xDuoo XD-05 BAL Review

Specifications 

Internal circuit architecture

This time, xDuoo completely ditches AKM and equipped its XD-05 BAL with a double set of Sabre ESS9038Q2M.

A great chip that we’ve encountered more than I could say now, for good reasons. It supports PCM stream up to 32bit/768kHz, offers an S/N Ratio of 129dB, and a THD as low as -120dB. And this time, xDuoo put two DAC to offer a fully-balanced circuit from the bottom to the top.

To manage the digital inputs, three different chips are used :

• a Cirrus Logic CS8422 for optical/coaxial. This chip supports AES3 and S/PDIF interface, but only up to 24bit/192kHz (quite enough I should say)
• an Xmos XU208 for USB. A multi-core chip, fully compliant with USB 2.0 specification, and advertised as a “major upscale” from the previous U8
• finally, Cirrus-Logic CSR8675 Bluetooth 5.0 chip, one that supports aptX, AAC, LDAC and SBC codecs

All those chips feed an FPGA chip, provided by Altera, which translates all sources in I2s format, so the dual ESS9038Q2M can do the playback. Thanks to that, the xDuoo XD05-BAL natively supports DSD512 and ultra hi-res flux-like 32bit/768kHz files.

Unfortunately for Tidal users, no MQA playback here.

Swappable Op-Amp

Like the XD-05 Plus, the xDuoo XD-05 BAL can deliver up to 1000mW@32ohms. The only difference between the balanced and unbalanced outputs comes from THD and S/N numbers:

• THD: 0.0015% (unbal) / 0.0009% (bal)
• SNR: 115dB (unbal) / 117dB (bal)
• Crosstalk: >72dB (unbal) / >100dB (bal)

Out of the box, the XD-05 BAL comes with some nice OPA1612 from Texas Instruments. But, those two op-amps can be replaced by the one you want. All you need is to open the front panel and install the new one where the previous op-amps were. A nice option, that reminds me of the FiiO E12A, where you could get the Op-Amp of your choice to fine-tune your amp.

xDuoo gives you a set of JRCA034A as a spare op-amp, but after a few tries, I preferred to stick to the TI.

Battery Life

The built-in battery is still rated at 5000 mAh, like the XD-05 Plus

The official battery life is supposed to range from 9h (USB in), to 24h (Aux in). During my review, I easily reached the 9h through the USB port, proving xDuoo numbers right, once more.

On a different note, charging the xDuoo XD-05 Plus is, again, painfully long: 5h with a “fast charger” (2Ah/5V) and more than half a day with the classic computer port (500mAh/5V). So each time I used it with a computer, I plugged the charge port too, so I could get enough power when on the go.

To sum it up, good battery life but painstakingly long charge time.

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Full specs

As usual, here are the xDuoo XD-05 BAL full specs.

• Type: DAC / Headphone amplifier
• DAC: 2x Sabre ES9038Q2M
• LPF: 2x Ti OPA1612
• BUF: 2x BUF634
• Screen: 0.91 inch Oled screen
• Outputs: 6.35mm headphone out / 4.4mm headphone out (balanced)
• Input:  USB/COAXIAL/OPTICAL/AUX/AES/BLUETOOTH
• Volume Knob: ALPS Analog
• Drive Ability: 16-600 ohms
• Battery: 3.8V/5000mAh
• USB: PCM up to 32bit-768kHz, DSD64-512
• Coaxial/Optical: up to 24bit-192kHz, DSD64
• Crosstalk: > 72dB (unbal) / > 100dB (bal)
• SNR: > 115dB (unbal) / > 117dB (bal) 
• THD: < 0.0015% (USB/SPDIF) / < 0.0009% (Aux)
• Line level: 2.1Vrms
• Gain: +6dB / +15dB
• Output Power: 1000mW 32ohm
• Power input :  USB-C
• Size : 130 mm x 75mm x 22mm
• Weight: 290g
• Price: $429

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