[jms74]

  I just compared and the drivers on the CD that came with my XD-05 and the drivers on the Japanese website are the same bit by bit. Here is the link again:
 
http://www.xduoo.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/TUSB_v3340.zip
 
Please don't ask again. These are what you call "original" drivers. They are signed and work well on my Windows 10.

Thanks

 

[mliw]

out of curiousity, what exactly causes the 'click' in the xd-05 when music stops/starts playing?

 

[Holypal]

  out of curiousity, what exactly causes the 'click' in the xd-05 when music stops/starts playing?

 
When music stops, the DAC will power off in 5 secs, to save power. And the 'click' sound happens. When music starts, the DAC boot again and another 'click' sound.  So just don't stop playing music.

 

[RedTwilight]

Just wondering, is everyone able to keep the XD05 charging and playing? Mine cuts off sound with an abrupt buzz when the battery is full.

 

[ZGojira]

  Just wondering, is everyone able to keep the XD05 charging and playing? Mine cuts off sound with an abrupt buzz when the battery is full.

I don't have this problem...Mine charges and plays at the same time fine.

 
On a somewhat unrelated note, when I measured the HP output, the noise jumps by a significant amount when charging and playing at the same time...

 

[timorinolee]

I cant seem to play while charging. Thought it was a defect or something. 

 

[RedTwilight]

 
I don't have this problem...Mine charges and plays at the same time fine.

 
On a somewhat unrelated note, when I measured the HP output, the noise jumps by a significant amount when charging and playing at the same time...

 
Hm did you do the grounding pin mod? I haven't yet, wonder if it's a ground-related issue.

 

[ZGojira]

   
Hm did you do the grounding pin mod? I haven't yet, wonder if it's a ground-related issue.

 
Nope...I haven't done the grounding pin mod...

It gets mentioned so much, maybe I should consider doing it sometime

 

[rha61]

  out of curiousity, what exactly causes the 'click' in the xd-05 when music stops/starts playing?
 

 
the click comes from a safety relay with time delay at the output stage

 

[ahmadfaizadnan]

Just wondering, is everyone able to keep the XD05 charging and playing? Mine cuts off sound with an abrupt buzz when the battery is full.

I don't have any issue with that. Works fine but had an issue with the driver before but solved it anyway.

 

[nplateau]

I was wondering if anyone here had a schematic for the PCB board of the XD-05.  I'm thinking about changing out some of the capacitors and would like to have a diagram to follow to make sure I'm not screwing anything up.

 

[bitsnbytes]

Hey plateau

Burson got back, and suggested changing the caps--as you seem to be heading for. The caps are the four closest to the opamp.

No time now for me to tinker but let me know if the upgraded caps work for you. I'm enjoying middle gain at the moment. For now I can live with the gain limitation. It's still quite an improvement.

 

[Meowheng]

  Got my XD-05 a week ago, brought from eBay. There's not enough impressions/reviews of this nice "little" device on Head-fi

This is my first impressions post...so excuse any novice mistakes

 
I left the unit playing for 3 -4 days before some testing.
Hearing them for around 5 minutes a day during that period of time, the sound does get slightly better, and opens up a little.
 
Features:
Before diving on about the sound, I plan to use this as a DAC for my Android phone (Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro), running Android 6.0.
Using PlayerPro, works great, no configs or other installs. Just works!
 
I have tried all input methods except optical in, and all work great. No fuss.
On Windows 8.1, after installing drivers, you will need to select 24bit from the drivers if you want to use 24bit.
 
There seems to have been some comments on the USB data port. I just use any USB extension cable, and it seems to work just fine.
USB extension cables are easy to get, and as a bonus, you can just use any standard USB OTG cable without any other adapters or cables.
I see this as a great design decision!
 
Build Quality
Short version: Great! Amazing for the price! 
Long version: A very solid chuck of metal. Feels sturdy. Volume knob and switches feels very nice.
The entire exterior feels it's made of metal. I really like the design, the screen makes it look more expensive then it actually is.
 
Testing Genres:
I mainly listen to classical (piano and symphonies), 70 - 90s pop, and anime music.
So my impressions are valid ONLY for the listed genres. Your mileage will very for other genres...
 
Testing Method:
All tracks are play from a Fiio X5(first gen),  digital coax to the digital coax input of the XDuoo XD-05.
No upsampling, and PCM3(filter) was used. The filter was just the default selected one, and was not selected based on testing or preferences although I did give all 4 a try.
All headphones are tested on the lowest gain (left most position).
 
Testing Equipment:
DAC/Amp: Fiio X5, ASUS Essence One (stock non-Muse), Grace Design m920
Headphones: Audio Technica A700 (HM5 angled pleather pads), Denon D7000, Fostex X00 (E-MU Ebony + MH5 lamdskin angled pads), Sennheiser HD800 (early batch), STAX SR-009 (with 727A w/Feedback mod) from HP out, Sony XBA-4
 
How to read/interpret the impressions, and where I am testing from:
I am going to try put the XD-05 to where I think it belongs in the ocean of other stuff out there. This is not a headphone review, nor a full-on DAC/Amp review.
Just my impressions...I believe that to get a good impression of DAC/Amps, one should use the best headphones available to you and this is what I have done. Realistically, you are most likely not going to (primarily) use the XD-05 with HD800 or sr-009. At least I hope not, they deserve something much much better! 

But for testing purposes, they are revealing enough to find any issues, and anything less than perfect is going to stand out like a sore thumb, just consider them a more accurate tools for testing. 
 
In terms of subjective opinions, one can only compare it to things that that have heard before. This will be different for everyone.
I prefer a detailed sound, some consider it a bright sound, but I personally do not agree with that statement

Lastly, everything I write is only MY PERSONAL opinion, you do not need to agree with anything...

 
Sound :
Here goes

 
Treble:
There is quite a bit of treble roll of, making recording lose a bit of the "sparkle". 
On higher volumes, the really high trebles make a comeback and can cause a little sibilance on certain tracks.
There's not a lot, and headphone pairing comes into play on things like this. This is much less apparent on the X00 then the A700.
That said, it does not sound harsh.
 
Mids:
Not offensive is probably the best description I could give. It's not the fullest of sounds, but it's nice and smooth. The bass and treble roll off might give the impression of an emphasized mids. Basically, all the mids "are there" and seems pretty flat...
 
Bass:
Things get interesting here. There is some huge roll off towards the end of the spectrum...
I don't get any sub-bass attack with any of my headphones

And by sub-bass attack I am referring to the slam, increase in sound pressure, or the feeling of a hammer hitting your eardrums. I think some people refer to this as bass extension. But hopefully you get the idea.  Everything else is there, if a little recessed? The control is also rather loose, giving the impression of slightly swampy.
 
Detail:
I would not consider this to be a detailed sound, this is most apparent in the bass section where things seem to be a bit blurred. If this was a painting, the outlines are not clear...
I cannot find a way around this, detail is just not the XD-05's strong point.
 
Comparison with Fiio X5
Detail level is slightly lower then the the X5. However, things sound more engaging and fun on the XD-05 then on the X5.
I personally find the X5 lacking in power, the XD-05 has too much.  On the HD800, lowest gain, I cannot turn it over 12o'clock.
This comes at the price of slight less control, which also helps making the music sound more engaging. 
Which you prefer is entirely up to your preference, I consider them close enough in terms of sound that either sounds good

 
Other Stuff:
 
Bass Boost:
I was somewhat disappointed since it did not give me any sub-bass, but it did increase everything from lower-mids downwards on what it already had.
 
Filters:
There are some very slight differences between them. I don't think it will suddenly make you hate it or love it if you don't already.
 
Up-sampling:
Similar to filters, I didn't notice any major changes.
I have heard some changes on other devices. Likely the analog section of a device this price is not going to be transparent enough to show much differences.
 
Line-Out:
I have not tested the line out of the unit to see how much the amp is contributing to the sound.
 
Gain:
I must admit I am somewhat confused about the gain switch.
There are three levels. The difference between the left most and the middle position appears to be minimal.
 
Conclusion:
The most important questions first:

 
Do I like the XD-05? Yes
Do I think it's worth the price? Yes
Does it pair well with the HD800? No. (There's no longer version of this answer

, if you are limited to this price point you'll have to keep hunting)
Going be sound alone, how much would I think the device is worth? somewhere between $150 - $200 (USD)
Would I recommend others to get it ? Yes
 
Overall, the XD-05 is the kind of DAC/Amp I would use to just enjoy music with. It does not make a big fuss about flaws in the recording, and everything I tested it with sounds inoffensive and smooth. Great for some background music listening and occasional critical listening. Sounds a lot better then the headphone out on my phone. I find it to be an n shaped DAC/Amp, whether you like it or not is up to your personal preference.  At it's current price point, it is packed with features with relatively little compromise. I think it sounds better then other devices in a similar price range.
 
Some recommendations/comments:
Pair it with a slightly warmer/brassier headphone will give better results.
Brighter headphones might sound slightly thin depending on what else you have heard.
 
Stating the obvious: it'll drive headphones the level of the X00 to a satisfactory sound quality.
Anything under, you'd likely enjoy and not notice much issues.
Anything over, the XD-05 will be a serious limiting factor, you will start to notice things missing, and the lack of control, detail and sub-bass will start to worry you once you have something to compare it with

 
Shop around, prices very.
 
The bad:
Too much power? For me, the volume is almost always too loud

But on the bright side I have not noticed any channel imbalance.
On higher gain, the sound signature seems to get more n-shaped. i.e. only the mids seems to get louder with everything else staying about the same...
Not the most detailed. Bass can be more controlled. (see "What happens after?"

)
 
The good:
Everything else?

 
What happens after?
My Burson v5i arrived today, and I have just put it in.  It was very easy, however, I did have to slightly bend the caps slightly outwards for the opamp to fit.
Initial impressions are very positive! Does not seem to fix the roll-off issues, but detail and control has improved dramatically.

 
Hi there,
 
Can you share with me where did you get your X5 coaxial cable and Burson V5i opamp?
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[alpovs]

   
Hi there,
 
Can you share with me where did you get your X5 coaxial cable and Burson V5i opamp?
 
Thanks in advance.

https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/supreme-sound-opamp-v5i/
 
The order form is at the bottom of the page.

 

[Meowheng]

 
https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/supreme-sound-opamp-v5i/
 
The order form is at the bottom of the page.

 
 
Thanks man!