Pioneer's First Portable Amp XPA-700

[rhull1973]

Surprised there isn't more buzz about this amp. Great sounding and a ton of features. Very reasonable cost also. Granted only available in Japan, but easy to find online.

 

[talan7]

Not sure what the changes are. Mine was on 1.0.1. Updated easily using the OS X updater.

Its all in Japanese or chinese. What do I do to get it on the xpa700?

 

[rhull1973]

http://pioneer-audiovisual.com/support/av_pc/compo/pha/xpa-700/firmware/download/download.php

Click on the Windows or Mac installer. It will download. Launch it. Hit the button on the right to start. At the end there is a window that requires a button click.

 

[talan7]

http://pioneer-audiovisual.com/support/av_pc/compo/pha/xpa-700/firmware/download/download.php

Click on the Windows or Mac installer. It will download. Launch it. Hit the button on the right to start. At the end there is a window that requires a button click.

I did that. How do I get the firmware on the amp? Can I connect the amp to my Mac?

 

[rhull1973]

Yes connect it to your Mac and select usb as the input on the amp. You can check the current firmware version in system profiler on your Mac.

 

[faisal2003456]

Ok so I picked up the shure se846 and forza copper series cable balanced rosa/alo and it sounds awesome. I want to get some balanced cables for my flc8s

 
Does the balanced mode have more power? Or does it only ground each signal independently.

 

[talan7]

Does the balanced mode have more power? Or does it only ground each signal independently.

I don't think it has more power. It seems just as loud as before, just better.

 

[faisal2003456]

So my XPA-700 just arrived today. I'm still burning it in, but here are some notes:

• Build quality and feel are great.
• The volume knob does scratch a bit at 7 oclock, 3 oclock, and  5 oclock.
• No noticable channel imbalance.
• Extremely low noise. I'm talking a pitch black background
• Can drive the HD600 to decent levels, however the battery will drain faster than it can charge out of a usb port. I've been burning it in and it has been going for 4.5 hours out of a laptop USB.
• Absolutely NOT Android compatible. When I plug it into my S6 all the lights are lit and it cannot play back any sound. Updated the frimware and still no Android support.
• Up sampling makes no audible difference, however Lock Range and D. Filter both make noticeable differences (impressions to come later).
• The lack of auto detection of sources is somewhat inconvenient.
• I took the bumpers off as they make the SE headphone out (HP #2) hard to access.
• Mids may be recessed. Need to burn in more and compare with lower impedance headphones and other sources.
• Playing with charge on or off did not affect noise/sound quality.
• iOS playback is flawless, haven't tried DoP.
• Windows use requires a driver that doesn't self install. Get it off the website.

I'm waiting on my balanced cable to compare the SE and Balanced outs. I will not post audio impressions until I have the cables, as I suspect the SE out was not given as much attention to as the balanced out (given that the balanced out is labled HP 1).

Update: Android playback works through mini-usb on the rear of the device. Just make sure to set charge to off to conserve battery. You can use a usb-otg cable to achieve this. Furthermore you can use a y-cable to attach a powerbank.

This unlocks the full version of the Onkyo HF players where DsD over PCM (DOP) shows the correct 2.6/5.2 sample rate.

 

[rhull1973]

So my XPA-700 just arrived today. I'm still burning it in, but here are some notes:

1. Build quality and feel are great.
2. The volume knob does scratch a bit at 7 oclock, 3 oclock, and  5 oclock.
3. No noticable channel imbalance.
4. Extremely low noise. I'm talking a pitch black background
5. Can drive the HD600 to decent levels, however the battery will drain faster than it can charge out of a usb port. I've been burning it in and it has been going for 4.5 hours out of a laptop USB.
6. Absolutely NOT Android compatible. When I plug it into my S6 all the lights are lit and it cannot play back any sound. Updated the frimware and still no Android support.
7. Up sampling makes no audible difference, however Lock Range and D. Filter both make noticeable differences (impressions to come later).
8. The lack of auto detection of sources is somewhat inconvenient.
9. I took the bumpers off as they make the SE headphone out (HP #2) hard to access.
10. Mids may be recessed. Need to burn in more and compare with lower impedance headphones and other sources.
11. Playing with charge on or off did not affect noise/sound quality.
12. iOS playback is flawless, haven't tried DoP.
13. Windows use requires a driver that doesn't self install. Get it off the website.

I'm waiting on my balanced cable to compare the SE and Balanced outs. I will not post audio impressions until I have the cables, as I suspect the SE out was not given as much attention to as the balanced out (given that the balanced out is labled HP 1).


Update: Android playback works through mini-usb on the rear of the device. Just make sure to set charge to off to conserve battery. You can use a usb-otg cable to achieve this. Furthermore you can use a y-cable to attach a powerbank.


This unlocks the full version of the Onkyo HF players where DsD over PCM (DOP) shows the correct 2.6/5.2 sample rate.

Looking forward to your impressions!

 

[hychima0101]

Hi Faisal

Welcome to the club. Are you able to post a picture of the Y cable for our reference? I'm thinking of getting one for my XPA-700. For your info, it sounds beautiful in balanced. Thanks

 

[rhull1973]

Balanced mode is great. I ordered 2 custom cables from impact audio cables. Great quality and very fair prices. Can make balanced cables with the proper rsa connector for the Xpa-700.

Hi Faisal

Welcome to the club. Are you able to post a picture of the Y cable for our reference? I'm thinking of getting one for my XPA-700. For your info, it sounds beautiful in balanced. Thanks

 

[faisal2003456]

Deleted

 

[faisal2003456]

Hi Faisal

Welcome to the club. Are you able to post a picture of the Y cable for our reference? I'm thinking of getting one for my XPA-700. For your info, it sounds beautiful in balanced. Thanks

 
 
Something like this. Try searching for a "micro usb power hard drive cable" or "micro usb y cable."
 
 
 

Balanced mode is great. I ordered 2 custom cables from impact audio cables. Great quality and very fair prices. Can make balanced cables with the proper rsa connector for the Xpa-700.

 
The balanced mode does sound superior; even with limited a/b testing. The XLR cable I got for the HD600 was pretty ugly, so thanks for the recommendation.
 
Does anyone else think the mids sound a little recessed/soft on the unit?

 

[hychima0101]

Thanks much for the picture. I used multiple IEMs and Headphones in balanced mode with the XPA-700. All sound more airy and more 3D, in balanced mode versus single-ended. As for the mids, never found it to be recessed. In fact, my personal thoughts are that the sound signature is tilted towards warmish, and it's surprising because it's using a fairly analytical DAC, not known for being warm. Probably Pioneer did something to the amp stage. Anyway, enjoy your XPA-700

 

[ilcg1]

I have the xdp100r as source feeding into xpa700. I'm using se846 with forza copper series cable balanced. This setup can't be beat. Now I'm just waiting on tidal to start MQA.

Why would you need xpa700 for se846? Does it really sound better vs Pioneer dap alone on a single ended output? Also, how does it sound if you connect xpa700 directly to the phone on balanced vs pioneer dap and xpa700 on balanced? Thanks.

Pioneer on itself has a pretty good amp and dac that should be more that enough to to run BA IEM with low impendance. For the balanced you could've gotten Onkyo DP-x1 (pioneer's older brother).

I also have IEM and think to go balanced, however don't want to carry couple of devices. For me it's either iPhone + balanced amp or DAP with balanced output like Onkyo.