[chaotic_angel]

Hi all!

I’m looking at one of these to replace my XD-05 basic to run my Sundara balanced.

Will I notice a difference?

Power of course - 4.4 gives more juice and you'll have more low impact

 

[rlanger]

Hi all!

I’m looking at one of these to replace my XD-05 basic to run my Sundara balanced.

Will I notice a difference?

It was way too long between the time that I sent back the Basic and got the BAL, so I can't really make a completely fair assessment.

I really enjoyed the Basic, and had I not had to return it, I probably would still have it today. I thought it sounded great with the Sundaras.

Having said that, I think the BAL sounds absolutely fantastic and I'm only running it single ended. But, I have upgraded the op amps to a pair of Muses02, which are a definite improvement over stock.

I do miss the convenience of the Bass Boost on the Basic, although bass certainly is not lacking with the BAL. I do EQ with Innerfidelity's APO settings though.

 

[chaotic_angel]

It was way too long between the time that I sent back the Basic and got the BAL, so I can't really make a completely fair assessment.

I really enjoyed the Basic, and had I not had to return it, I probably would still have it today. I thought it sounded great with the Sundaras.

Having said that, I think the BAL sounds absolutely fantastic and I'm only running it single ended. But, I have upgraded the op amps to a pair of Muses02, which are a definite improvement over stock.

I do miss the convenience of the Bass Boost on the Basic, although bass certainly is not lacking with the BAL. I do EQ with Innerfidelity's APO settings though.

on Muses02 what sound difference you found?

 

[rlanger]

on Muses02 what sound difference you found?

From what I remember, slightly increased soundstage and more well-defined instrument separation.

 

[rlanger]

Hi all!

I’m looking at one of these to replace my XD-05 basic to run my Sundara balanced.

Will I notice a difference?

One benefit I forgot to mention over the Basic, and it's been a huge one for me, is way more precise volume control.

With the Basic, there was absolutely no headroom and a miniscule turn of the knob often resulted in too big an increase in volume for me. I found it really tough to home in on my preferred volume.

Not so with the BAL. Volume increases require significantly more rotation of the knob so it's much easier to reach the desired volume.

 

[chaotic_angel]

Hi, anyone ever comparing between USB versus AES connection? which one is more superior in sound?

 

[slex]

Hi, anyone ever comparing between USB versus AES connection? which one is more superior in sound?

I cant think of any other portable battery operated digital transport with mini AES except thier own xDuoo X10T ll which I think is dated ( 256GB MicroSD). Hopefully xDuoo will update with a newer version that matches xDuoo Bal's performance.

 

[Rebeltrousers]

Well I took the plunge. I’ll let you know in a week how well it runs the Sundara!

 

[rlanger]

Well I took the plunge. I’ll let you know in a week how well it runs the Sundara!

I haven't personally seen any evidence of burn-in for audio gear, so I tend to discount claims.

But, I can tell you that after having used this amp for more than 100 hours now, I've become even happier with the overall sound presentation.

Could certainly just be my imagination, but regardless, these past few days have been incredibly fun listening to my library.

Looking forward to your observations. I'm surprised that this amp isn't getting a bit more attention so it will be interesting to hear if anyone has any complaints about it. I certainly don't.

 

[cbellevie]

I haven't personally seen any evidence of burn-in for audio gear, so I tend to discount claims.

But, I can tell you that after having used this amp for more than 100 hours now, I've become even happier with the overall sound presentation.

Could certainly just be my imagination, but regardless, these past few days have been incredibly fun listening to my library.

Looking forward to your observations. I'm surprised that this amp isn't getting a bit more attention so it will be interesting to hear if anyone has any complaints about it. I certainly don't.

I'm surprised seemingly not getting much attention either. I am still using the factory op amps with Sundara on a balanced cable and love this. I've also put in more than 100 hours and while I am not sure I believe there is any burn in improvement, I do know that I have only grown more fond of the XD-05 Bal. Only thing I wish I really wish I could change is swap out the AES for another line in/out, so could have an in and out at the same time, as I have a use for that and no use for AES.

My V4i-D op amps I ordered a month ago look like they may actually get delivered this week and really excited to see how it sounds after I make the swap.

 

[cbellevie]

If you get V4i-D which is taller then V5i-D. You need to push the legs of V4i-D further downwards to enable to close the cover of Xduoo Balanced.

Wow, you were not kidding about needing to really push those down I was genuinely afraid I was going to break something and was ready to give up and take the loss, when I managed to finally get them down far enough to close the case. Not noticing a huge difference on first album, but looking forward to trying a variety of albums this afternoon.

 

[slex]

Wow, you were not kidding about needing to really push those down I was genuinely afraid I was going to break something and was ready to give up and take the loss, when I managed to finally get them down far enough to close the case. Not noticing a huge difference on first album, but looking forward to trying a variety of albums this afternoon.

It needed around 2 weeks to burn in those opamps from my end.

 

[gadgetgod]

Hello friends,

Any impressions with XD05 Bal please?? I am planning to get one. I have Shanling M3X as my music source/DAP, I will be pairing it mostly with it only. My main headsets will be HD600, Unique Melody Mirage, BQEYZ Summer, and maybe Kinera Norn.

Please advice.

 

[slex]

Hello friends,

Any impressions with XD05 Bal please?? I am planning to get one. I have Shanling M3X as my music source/DAP, I will be pairing it mostly with it only. My main headsets will be HD600, Unique Melody Mirage, BQEYZ Summer, and maybe Kinera Norn.

Please advice.

Im using M3X as default source for Xbal. Tidal app direct seems to work better then UAPP( Tidal) now. Key to having a good SQ is the opamps for Xbal.

 

[gadgetgod]

Im using M3X as default source for Xbal. Tidal app direct seems to work better then UAPP( Tidal) now. Key to having a good SQ is the opamps for Xbal.

So you switched the stock opamps?