Loxjie D40 Review

In this article we review the $429 USD Loxjie D40 DAC & AMP.

Disclaimer: Hifi-Express sent us the Loxjie D40 DAC & Amplifier for this review, free of charge. I only covered the customs fees & taxes. All thoughts and experiences with the product are naturally my own.

Loxjie

Loxjie is a company that produces highly successful products under the wing of the same parent company as SMSL, one of the leading manufacturers of the industry. In the past, I’ve reviewed the D30, which is also a model belonging to the “D” series, and I was satisfied with its performance. Today, I have the D40 with me. A larger, more professional, sharper-looking DAC compared to the D30, the D40 uses not 1 but 2 of the DAC chips used by the D30. You can read all about the D30 here:

Without further ado, let’s get into the review.

Loxjie D40 Desktop DAC & Headphone Amplifier with Bluetooth + MQA

The Loxjie D40’s dedicated web page can be found here. It costs $429 USD from Hifi-Express. There will also be a 10% discount in the Hifi-Express store starting March 28 and ending April 1st.

The D40 is a high-performance, all-in-one device that can decode PCM up to 32bit-768kHz and DSD up to DSD512, natively, via USB. The highlights of the audio stage include a pair of ESS Technology’s ES9068AS premium-tier DACs, 2 pairs of Texas Instruments’ OPA1612, and a low noise power supply. I am including a list of specs and features below.

• ESS Technology DUAL ES9068AS DAC
• XMOS XU216 USB Controller
• Bluetooth 5.0 & LDAC Support
• MQA + MQA CD Support
• 16bit-32bit, PCM 44.1kHz-768kHz & DSD512
• Integrated HP Amp (700mW@32Ω)
• Optical Toslink, Coax, I2S, AES & USB Inputs
• RCA, XLR & 6.35mm HP Outputs
• Remote Control

Packaging & Accessories

The Loxjie D40 comes inside of a wide cardboard box. The device is securely held by foam and it looks quite safe for transport. The box is similar to what we have seen from SMSL before, only, simpler. The accessories include a long power cable, an antenna, a long USB-A to USB-B data cable, and a remote. The inclusion of a remote controller is always great and appreciated. It makes a lot of things easier, especially if you have a big desk. The quality of the accessories is similar to those of SMSL and Topping. The remote controller seems quite nice with its new design.

If you remember the reviews, SMSL’s remote controls were thinner a year ago and had rounder keys. The controller you see here is the last generation. The keys have gotten a little bigger, their layout has been changed and the plastic chassis has been renewed with a body that feels better in the hand and is more comfortable to grip. The slim remote had a matte black finish, in the new remote this has also been completely changed to a 2-color finish. While the lower part of the remote is glossy black, the upper part is finished in matte black.

Build Quality & Design

The build quality of the device manages to grab your attention from the moment you take it out of the box. When I received the box, there was incredible snowfall here and the aluminum chassis was too cold to hold in hand. Although at first glance the product may seem light, it weighs about 1 kilogram. It is both wider and longer in size compared to the D30. It has a similar form and factor to SMSL’s SP400 desktop amplifier. The D40 measures 240x195x43 (WxDxH) and when we consider that it is an all-in-one solution that offers very good performance, we can conclude that the size is certainly not a problem.

The device features a gunmetal finish and the aluminum feels like it was sandblasted. The metallic finish looks very nice and professional, especially when it is sitting on a wooden desk. The device looks and feels pretty solid all-around. All buttons and sockets are rigid and well-assembled, with no wobble. I couldn’t spot any assembly issues or milling defects. The volume pot also looks quite resilient. We see ventilation holes on the chassis of the device. The device dissipates hot air from 3 places, on the sides and below. Additionally, when we look under the device, we see that 4 rubber feet help to keep the device stable. 

Let’s lets go over the details of the device’s layout, together. The device is designed with a simple and user-oriented layout. The front panel looks modest and organized as the part where all the controls and buttons are located. On this panel, we see a small screen with a white LED font, 6 white LEDs under the screen, and 4 control buttons on the left side of the screen. On the right of the screen is the volume pot. Loxjie has positioned the headphone output to the right of the volume pot.

Looking at the back, we see quite a few I/O options, even AES and I2S. The full list of outputs & inputs are as follows; balanced XLR, SE RCA outputs, AES, I2S, optical, coaxial, and USB inputs. As you can see from the photos, the backside is completely stacked with the I/O options. On a side note, the device uses regular IEC-C13 as the power input. 

If we talk about the design elements of the device, I think we can all agree that an industrial design choice has been made, we can say that the D40 has a design that looks quite professional and unlike softer and more aesthetic SMSL lines, they preferred sharper edges and a more straightforward design. The fact that the device is not thick and has sharper lines, combined with the gunmetal color, creates a nice and professional image. Of course, we would have liked to see the colorful and aesthetically pleasing display of the D30 on this device as well.

Looking at the device as a whole, it’s easy to say that Loxjie has done a good job, given that it doesn’t have any paint, chassis, or milling imperfections, is pretty well assembled and looks nice.

The review continues on Page Two, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.

Page 2: Technology & Features, Controls, DAC Performance

Page 3: DAC-AMP Performance, Comparisons, Conclusion