Xduoo XD05T "Portable" Dac + Tube Amp

Dec 12, 2024 at 1:10 AM Post #121 of 151
Threw on the new Pula Anvil and it’s really a nice match! All my iems have been dead silent too. The XD05T
really is what I wanted from a tube/iem setup. Ben Folds new Christmas lp ‘Sleigher’ is a rock solid display of craft,
fun and seasonal finesse. It sounds great thru the XD05T. I’ve listened to this lp maybe 40+ times over the last several weeks
on cd/vinyl/M1+, attempting to untangle the numerous clever vocal plays weaved throughout this pleasing lp. It hasn’t grown
old yet & is highly recommended as good ‘seasonal stuff’. This warm green amp manages to sound like it looks.
Substantial, warm, inviting, surprisingly detailed, a tad rich, focused & transparent. Yes it’s ESS, but it’s good ESS.
It’s true to the recording leaving the ‘coloring portion’ in the chain to the headphones or iem. It’s never slow or veiled
but always enthusiastic, capable of parsing the musical intent. XD05T rocks quick reflexes and the agility to track musical threads
and dynamic shifts that can get smoothed over by some tube implementations. This thing hangs in there to deliver the entire
performance. Live recordings can have great tone and excitement. I’m not sure what the tubes being used are but they
remind me of the Russian Reflectors or early predecessors of the 6sn7s , the 6cg7 equivalent. I own some of those and have
used them in a Modwright Transporter in the past. Someone mentioned they knew what these are. Care to share?

Ahh, upon rereading it’s the 6n16b dual triode, never heard of it but it seems very nicely linear. Agreed it sounds really good on
strings/horns, perhaps vocals a bit hit or miss? It’s just such a rocker with its strong dynamic range. Totally agree about the
treble being a highlife. It’s got bite & extension like a mid century Amprex, this ain’t no Mullard… (-;
 
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Dec 12, 2024 at 11:14 AM Post #122 of 151
While researching compatible power supplies for the XD05T, my search engine's AI summary had the following info:
"Undocumented Feature (Rumor)

There is a rumor about an undocumented feature: using a 12V/3A USB-C power supply, TURBO mode allegedly delivers pure class A amplification (different from other gain modes or battery power). However, this has not been officially confirmed by xDuoo."

Anyone have any insight into this?
I have an iFi iPower X in 12V but it's only 2.5A. I think it would power the XD05T but not at the specs listed above.

However, I have a GaN USB-C power supply that CAN output 12v/3A but am unsure how quiet it would be compared with the iFi, or a linear PSY or the official power supply/fan made by xDuoo themselves.

Would be cool if the GaN PSU and a usb c cable was all I needed.
That sounds pretty cool. Please let us know. My 12v2a just shipped out from somewhere. I may pick up on the ‘rumor’ as the battery
life on the unit is pretty short. Those GaN devices seem to perform really well. I’ve the little Technics GX-70 and it’s a beast w.its eArc
being the heart of my video/audio setup. Amazing performance & I think Burson released a power supply based on such…
 
Dec 12, 2024 at 11:34 AM Post #123 of 151
Same here. This green dongle brick sounds fantastic.

And yea, mine gets pretty hot when I'm using them on high gain with full-sized headphones. Try them on low or medium gain if you're using them with IEMs. It still gets warm, but nowhere as hot as when it's on high gain.
It does get hot—I didn't put the little feet on it and have been placing it on the desk; it heats up the varnish. This is my solution to it. I just placed my order yesterday. It's made by Xduoo. I'm just worried that it will cool it down too much. As I understand it, tubes need to have some heat to operate optimally. We'll see. After-tax on Ebay it is approximately $90.

Note—Fan noise and interference may be an issue, too. I haven't seen anyone use it for the XD05T, and it seems to be made for the XD05Pro, which I'm on the hunt for now. So if it doesn't work well for the T, I'll use it for the Pro.

xDuoo 05FS1 12V HiFi Power Supply Purifier 2000rpm/min Cooling Base for XD05Pro​

 

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Dec 12, 2024 at 1:13 PM Post #124 of 151
It does get hot—I didn't put the little feet on it and have been placing it on the desk; it heats up the varnish. This is my solution to it. I just placed my order yesterday. It's made by Xduoo. I'm just worried that it will cool it down too much. As I understand it, tubes need to have some heat to operate optimally. We'll see. After-tax on Ebay it is approximately $90.

Note—Fan noise and interference may be an issue, too. I haven't seen anyone use it for the XD05T, and it seems to be made for the XD05Pro, which I'm on the hunt for now. So if it doesn't work well for the T, I'll use it for the Pro.

xDuoo 05FS1 12V HiFi Power Supply Purifier 2000rpm/min Cooling Base for XD05Pro​

I have one and it is a brick. Haven't heard noise from power supply or fan. Although listening with headphones exclusively.

Also, the usb charging port is on the opposite side and makes the included cable a bit awkward when connected

FWIW the fan is effective at lowering the XD05T external temperature

IMG_2809.jpegIMG_2810.jpeg
 
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Dec 12, 2024 at 5:10 PM Post #125 of 151
I have one and it is a brick. Haven't heard noise from power supply or fan. Although listening with headphones exclusively.

Also, the usb charging port is on the opposite side and makes the included cable a bit awkward when connected

FWIW the fan is effective at lowering the XD05T external temperature


I have one and it is a brick. Haven't heard noise from power supply or fan. Although listening with headphones exclusively.

Also, the usb charging port is on the opposite side and makes the included cable a bit awkward when connected

FWIW the fan is effective at lowering the XD05T external temperature

IMG_2809.jpegIMG_2810.jpeg
Very nice! Do you think the low temps go too cool for optimal tube performance? That's my only concern after noise.
 
Dec 15, 2024 at 9:26 AM Post #127 of 151
Topped off power on both devices, changed iems to Sound Rhyme SR9s, still big smiles all around 4 the XD05T,
warm, musical, detailed. Put the little ‘feet’ on the unit and just letting random play thru the M1+. This seems as
if pretty much all I could have hoped for, just sitting back and enjoying some Keb Mo, Van the Man, Nat King Cole, more
Big Head, Ottmar Liebert, ect… highly addictive and intimate and so nice rolling thru my own musical collection over
the years. Everything is sounding so fresh and clear in a way only the best in room systems attain. I’m so glad that
using the TA-66 as a preamp in my vinyl rig led me to explore this option. Xduoo is making some really neat products
that can easily be used to slide into larger systems. This one is really easy to listen too, amazingly affordable as I bet
I’ve spent more for a single pair of some such tubes over the years. Here, you’re pretty much good to go… (-;
Very good! I like it too.

The TA-66 is your only phono stage/pre? How does that work?
 
Dec 15, 2024 at 9:40 AM Post #129 of 151
I love the sound from this device. But the battery life is pretty poor, and charging seems painfully slow. I have the charging cable plugged into an Apple wall wart. Any suggestions for speeding it up?
The battery life is poor, I've noticed that too, and it gets really hot. I've been using a 100w USB-C into an Anker charging hub and it's been charging pretty quickly. Check the apple wall wart it may be 15w and that would slow things down quite a bit.
 
Dec 15, 2024 at 9:54 AM Post #130 of 151
The battery life is poor, I've noticed that too, and it gets really hot. I've been using a 100w USB-C into an Anker charging hub and it's been charging pretty quickly. Check the apple wall wart it may be 15w and that would slow things down quite a bit.
Yeah, there's no indication on it, but I bet that's the bottleneck. I'll try to stick it on something better when I get home later today. Thanks!
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 3:54 PM Post #131 of 151
Okay, the XD05T has landed. The sound is fantastic, warm and engaging, but at the same time very defined... I already love it!
The problem is that when powered with 05FS1 it has a slightly hinted background noise, which disappears if I touch it. If in battery mode and unplugged, no noise. But if it's powered and I don't touch its body or the base of the 05SF1, the noise is present.
I think that some sort of "grounding" could help, since it's on a wooden piece of furniture, but I'm still not sure how to connect a functional cable... any suggestions are welcome.

1000028308.jpg
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 8:46 PM Post #132 of 151
Okay, the XD05T has landed. The sound is fantastic, warm and engaging, but at the same time very defined... I already love it!
The problem is that when powered with 05FS1 it has a slightly hinted background noise, which disappears if I touch it. If in battery mode and unplugged, no noise. But if it's powered and I don't touch its body or the base of the 05SF1, the noise is present.
I think that some sort of "grounding" could help, since it's on a wooden piece of furniture, but I'm still not sure how to connect a functional cable... any suggestions are welcome.

1000028308.jpg
I have one ordered, I was concerned that it would create noise, that's a bummer. Is the fan loud too?
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 11:40 PM Post #133 of 151
Okay, the XD05T has landed. The sound is fantastic, warm and engaging, but at the same time very defined... I already love it!
The problem is that when powered with 05FS1 it has a slightly hinted background noise, which disappears if I touch it. If in battery mode and unplugged, no noise. But if it's powered and I don't touch its body or the base of the 05SF1, the noise is present.
I think that some sort of "grounding" could help, since it's on a wooden piece of furniture, but I'm still not sure how to connect a functional cable... any suggestions are welcome.

1000028308.jpg
Sounds like a classic grounding issue to me. Look at your power, is that outlet grounded? Is there anything else plugged in the same circuit? Try to find an outlet that is grounded and unplug everything else and see if you still get the noise.

For instance, I was getting noise with my RME ADI dac and figured out it was coming from a dimmer switch to my lamp.
 
Dec 18, 2024 at 1:44 PM Post #134 of 151
Sounds like a classic grounding issue to me. Look at your power, is that outlet grounded? Is there anything else plugged in the same circuit? Try to find an outlet that is grounded and unplug everything else and see if you still get the noise.

For instance, I was getting noise with my RME ADI dac and figured out it was coming from a dimmer switch to my lamp.
Thanks for the tip! In fact I changed the power cable that goes to the transformer and solved it. I had changed it for convenience, to not use a reducer, but it was a mistake. I reconnected the original Schuko cable supplied by xDuoo in the box and a reducer with ground, and now it is silent as being in space... and the fantastic sound of the XD05 T takes me to heaven!
 
Jan 16, 2025 at 2:45 PM Post #135 of 151
I'm curious to know if the XD05T will synergize well with planar headphones. I have a Sendy Aiva, and I'd like to pair it, it has 32 Ohms impedance, and a sensitivity of 96 dB. Can this Xduuo help me with this task?
 

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