Onix Miracle Review

In this article we take a look at the Onix Miracle DAC/Amp + Streamer combo. It can be yours for $4,999 USD.

Disclaimer: The Onix Miracle was supplied on a loan-period of three months by Shanling/Onix.

Onix

Onix has been around for over forty years already, but has probably gone unnoticed in our parts of the hi-fi community as their main focus was not on headphone related products.

In the late 1990’s Onix was acquired by Taiwan Sound Art Co. After that takeover Shanling was introduced into the mix to build some of Onix’ highest end hardware. Which also brings us to today’s feature on this website. You can find the Onix Miracle’s website right here. We reviewed the Onix XM5 DAP just a week ago or so, you can find that review here:

Onix Miracle

The Onix Miracle is a three piece mobile and desktop hybrid DAC/Amp Streamer. It consists of a linear power supply (XPS10), a DAC/Amp (XP10) and a Streamer (XM10). The latter can be used individually as a DAP, but the other two modules have to be used together, as the PSU powers the DAC/Amp. You can buy the Miracle system directly from Shanling here.

XP10

The XP10 has an array of six digital and one analogue input. It supports Bluetooth (LDAC), USB C (32/768; DSD512), Optical, Coaxial, DAP (XM10 only), and a USB hard drive input (USB A). With that selection of digital inputs you should be more than set for your office needs.

To top it off, the XP10 also offers an RCA analogue input, to which you can connect an external source. During my time with the Miracle I have used the Eversolo DMP-A8.

Output-wise the XP10 offers four different headphone outputs. Two balanced (XLR, 4.4mm) and two single ended (6.3, 3.5mm) as well as an XLR and RCA output on the back. So you can also connect the Miracle to your hi-fi rig at home.

The rated output power of the XP10 is 5.6W (into 32 Ohms, balanced) with an output impedance of 2.4 Ohms. The single ended outputs are rated at 1.7W into 32 Ohms with an output impedance of .4 Ohms. So in theory the XP10 has more than enough power to make any headphone blast. But in the end it is about so much more than just raw power with headphones.

XM10

The XM10 Streamer/DAP uses an Android 10 system, which is a bit outdated already, as Android 15 is already around the corner at the time of writing. As someone who works in the digital field I am always looking for support of the latest software, primarily for security reasons. But I assume Shanling had something in mind when they developed their software.

The XM10 features a 6” display with a 2K resolution. Which I admit, is very nice to look at. But most of the times you won’t see it anyway. The XM10 has a battery life of up to 18 hours and supports LDAC and aptX HD Bluetooth.

One thing that bothers me about the XM10 is its lack of balanced outputs. It only has a single ended 3.5mm output, although on the product page it says that 4.4 would be supported with an adapter, it was absent from the package. Since all my cables are terminated to 4.4 I had to go back to a generic one I found. It also is not Roon Ready, which any serious streamer in today’s market should be.

The XM10 has a rated output power of 125mW into 32 Ohms. Which is enough for IEMs on the go, but won’t be sufficient for demanding headphones.

Build Quality

The XP10 and XPS10 are both of higher quality in my opinion. They are made of aluminum and are held in black, with the exception of their golden knobs. The units are very compact in size and neatly fit on any desktop.

The XP10 has a tiny touchscreen on top to switch settings during operation and an input selector on its front. You can turn the selector and a corresponding LED will tell you which input is currently in use. On top of the unit you’ll also find the DAP input in which you can put the XM10.

While the XP10 and XPS10 leave nothing to desire in terms of build quality to me, the XM10 is a different story. Right off the bat, I want to note, that the XM10 is not designed as a flagship DAP, but rather a portable streaming-module for the XP10. However, I feel that the build quality of the XM10 is just not up to the standards the XP10 and XPS10 set. Though the screen of the XM10 is very nice, the back of the unit just feels cheap, as does the volume knob on the right hand side of the XM10.

Maybe Onix will release a different DAP with higher build quality that will also work with the XP10 to match the rest.

Usability

The usability of the XP10 and XM10 is somewhat conflicting to me. Especially the XP10’s little touchscreen and the system underneath need an update in my opinion. When you swipe from the top to the bottom of the screen, you get access to the quick settings – like selecting output type (headphone/earphones), gain (high, medium, low) etc.

This is all good and it works, but then there’s the extra settings menu which is a pain to work with. For starters, it was near impossible for me to leave a menu point back to top. When you enter a specific setting – for example SRC – you have to swipe from left to right to leave the menu again. But if there’s an option on the screen below your finger when you swipe, it won’t go back to the top menu. This was so frustrating that I just gave up using it after a while.

Or the fact that I couldn’t change the set language (because of the aforementioned navigation problem), which was Polish when I got it. Thankfully my fiancée is fluent in Polish, but for me it was not possible to navigate the menu at all. 

What I am missing from the XP10 is a remote control for example. I know, that it is not intended to have one, but for the peace of mind and comfort it would have been very practical on many occasions. Maybe it is designed to be within an arms length of reach, but since it has RCA/XLR outputs on its back, it would really be nice to adjust the volume from afar, rather than having to get up all the time. Small problem for some, but a comfort issue for me.

The XM10 runs a dual boot system. Pure audio (Prime Mode) and Android. In Prime Mode you will only have a playback software, which is focusing on audio only. In Android mode you can install your own apps through the Play Store or other stores (e.g. APKPure).

My experience with the XM10 could have been better. There were instances when the system just froze and gave up, where I had to reboot. The XM10 couldn’t even find my own Wi-Fi at home at times, although no other device had any issues at all. This made it cumbersome to use as a streamer in my home office for example. Of course I could always rely on my music that I stored on a micro SD card.

Next, the system doesn’t react fast enough, especially after some time of use. It takes too long to register swipes or pushes, which is really annoying. Or the fact, that it doesn’t read out meta information correctly. One issue is, if you have a Greatest Hits album of any band, it will show you all of the songs of all the Greatest Hits albums of all bands.

Let’s take this example: I browse through my artists and go to Aerosmith and I want to listen to their Greatest Hits album, which consists of ten songs. Now I navigate into this album and I see 79 songs in it, from Salt ‘n Pepa, Queen, Falco and Foo Fighters.

So let’s say I didn’t have the best user experience using the Miracle.

The review continues on page two! Click the link here or use the jumps below