xDuoo TA-22 Desktop DAC/Tube Amplifier

[VSG]

xDuoo is known for its affordable headphone tube amplifiers and today we see how it manages to achieve that with the new TA-22 DAC/preamp/headphone amp. It uses two ESS Sabre DACs coupled with an extensive selection of inputs and outputs with a hybrid amplification stage to look good and potentially sound even better.

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[GreiverBlade]

Tube AMP and dual ESS Sabre (same as the K5 Pro ESS furthermore) interesting and just shy of 500$? that's a nice device...

given a K5 Pro ESS is ~250chf/$ for me the combo is not badly priced and given the pro, cons and conclusion, i am quite surprised ... and i would be lying if i said i wasn't interested
as usual thanks for the review.

btw, you forgot to add MQA as a cons hehe

 

[VSG]

Tube AMP and dual ESS Sabre (same as the K5 Pro ESS furthermore) interesting and just shy of 500$? that's a nice device...

given a K5 Pro ESS is ~250chf/$ for me the combo is not badly priced and given the pro, cons and conclusion, i am quite surprised ... and i would be lying if i said i wasn't interested
as usual thanks for the review.

btw, you forgot to add MQA as a cons hehe

There's no non-MQA DAC version of the same chipset used here so it's one of the rare occasions that it's just a feature to be used or ignored but not by itself adding to the cost.

It's a decent unit, I just feel like it ends up in a weird middle ground of what it wants to be. But it could be amenable to tube rolling.

 

[GreiverBlade]

There's no non-MQA DAC version of the same chipset used here so it's one of the rare occasions that it's just a feature to be used or ignored but not by itself adding to the cost.

i know i know but some of your previous reviews had MQA as pros (for those who cares) and as cons (i was merely just joking ofc hence the and hehe)

after all my KA1 is MQA capable but i am one of those who do not care plus at the price the devices come it's not an hindrance, although MQA on Fiio Music require ... a subscription (in short as long as it does not inflate the device price : no probs.)

well on the last topping at least... oh wait ... i mixed up it was something else, i can't remember but it was a con and pro having the same feature, iirc RGB for example which was put in "can appeal" and "cannot appeal" ... although in MQA it's more right than RGB (it should appeal to everyone to be able to set any color you like anyhow )


on another note : the pics of the tubes inside got me giggling, that's quite interesting soldering and connections

btw @VSG i noticed 2 typos : "Nichocon" and "XDiuoo" on the last paragraphe of the "closer examination"

 

[VSG]

Ahh weird typos, thanks for catching that!

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Tube AMP and dual ESS Sabre (same as the K5 Pro ESS furthermore) interesting and just shy of 500$? that's a nice device...

given a K5 Pro ESS is ~250chf/$ for me the combo is not badly priced and given the pro, cons and conclusion, i am quite surprised ... and i would be lying if i said i wasn't interested
as usual thanks for the review.

btw, you forgot to add MQA as a cons hehe

You are getting your monies worth but I haven't used this brand, yet.

 

[Operandi]

Those tubes look kinda sketchy? I'm no expert but I do have a few stock ones in my Freya + (I forget the brand) and I don't those tubes are anything special but they look way cleaner than whats going on in the tubes in this thing.

 

[VSG]

Those tubes look kinda sketchy? I'm no expert but I do have a few stock ones in my Freya + (I forget the brand) and I don't those tubes are anything special but they look way cleaner than whats going on in the tubes in this thing.

Yeah, that's why I was saying this might be held back by the stock tubes to an extent. They still work fine though even with the dodgy connections.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Yeah, that's why I was saying this might be held back by the stock tubes to an extent. They still work fine though even with the dodgy connections.

There's a chance they were just a bad batch I've seen that happen before.

 

[Operandi]

Yeah, that's why I was saying this might be held back by the stock tubes to an extent. They still work fine though even with the dodgy connections.

I was thinking about longevity, reliability and potentially safety. Safety is probably not a real concern but at lvl 1 when it comes to tubes, but regardless is not really what you want to see.

 

[GreiverBlade]

I was thinking about longevity, reliability and potentially safety. Safety is probably not a real concern but at lvl 1 when it comes to tubes, but regardless is not really what you want to see.

if the tubes weren't replaceable i would be concerned, although i don't know why but i love dodgy hardware, even more if it works fine even if it's for some time before failing, it's quirky

 

[Operandi]

if the tubes weren't replaceable i would be concerned, although i don't know why but i love dodgy hardware, even more if it works fine even if it's for some time before failing, it's quirky

Analog is quirky by default when all you knew growing up was digital. All tubes are replaceable, they only last a few years even when they are well built and working properly so thats quirky enough for me.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Analog is quirky by default when all you knew growing up was digital. All tubes are replaceable, they only last a few years even when they are well built and working properly so thats quirky enough for me.

well ... it's the nostalgic quirky feeling that i love since most of all i knew when growing was analog

"it was better before" is not what i think... "it was more fun before" rather

also i had an old tube amp for a vinyl desk whose tubes were soldered and not socketed... sadly i was not old enough to repair it when it failed hehe

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

well ... it's the nostalgic quirky feeling that i love since most of all i knew when growing was analog

"it was better before" is not what i think... "it was more fun before" rather

also i had an old tube amp for a vinyl desk whose tubes were soldered and not socketed... sadly i was not old enough to repair it when it failed hehe

My brother still has his old gear from the 70s. Speakers, 45s, analogue amps full of tubes and with analogue meters. It all still works. Granted he's gone through god knows how many tubes over the years and had to repair it repeatedly but it's just built like a tank. And when a 45 wears out you have the fun of throwing it as high up in the air as you can and watch it come down fast as fuck but utterly silent before embedding itself in the ground scaring the hell out of the inlaws.

I was thinking about longevity, reliability and potentially safety. Safety is probably not a real concern but at lvl 1 when it comes to tubes, but regardless is not really what you want to see.

Safety? This is not really that big of an issue. There are toxic chemicals in parts of them and they are made of glass which can cut you but if I look at all the things around me that have toxins in them or could cut me whelp oh well! Unless you are talking about larger electron tubes (like in ye old CRT) they aren't going implode like a bomb and they aren't packing enough zap to be lethal. These aren't xenon arc lamps.

Also think about it this way. A lot of these portable DAC/AMPs contain LION batteries which are vastly more dangerous. So does your cellphone, laptop, and tablet.

Really what a bad tube is going to do is die early and you'll have to replace it. Here you go https://www.tubedepot.com/ they are still in wide production and they aren't going anywhere.

 

[Operandi]

well ... it's the nostalgic quirky feeling that i love since most of all i knew when growing was analog

"it was better before" is not what i think... "it was more fun before" rather

Yeah, analog looks more fun from the looks of it. I have my dad's 80's Kenwood turntable that I vaguely remember when I was a kid. Its a pretty serious unit (very heavy composite material base), not sure what it cost then but something equivalent today would probably be approaching four figures. The stylus on it is trashed so I ordered a new cartridge so hopefully thats all it needs. Also ordered a new power cable cause the on it is very cheap and crappy feeling and just looks out of place compared with modern gear.

Same thing with tubes, the ability to tweak sounds like fun. I picked up some NOS Novosibirsk tubes on eBay for my Freya. No clue if they are any good or not but they were cheap and sort of an impulse buy (so probably not?) but it will be fun to experiment. My music system doubles duty for TV and movies and I don't find the idea of "listening room" aspirational at all so I doubt I'll ever have a tube power amp but who knows.

also i had an old tube amp for a vinyl desk whose tubes were soldered and not socketed... sadly i was not old enough to repair it when it failed hehe

Really? I thought all tubes had a finite lifespan and were replaceable?

Really what a bad tube is going to do is die early and you'll have to replace it. Here you go https://www.tubedepot.com/ they are still in wide production and they aren't going anywhere.

Yeah, I guess I was just wondering if the shoddy construction of the tubes would short something out in the amp or just fail prematurely. The Tung-Sol tubes that came in my Frerya look much cleaner.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Really? I thought all tubes had a finite lifespan and were replaceable?

yep, i wonder why they did it like that but i remember clear as day that they weren't socketed, since even my dad could not pull them and when he checked the board and shouted "[random swear words] they are soldered!", albeit being a micro-mechanics and quite good at elecrtrical stuff (never called an electrician, ever ) but soldering was a bit out of the picture, looking back, i kinda regret it

oh, well... i have my wishlist, now i need time and money ahah

 

[jimmyboy1966]

I must say the review on the xDuoo TA-22 seemed a little too degrading. I own one and for the price, build quality, sound and features for a dac that sounds as good as this does. I can't see anything even close with a price to value ratio, try some NOS tubes. To my ears this certainly sounds like it's tubed to me.
JAMES

 

[VSG]

I must say the review on the xDuoo TA-22 seemed a little too degrading. I own one and for the price, build quality, sound and features for a dac that sounds as good as this does. I can't see anything even close with a price to value ratio, try some NOS tubes. To my ears this certainly sounds like it's tubed to me.
JAMES

I'm glad you are enjoying your experience with the TA-22, that's the beautiful thing about this subjective hobby. Perhaps better tubes will be just what I am missing here! Welcome to TechPowerUp btw.

 

[jimmyboy1966]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

 

[bobbybluz]

I have something similar I bought from Dayton Audio a couple of years ago. Replacing the stock Chinese 12AT7's with vintage Telefunken 12AX7's (more gain) transformed it into a great sounding unit. I was lucky to get the tubes cheap from a friend who scours swap meets, flea markets and rummage sales looking for old Grundig radios to get the Telefunken tubes out of them. On the retail market the tubes alone are worth 2x-3x what the Dayton unit cost. Used genuine vintage tubes can bring insane prices today (there's also a huge market of counterfeit vintage tubes).

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I have something similar I bought from Dayton Audio a couple of years ago. Replacing the stock Chinese 12AT7's with vintage Telefunken 12AX7's (more gain) transformed it into a great sounding unit. I was lucky to get the tubes cheap from a friend who scours swap meets, flea markets and rummage sales looking for old Grundig radios to get the Telefunken tubes out of them. On the retail market the tubes alone are worth 2x-3x what the Dayton unit cost. Used genuine vintage tubes can bring insane prices today (there's also a huge market of counterfeit vintage tubes).

Telefunken Black Diamond Vacuum Tubes | Tube Depot

All new TELEFUNKEN tubes are cryogenically treated to ensure durability, and subjected to an extended burn-in period to ensure superior stability.

www.tubedepot.com