xDuoo XD05T's Review - Portable Powerhouse!
General/Build/Packaging
xDuoo needs no introduction to fellow audiophiles. Having tested several products from the brand, I'm quite familiar with the brand’s house sound. xDuoo XD05T sits below the xDuoo 05Pro, with a very solid build quality, switches has very good tactile feel, the tube ringing is very very minimal, xDuoo did a very good job in the suspension setup, the ringing is only present when the device got knocked very hard i assume, i did not try that f.y.i
Build quality is solid, the buttons have good tactile feedback, switches/toggles are not wobbly at all. The packaging is up to standard in accordance to the asking price, XD05T came with high quality L shaped USB C-C, C-Lightning, as well as a longer C to C cable which i believe is for powering the device via DC, C to A adapter is also included, which covers the use case for most of the users, sadly, there’s no case/storage pouch included.
Specifications (Grabbed from xDuoo XD05T’s product page)
IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review
Kiwi Ears Orchestra II
Dunu 242
Fosi i5 4.4mm
Fiio JT7 4.4mm
Tidal Streaming/Foobar 2k Local Files Flac/DSD
xDuoo XD05T -> Pixel 9 Pro XL (USB in, BT in)
Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far
Features
Bluetooth
XD05T comes built in with BT input that allows you to playback wirelessly when you need to
This feature is very useful when you just want convenience
It supports a wide range of BT Codecs, SBC, AAC, APTX, APTX-LL, APTX-HD, and LDAC
Tidal playback via bluetooth from my Pixel 9 Pro XL with LDAC set to highest quality and it encountered occasional connection drop out, which is fairly normal given the requirement of bandwidth is fairly high, with the LDAC quality set to balanced, i did not encounter and connectivity issue
Battery Life/DC In
The rated battery life is +- 4 hours for USB in, 4.5 when used purely as an amp, honestly, this is good enough for me as i won’t be carrying it when i am on the go given the size, although it is still fairly pocketable
There are two USB C port running on different circuit, one is for Data, another one is for Power, so you can charge and use the unit at the same time, or alternatively, bypass charging completely by setting the toggle to EXT power, there is also a barrel type DC in connector for external power
Heat Management
The unit’s surface does feel warm to touch when the gain mode is set to the highest, but this is good as it is transferring the internal heat to the chassis which is supposed to dissipate the heat
Digital Filters
To be very frank, I am not able to discern much differences between the filters, i would say there is certainly some difference there in terms of faster and slower decay of the bass as well as transient speed, but the difference is not day and night
Sound Impression
I have tried and owned several xDuoo products in the past and I would say the tonality is more on the warm-ish side, at least the few models that i have tried, maybe not all, xDuoo XD05T is no exception either, I would say a slight hint of warmth while still being quite clean sounding. The transient response is fast enough and the overall experience is quite musical to my ears. If you are someone who prefers a reference or uncolored sounding DAC/AMP, you should look for other options as XD05T is not that, it is musical and slightly coloured to give the listeners a musical experience. Overall it is natural and slight warm sounding, definitely not clinical and analytical sounding.
Bass
Bass has good texture and it made the IEM that’s paired to it has a little bit more body on the bass
Sub bass has fairly good extension and rumble when it’s called for
With the Bass boost switch at your disposal, you can be certain that whichever IEM or headphone that you find that is lacking low end, turn the Bass boost on and you will get meaty lows that is well implemented without overly mudding the mids
Mids
The mids has got the good rich sound to it, warm and lush yet doesn’t sound veil
Stringed instruments has sufficient warmth to it which translates into good note weight and not thin sounding
The vocal presentation of both male and female has very good body to it and the positioning of the vocals are not too recessed nor forward
Trebles
There’s no elevation on the treble for the XD05T, but this doesn’t mean it is dark sounding and lack of air, it fact i think xDuoo did a good job in the tuning
The trebles are smooth and non offensive, yet detailed at the same time
The definitions are good and even when you crank up the volume, the treble doesn’t fatigue you, it is just natural sounding, in my opinion, it makes the XD05T a good candidate to pair with IEM/Headphones that are slightly hot on the treble
Listening Impression with the following pairings
Kiwi Ears Orchestra II
Bass exhibited better extension, sub bass has better extension and it has more body to the bass and better texture overall with this pairing
The treble is slightly smoother while retaining the extension and doesn’t sound that hot on certain track compared to other source
Soundstage has more width and depth, doesn’t sound that 2D anymore
With the Bass boost on, and you will be rewarded with thumpy and punchy bass, also better sub bass extension and rumble as Orchestra II is lacking bass quantity in nature
Dunu 242
Dunu 242 is warm on its own, some might think it’s a bad idea to pair it with XD05T
Pairing it with XD05T makes the soundstage has slightly better width and depth
Bass has better body to it overall as well
Mids has slightly better body and note weight to my ears
Treble doesn’t have much changes to my ears
Fosi Audio i5 Planar Headphone
This particular pairing is quite interesting to my ears
I5 itself has neutral warm tuning to my ears, pairing it with XD05T with gain set to the highest, the i5 exhibit good controls on the bass, tight and speedy, and doesn’t roll off that much, with the bass boost button on, the lows on i5 is even more “fun”
Mids are slightly being pushed forward but not the point where it is in your face
In terms of Treble, i did not notice much changes
Fiio JT7
JT7 is neutral and slightly lean sounding in nature, pairing it with XD05T does add some hint of warmth to it and more body overall
Bass has noticeably better note weight as well as texture
The mids also sounds slightly thicker compared to other source
Treble is smoother while retaining the details
Soundstage has better width and depth and slightly better imaging as well
Comparison (Earman L-Amp)
Uses unspecified ESS DAC chip, and Burr Brown OP-Amp, also uses two 6418 Raytheon tubes
Sound signature is more or less similar to XD05T with the main perceivable difference being on the treble performance, L-AMP is slightly more aggressive on the treble in terms of slightly more energy and Air
In terms of size, L-Amp is much smaller and pocketable compared to XD05T, build quality wise, XD05T is better, the buttons on the L-AMP is slightly wobbly, tube ringing is very noticeable even with slight movement
Both L-Amp and XD05T has Bass boost switch, but in terms of implementation, XD05T is better, cleaner sounding bass boost, L-amp’s bass boost does make the lows muddy at certain circumstances
For sensitive IEMs, when used with L-Amp, the noise level is very perceivable
Soundstage is slightly better on the L-Amp, with bigger perceived stage size
Final Thoughts
Having tested and used the XD05T for almost two months prior to publishing this review, despite not being the latest product in the market, XD05T definitely has what it takes to still make the statement today in the fast moving market with the competition from other brands. XD05T is a versatile product that offers a wide range of input and output. The power output is sufficient for most IEMs out there and also headphones that are not that demanding(Tested with the headphones which I owned, Fosi Audio i5, Hifiman Edition XS, Hifiman Arya Stealth, Hifiman Arya Organic).
In terms of sound, it is leaning towards the warmer side yet the treble is not all smoothed out. In my opinion, this is truly a portable powerhouse and it can also be used as a desktop setup. The XD05T is impressive overall and highly recommended!
*The XD05T is sent over by xDuoo for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the support and opportunity
Head over to the official store if you are interested in getting one
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