audio file, but I'll have no sound coming through the headphones as if it's muted, yet it's showing that it's playing back, not paused or anything, volume sliders set and everything. I have to wait a little bit while all opened players are not "playing sound", then change the video or song, or do a page refresh/reboot or something, but sometimes, I have to end all of the audio/video processes and just sit and wait, then restart the player and/or video window. Once it messes up on one video or audio player, all players opened have no sound when playback is resumed, Spotify, Groove, Chrome, etc, whatever is open at the time, it's just showing that it's playing normally but no sound is coming through.

Basically what happens is, if all audio is paused and not playing on any player, and I decide to switch to the next video or song, such as changing videos/streams, refreshing the pages with media playing, moving the player progress bar to a different timestamp, or changing tracks, there will no longer be sound from all the system's audio, so the problem seems to occur when no audio is playing simultaneously, and there's a new start to the audio playback. What I usually have to do is wait a little bit, usually seconds to minutes, pause everything, and just restart the page for one of the video or song player windows opened as long as all players opened are paused, since it won't fix if there're two players open and playing back at once, and only can be refreshed with the volume slider unmuted but the other player has to be paused, so not sure what's going on. I can't watch a live stream for example, or video while playing a song in the background at the same time without this issue eventually popping up, or sometimes what will happen, is it'll start developing a crackling sound from both the browser video and song audio simultaneously, affecting the audio quality of both players, until the browser window is closed, but when this happened just tonight, the no sound issue happened shortly after. One other temporary fix I found out is changing the sample rate and bit-depth, which fixes the problem despite all audio playing at once, and everything has sound again without having to end my media players, or having to wait until it fixes itself.

I reinstalled the ONIX driver, and I don't know when this issue cropped up, but it seems to have happened within the last week or so, and there hasn't been any major windows 10 update shown in my update history since.

Another thing that I've noticed, is that while this issue is occurring, some videos from certain sites won't load, or they'll just straight up turn into a stop motion until the sound comes back on, basically, videos from say YouTube, or Kick will become erratic, but if I unplug/replug the dac into the usb port, the the video will resume playing as it should along with audio.

I'm going to uninstall the last windows update, and see if it fixes the issue.