Introduction
Music should not be a thing one can only be enjoyed at home, music must be enjoyed everywhere - at home, outdoors, or at work. Especially work!
Music brings a lot of joy, and everybody loves a happy workplace. With my new job, I no longer have a fixed office/desk. In the morning on every work day, I take all my work equipment from a central area and take it to an unoccupied desk in the “office pen", where I will work from for the the rest of the day. In the morning I’d unload my equipment, set it up, work and then pack everything up when the day finishes. Everything has to be packed up, no personal belongings can be left on the desk at the end of the work day.
This system is called hot-desking. I love the flexibility this system brings, and my employer can reduce its operating costs (Don’t have to maintain 1:1 staff/equipment ratio).
Win-Win! Except a hot desking environment is not ideal for an audiophile.
This environment is suited for a normal audio system because it’d be too time consuming to setup and dismantle every day. Headfi is the way to go. Previously I’m using a Teac UD-501 DAC. While that unit is already a compact DAC/AMP, the size is still impractical for a hot-desking environment. I need something smaller and lighter, something ideally suited for a hot desk office. Something that don’t require a audit every year. The Teac UD-501 is totally unsuitable in this environment and has to go. The fact that it’s a terrible sounding DAC really makes this a no brainer.
So off I go looking for the 501 replacement - the newcomer must satisfy the following:
- Budget of $AUD250 or lower
- DSD support
- Headphone Amp
- Stereo Input
- Digital Input
- USB input
- Works with mobiles as music source
Did not have a lot of time to do my research, so I randomly searched e-bay and basically purchased the only product that meet all the above requirements: xDuoo XD-05 DAC. All at a princely sum of AUD$212.41 (with 10% e-bay voucher applied).
So what’s in it? Let’s take a look and see what a $212 product brings.
About The Author
3 comments
Comment from: airil Visitor
Comment from: Agent Kith Member
Yeah still have it. Using it mainly for work. Am considering a Burson V5i, will eventually buy one (waiting for a sitewide e-bay discount to pull the trigger).
Comment from: Agent Kith Member
BTW, the drivers from the CD no longer works on recent versions of Windows 10. Please go here (https://www.xduoo.net/forums/topic/xduoo-xd-05-plus-driver-4-6-7/) for instructions on how to install the new driver.
*NOTE* : This is xDuoo xd-05 POKE. (Not plus). So when upgrading the firmware, make sure you choose the right bin file.
hey, u still have this thing?
i think what happen is that the opamp chip needs change. Consider LME49720 if u dont fancy to do any soldering, or just buy the Burson V5i if u have budget, easier.
I crossed this text when i roll the opamp, and i think my opa1612 is bad, and got this text.
Cheers