[Nikita507]

There is another strange behavior, a buzzing noise with some power supplies (mean well 12v, samsung 45w) which disappears as soon as you touch the xd05. There is no grounding in my house.
I'm not an electronics engineer, but perhaps they connected the internal ground to the chassis.
Maybe even both problems are related.

 

[gmalik]

M

There is another strange behavior, a buzzing noise with some power supplies (mean well 12v, samsung 45w) which disappears as soon as you touch the xd05. There is no grounding in my house.
I'm not an electronics engineer, but perhaps they connected the internal ground to the chassis.
Maybe even both problems are related.

It's good news that you found it. Do you think there is no solution to the floor noise?

 

[Bengkia369]

I'm using this grounding block, no issues with noise or whatever. Very clean sound.

 

[gmalik]

I'm using this grounding block, no issues with noise or whatever. Very clean sound.

do you also have a noise floor?

 

[helloh3adfi]

Do I need to buy some sort of extension card if I want to use dual Sparkos SS3602 opamps?

 

[Bengkia369]

I'm using this grounding block, no issues with noise or whatever. Very clean sound.

do you also have a noise floor?

I don't have noise floor issues. With this Rocoon UFO grounding block, the sound is even darker & bass seems to have a little more impact.

 

[nioh]

But you are right that it is not the DAC that is responsible for MQA decoding.

It is usually entrusted to a specific chip called 'XMOS 16X'.

Are you sure about this ?

According to my knowledge, XMOS is just a high speed microcontroller used for processing the input data and other things. It does not provide any decoding capabilities.

Xduoo might have added MQA decoding support into the OS running on the XMOS chip. However I find it strange that MQA support is not mentioned anywhere in the specification. If they paid for the MQA license, sure they would specify it somewhere ? Weird.

Anyways looks like the SPDIF in the XD05Pro is not handled by the XMOS controller and thus does not support MQA. Then yes you are right. The MQA decoding is implemented in the XMOS firmware.

 

[Ben86]

This is my easy way to use the new Burson V7C dual opamp with "Douk U3" (20 Volts powered) mini amplifier connected to XD05PRO 6.3 out. I ordered only one unit of this dual V7C opamp to try for sound signature in combination with XD05PRO and with my other gear. I'm just in love with the sound of this opamp. Sounds extremely musical, with very detailed and natural timbre of vocals and instruments, great separation and 0 fatigue. I'm lost in music for hours with albums of Katie Melua, Norah Jones, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, Adele, Shelby Lynne, Halie Loren, Carla Bruni, Sophie Zelmani and other similar artists...a perfect match for my HD650, timbre became extremely sweet and musical, reminds me a lot of vinyl/tube sound signature, but with better clarity. Maybe I will order one more unit of this V7C dual opamp to try inside my XD05PRO (with mini PCI-E opamp board adapter). This opamp is a heaven to my ears with Vocal, Jazz, Classical and other similar music, which I'm listening for the most. Not so great with electronic, metal, rock and pop, as it has some kind of relaxed, romantic, easy going and emotional sound nature. You will not get extreme dynamics, punch and bite with this opamp, but you will get pure joy and bliss to your ears with the right type of music I'm also thinking to try V7V or SS2590 opamps for metal, rock, electronic music. Just not yet sure which one to choose

 

[CharlyBrown]

I've been using the XD05 Pro for some months now and I really like it for its power and transportability. I use it at home at my desk, chair etc.

The only thing, I think its a little "too neutral" for my taste. Quite honestly, maybe only psycho acoustics, but when I switch from my SP3000 to the Xduoo, I think the XD lacks "emotion" a little bit. Does this make sense or is it just expectation bias? I’m not sure, but I essentially cannot use my HD800s with the XD, while I love it with the SP3000.

I know many owners think that the Sparkos change the sound audibly. Is this really a thing? I have zero experience here but when googling ASR (yes, I know, many dislike the science guys around here…) they say that different OpAmps cannot change anything you hear.

But if it does change the sound sig a little bit, I would be intrigued to try them.

Thoughts?

(Edit) on the other hand, neutrality is positive for me e.g. with the Annihilators, because they are already warm enough. Still I think the XD delivers a little less treble „sparkle“ than the SP3000.

 

[Ben86]

Deleted

 

[nioh]

I've been using the XD05 Pro for some months now and I really like it for its power and transportability. I use it at home at my desk, chair etc.

The only thing, I think its a little "too neutral" for my taste. Quite honestly, maybe only psycho acoustics, but when I switch from my SP3000 to the Xduoo, I think the XD lacks "emotion" a little bit. Does this make sense or is it just expectation bias? I’m not sure, but I essentially cannot use my HD800s with the XD, while I love it with the SP3000.

I know many owners think that the Sparkos change the sound audibly. Is this really a thing? I have zero experience here but when googling ASR (yes, I know, many dislike the science guys around here…) they say that different OpAmps cannot change anything you hear.

But if it does change the sound sig a little bit, I would be intrigued to try them.

Thoughts?

(Edit) on the other hand, neutrality is positive for me e.g. with the Annihilators, because they are already warm enough. Still I think the XD delivers a little less treble „sparkle“ than the SP3000.

Different op-amps do change the sound of the XD05Pro. People have tried various op-amps here and you can find the different impressions by reading the comments.

If you don’t like the neutral sound of the stock DAC, you can also try changing to the AKM DAC which I believe offers a warmer sound. Perhaps owners of AKM DAC can comment on that more.

 

[Ben86]

I've been using the XD05 Pro for some months now and I really like it for its power and transportability. I use it at home at my desk, chair etc.

The only thing, I think its a little "too neutral" for my taste. Quite honestly, maybe only psycho acoustics, but when I switch from my SP3000 to the Xduoo, I think the XD lacks "emotion" a little bit. Does this make sense or is it just expectation bias? I’m not sure, but I essentially cannot use my HD800s with the XD, while I love it with the SP3000.

I know many owners think that the Sparkos change the sound audibly. Is this really a thing? I have zero experience here but when googling ASR (yes, I know, many dislike the science guys around here…) they say that different OpAmps cannot change anything you hear.

But if it does change the sound sig a little bit, I would be intrigued to try them.

Thoughts?

(Edit) on the other hand, neutrality is positive for me e.g. with the Annihilators, because they are already warm enough. Still I think the XD delivers a little less treble „sparkle“ than the SP3000.

In my experience different top class OP-AMPS influences sound signature in a similar way as the top class DACs. You can make sound signature a bit more sharp or warm, dynamic or relaxed, musical or analytical and etc...and that is great, because everyone can tune the overall sound signature to its preference. In my experience cheap op-amps may sound very similar, with the very minor differences in overall sound presentation, but when you try high-price discrete op-amps - these differences are quite obvious.

 

[Ben86]

Different op-amps do change the sound of the XD05Pro. People have tried various op-amps here and you can find the different impressions by reading the comments.

If you don’t like the neutral sound of the stock DAC, you can also try changing to the AKM DAC which I believe offers a warmer sound. Perhaps owners of AKM DAC can comment on that more.

Absolutely agree here.

 

[Ferdinando1968]

Different op-amps do change the sound of the XD05Pro. People have tried various op-amps here and you can find the different impressions by reading the comments.

If you don’t like the neutral sound of the stock DAC, you can also try changing to the AKM DAC which I believe offers a warmer sound. Perhaps owners of AKM DAC can comment on that more.

No, I'm not sure if XDUOO used XMOS specifically.
I'm sure that IFI uses it for example for the purpose.

And, yes, I imagine the decoding software 'runs' on some dedicated processor.

Regarding the specifications, MQA is mentioned, in a small way (maybe they are ashamed ):

https://xduoo.net/product/xd05-pro/

 

[CharlyBrown]

Different op-amps do change the sound of the XD05Pro. People have tried various op-amps here and you can find the different impressions by reading the comments.

If you don’t like the neutral sound of the stock DAC, you can also try changing to the AKM DAC which I believe offers a warmer sound. Perhaps owners of AKM DAC can comment on that more.

Thanks and I forgot to mention that I want to purchase the upcoming R2R DAC. My SP3000 already uses the AKM chipset so I will skip this for the XD.

So I will try the Sparkos as they seem to fit into the housing.

In my experience different top class OP-AMPS influences sound signature in a similar way as the top class DACs. You can make sound signature a bit more sharp or warm, dynamic or relaxed, musical or analytical and etc...and that is great, because everyone can tune the overall sound signature to its preference. In my experience cheap op-amps may sound very similar, with the very minor differences in overall sound presentation, but when you try high-price discrete op-amps - these differences are quite obvious.

Do you guys know where (and what exactly, quantities etc.) I need to buy to try the Sparkos out? I read good things about this one so I will try it first. Preferably Germany / EU. Thanks!