Welcome to Darkvoice 2.0 - Xduoo TA-26

[@jasonwrites9186]

I like the rails. It's like momma tube and baby tube going for a boat ride.

[@Yaar1345]

The rails would get in the way of any sort of adapter for running different tubes though :(

[@LephantisG]

Lol

[@shelikesithot]

@@Yaar1345 I think the rails are held on by magnets and pop off easily if you want.

[@nurmbms90]

Teasing on the Moondrop KATO box. Hope to see the review soon. Great video.

[@BillyKueekSG]

Timely review for me! I have an XA-10 on the way and was contemplating the DarkVoice 336SE or xDuoo’s TA-26, TA-30, TA-20, TA-03S. Great video Josh!

[@peacelovemetal5197]

Ohhhh, this looks fun. Thanks for the review as always Josh! Love the style you've developed for them.

[@ibanezcollector]

really wish Xduoo would make an affordable DAC to go with their amps asthetics, the gunmetal and red. Just a thought Xduoo.

[@wardprocter2371]

Totally agree. I have the mt604 and would love a cheap dac that matches the aesthetic.

[@sonorangaming449]

@@wardprocter2371 How do you like it? I have been wanting to get one for my Senn 650s to give balanced and tubes a try.

[@marcduck111]

Or even a budget Tube DAC/Amp like the Aune T1 would be awesome

[@Blaue21]

@@wardprocter2371xduoo mu-601

[@brianliu522]

@@wardprocter2371. Xduoo has two DAC matching the MT-604

[@sagarmgandhi]

Your production quality is top notch Josh !! Its pleasing to watch your content

[@WillieBloom]

I've been waiting for a new Darkvoice for a long time. I just wasn't comfortable getting an amp which made it's introduction ca 2010, maybe earlier. And I figured, as soon as I get a Darkvoice a Darkvoice Mk II would come out. So I wait and see. This TA-26 is interesting. Thank you Joshua for yet another review helping to keep me informed! Edit: I have the xDuoo TA-20. The stock Chinese tubes provided seem to only serve the purpose of delivering the device in working order. I don't think the stock tubes are really meant to be used. So of course I have other NOS tubes in my TA-20 and I love it. As I prefer to keep my DACs and amps separate I'm not much interested in the combo devices. I like products like the TA-26 amp-only.

[@necrodh]

Year means nothing.

[@winterwarz07]

@@necrodh Especially when dealing with tube amps

[@jianboo]

Thanks for the upload. I wanted to try the darkvoice but on a fence due to the horror stories I am reading about it's performance. I may try to check out xduoo.

[@sonorangaming449]

Finally bought the TA-26 on black friday after looking for a dark voice. Now waiting on Apos to ship it.

[@realcrypt1206]

As always, very much appreciate the video and advice! If you have the time and access to the tech it would be awesome to see a review of the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone addition (real mouthful). It seems too good to be true but finding a high quality near endgame style amp/ dac is high on the list currently and with it's ability to easily integrate so much streaming while maintaining a super clean aesthetic would be tops. Certainly no worries and greatly appreciate your work. Cheers mate !

[@StoneUSA]

I'm running Gustard A18 -> Darkvoice 336SE -> Focal Clear MG Pro and... guys. Seriously the DV336SE is not only a great amp, it's siiiiilk. It's so pleasant to listen to over a boring linear THX AAA 789, which is the only other truly capable amp I personally have to compare it to. There's nothing clinical or accurate about the sound but it's wonderful with emphasis in the bass extension and just knocking down sibilant frequencies without knocking them out.

[@heavynova]

Is there an advantage of these traditional tubes amps over a hybrid like Vali2+ with NOS tubes?

[@graham4385]

so you would recommend this over the thx?

[@77Phatkid]

I agree! The Darkvoice 336SE is more pleasing to listen to than the THX AAA 789 in my opinion. I was actually very disappointed in the THX AAA 789 at first listen. Both are on my desktop and I gravitate towards Darkvoice every time.

[@soulfulfool]

My tubes provide accurate clear sound with sweet highs and smooth yet detailed bass. I have Clear OG and Feliks Audio Elise with upgraded tubes. No mud just pleasure I couldnt believe that tubes can produce that clean and sweet sound :). I dropped THX amp long time ago, from solid state amps only pure class A are worth their price. Well for professional use THX and clinical A90 are best but for pleasure of listening nope.

[@shahidyt]

That is interesting that you say the sound on the dark voice changes from day to day. I’m sure you have considered warm up time to get the system up to optimum temperature, I wonder if it is worth taking the power off there grid, try a battery source to see if the performance becomes more consistent. I was thinking to get the TA-20, but it is sold out on Amazon U.K., maybe I should put down a few extra coins and get a Tor Roger instead. The only valve/tube product that I own is a Yaqin phono stage with a valve output too, so I’m running valve on the output stage too

[@michaelthompson9798]

I’m new to this scene, but from I learnt in high school here in Australia is that some tubes “can” be affected by temperature/climate regardless of the device they’re used in…….maybe temperature &/or environment (humidity, air pressure etc) alters the tubes sound production quality if sound quality is different on a daily basis?

[@StevenLynn]

Maybe it is just me. But I like the older, larger style of the DV. Probably partly why I keep my 82 C20 Suburban and not sell it for something more modern. Honestly, I would not be able to tell the difference between them so I have to resort to how it looks to me.

[@NatasKrad]

Don't know about the Suburban but I do like my DV.

[@10WA]

Things can sound different day to day because human hearing is not consistent. I got rid of my TA-26. It didn't produce smooth warm sound traditionally found with tubes and it wasnt as clean and articulate as a Topping. No, it sounded about the same as pluging into a vintage SS reciever. Maybe a touch of warmth and smoothness with average detail. Same thing when used as a pre, didn't warm up or add really any smoothness to my miniDSP.

[@allsmilesb-f7m]

Can we get some budget list or reviews on R2R dacs and more hybrid tube amps?

[@sephondranzer]

That’d be like a Schiit showcase. They’re the best at most if not all their price points as far as R-2R/Multibit (same thing) goes.

[@JohnDoe-df2zz]

The TA-26 is about the same price as the Schiit Audio Valhalla now. I'd be curious to try those two out side by side. I think the original lure of the dark voice was that it had all the tube sound at a lot lower price. Also your link to Darkvoice is already non-functional.

[@martyn_g]

Forward to 2024, and there’s a big difference in Australia- Valhalla 2 is $760, Ta-26 is $499.

[@quoostonator]

My Darkvoice hums like crazy with anything other than the stock tubes. I’m going to have to get the TA-26 aren’t I? 🤑

[@clabbem74]

hi nice review.... what economic dac do you recomend for Ta-26 ? thxks !

[@vladiking]

Which headphone amp should I buy: Xduoo TA-26 or xduoo mt 604?

[@HooliganKONVERSE]

If what you say about the darkvoice sounding slightly different everyday is true, (I feel the same way about mine, sometimes the same song(s) will sound a little different the next day, maybe it depends on current room temp?) since this is the case how exactly reliable is a sound comparison between these two? This may be unfair comparison sound wise. Like is it not possible that the Xduo also has the same sound signature inconsistencies that the darkvoice has?

[@MrThephonypope]

You should check out the TA-66 next!

[@Armbrust210]

You have a 1266 back in? How comes? Can we expect a new Video featuring it soon?

[@no-man_baugh]

yo i've seen that pfp over the years, what's up with that? it it a cult?

[@mackado]

The Dark Voice with upgraded tubes and DT1990 is my go-to mellow out station.

[@kdclt]

Do you lose any of the detail with this combo?

[@mackado]

@@kdclt The DV is definitely the bottleneck on detail. There's a definitely tradeoff between accuracy and the fun things tubes do.

[@ShaneHornMusic]

Hey Josh, will you reviewing the Audeze LCD-5 and CRBN?

[@kortam6065]

My darkvoice is already 6 years old and no Issues.. and i own ha300 cayin and woo audio wa22.. the dark voice with right tubes damm very hard to beat..

[@tamiyaonline]

What tubes using on your amp?

[@numefals234]

Huge fan of grey here, my favourite nuance is rat grey.

[@soulfulfool]

not every rat is grey lol but I got you 🤣🤣

[@floshi6519]

Nice video!

[@jamesbittle2138]

I wouldn't be surprised if the two amps are made in the same factory.

[@soulfulfool]

me too xD

[@jamesj5469]

I haven't listen to my dark voice in a while I'm listen to it today

[@manikdragneel5284]

Mr. Joshua have u ever tried decware torii planar amp and preamp.tell me what's u opinion in it. ❤️👍..are monoblock amps are better for headphones.which company monoblock for headphones..

[@Sebastianbaraj5]

I'm interested to hear your opinion on a bottlehead crack. I know its a DIY project and the two amps in the video are plug and play. Im just curious about comparisons with other high end headphones and the crack.

[@kylefelix9071]

Hey Josh. I’m not sure if you’ve been asked the question yet. Will you be doing a review on the xDuoo TA-10R hybrid amp? It seems to be an all in one and every underrated amp.

[@BigJalapeno]

How do these compare to the little dot mk2?

[@sonorangaming449]

IDK if its just me, but all the amazon links are going directly to the amazon home page instead of the product.

[@Rayshader]

Long time user of darkvoice? Have you rolled any of the tubes? Is the TA-26 an OTL as with the darkvoice? It doesnt have any additional transformers which may indicate so, that said its not marketed as such.

[@mrk131324]

I don‘t know. Both sound like a compromise. And you still need a DAC. I would rather send some more and get a WA8 or WA6.

[@CHUCKACIOUS]

Which aftermarket tubes should I get? I've been looking to upgrade. But, have no clue what to get. Thanks!

[@piupiupiupiupiupiupiupiu]

Many including myself enjoy having 6SN7GTB Tung-Sol for the small front tube (pre-amp if I’m not mistaken), that’s a good starting point. For the big tube at the back, I’m running JAN Philips 6080. I feel that changing the pre-amp tube made bigger difference compared to changing the power tube IMO, but I’ve been reading that RCA is decent too..

[@AP-nc5ek]

I recommend a RCA 6AS7 and a ken-rad 6SN7, but the ken-rad might be hard to find. 6SN7 Westinghouse D getter are good and easy to find and imo it's a good baseline tube

[@piupiupiupiupiupiupiupiu]

@@AP-nc5ek ken rads are getting more and more expensive these days hey? I kinda wished that it’s not too expensive to send those to Australia :(

[@AP-nc5ek]

@@piupiupiupiupiupiupiupiu yes indeed, keep an eye out and you could get lucky hopefully!

[@soulfulfool]

@@piupiupiupiupiupiupiupiu power tubes as I notice give better control, so if you want tighter bass or clearer highs invest in that, 6080 Mullard are beautiful

[@jd5787]

What tubes would be recommended please? I expect to use it primarily as a tube preamp and listen on my speakers. Thank you

[@piotrpix]

How does the TA-30 compare to the TA-26?

[@BeeFiftyN8]

I've had the darkvoice for about 6 months now and love it, any recommendations on specific tubes to try out with it?

[@Shozimus]

The question is will it drive the 880 600ohm, smoothing out the top and adding some warmth ?:)

[@IOSam]

It does... At least the Darkvoice does, so I have to assume the TA-26 should too. Actually, both my DT880/600 and DT990/250 sound better (warmer with tamed treble) on the Darkvoice than with any other Amp I tried (although it seems Josh's experience was not so good with Beyers on Tube 5:06, so I guess YMMV).

[@mackado]

Dark Voice is fine so this should be too. I use mine with the DT1990 and it's buttery smooth

[@westernartifact580]

Yes. ThTs what you want

[@idanmaman]

How can it be a darkvoice if its not an OTL amp? it just has the same looks, go check the circuit

[@jackson8jackson]

Just got mine yesterday. Has a hum. Wondering if that will go away after the tubes burn on?

[@cxmxc]

So josh is alive…..which headphones do u use with your tube amps?

[@jackson8jackson]

+1

[@mcnasty0322]

def check out the psvane uk-6sn7 a little pricey but the sound is amazing

[@allsmilesb-f7m]

To add to my other comment can we get a multi-bit vs R2R dac explanation and comparison?

[@thegrumptastic]

Tube recommendations?

[@disco4535]

Is there any pair that exists, that has more and punchier base than the 990's or the Tygr300R's, smooth and clear mids like the hd650, sparkling (but not sibilant) detailed natural sounding high end that doesn't have that digital or mechanical sound on certain frequencies (like hitting an open high hat), and is around $500? I love my Ad2000x, Hd650, he4xx, dt990 pro and Tygr300r. I just want something that compliments my collection.

[@westernartifact580]

Hifi man

[@graham4385]

so, realistically, could i use this as an amp while using my fiio e10k as my dac? or would i need a dedicated dac?

[@hahahayess]

i wish the knob wasn't red / orange.

[@leumas75]

6:40 I inherited an Arp 2600 (Blue Meanie) that did this to me! I could fine tune settings and patches until I found the perfect sound + reverb or whatever I wanted, come back the next day without having touched anything, turn it on to warm up, and it would produce a big plié of crap. I finally took it apart, replaced every wire, resoldered the entire board, etc…, and now it sounds great and reproduces exactly what I want it to do. It MAN what a pain in my ass.

[@pat.125enduro4]

pleas try out the Blue Mix-Fi headphone!

[@stuka78]

Please, open them up, side by side, and let’s see what’s inside!

[@soulfulfool]

better not look inside them :D its china cheap tube amp what do you expect lol

[@heLLicop]

If I want to connect 6xx BUT also speakers and iem , I should better buy stack amp or TA26 can be good also?

[@westernartifact580]

You will get noise if you have any kind of sensitive speakers. This is absolutely not compatible with IEMs.

[@heLLicop]

@@westernartifact580 thanks

[@minnami778]

Anyone can tell me why this wouldn’t pair well with Beyerdynamic headphones? It thought it would be a perfect combo given that the amp is warm and the beyer is bright .. did I miss something ? 🤯

[@northdakotabeast1547]

I've been EYEING THE FUCK out of this product.

[@ExtremelyTastyBread]

How does it compare to the TA-66?

[@michaelfaith]

If the Darkvoice is objectively bad, then what would you suggest as an alternative amp, if i have Beyerdynamic T1s?

[@soulfulfool]

feliks audio echo

[@mrvitalikish]

Is there any tube buffer u can recommend? I want to try tube's coloration but a dont want to spend my money on an entire amp just for that, I just wanna add tube occasionally to my system. I already own a Topping EX5

[@mackado]

He's got video on the channel about getting an affordable tube preamp for just that purpose.

[@westernartifact580]

Or iFI makes a relatively inexpensive piece that’s appropriate for use on a headphone rig.

[@reserva120]

it can be used an as low power integrated amp with the correct speakers???

[@bobhopfner3812]

How does the TA-26 compare to Schiit tube amps??

[@dustin8185]

Hey guys, I got the unit and I love the sound, but even without tubes it is quite loud. There is a hum coming from the power supply area. Is that normal?

[@ahkking]

why do we need tube amps ?? how diff can it bring compared to the schiit amps ?

[@AH-tl8pd]

Please forgive me going off topic here.I was hoping to get little help for my living room speakers amp. In my living room I have - 2 Klipsch R-820F Floor Standing Speaker 1 Klipsch RP-450C Center Channel Speaker 1 SVS PB 2000 Pro Sub 2 Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-140SA Dolby Atmos and I have them hooked with Dennon AVR-X3600H. I think Adding an amplifier will elevate the sound. I mainly use it for music, my TV is also connected with it but i hardly use it with my TV. What Amp would you suggest for this set-up? My budget is between 1000 to 1200. If i do get a Amp, should I connect it with my Dennon or get rid of the AVR and just use the AMP as standalone component? Once again i am sorry for the bother. Thank you so much for your help.

[@Lainv2]

How does it pair with low ohm headphones? (ie Audeze LCD2)

[@circattle]

In my experience, these budget tube amplifiers will not work with planar magnetics at all. You need to stick to dynamic drivers, the higher the impedance the better.

[@westernartifact580]

It won’t very well. Use high impedance. This amp works opposite of amps with output transformers.

[@adamschnulle687]

Recommended aftermarket tubes for this amp?

[@thehobbyguy7089]

Have you tried the TA-30?

[@shejking24]

I have a question. Would be a reasonable to buy Topping A30pro with D50s? Thx in andvance.

[@DanielGomez-ts6uv]

Yes it would still put out the same amount of power using single ended connection

[@jadejohnson3664]

I purchased this amp. There is a loud low pitched humming through both left and right with and without input connected. Anyone know why and what to do about it? I am assuming it is related to the tube?

[@MrEvhel83]

Will my Hifiman Sundara work well with Xduoo TA-26 ?

[@allsmilesb-f7m]

Question will the preamp of the Xduoo TA-26 work well with the drop thx aaa one amp. I have read that the output impedance xduoo ta-26 is more than the input impedance of drop thx one amp so could that be a problem?

[@futuraman2112]

So is this amp still not really a good choice for low-impedence headphones? (around 60 ohms) Is there a tube amp that achieves good tube saturation for headphones that aren't 250+ ohms? And isn't the freaking WA-33 lol

[@westernartifact580]

Lots of them but they’re going to be much more expensive. Look at ALO audio, Decware, or the amps that ZMF sells.

[@futuraman2112]

@@westernartifact580 Thanks! And if I could ask further, is there a spec or something to look for when seeing if an amp will work well for low-impedence headphones?

[@soundsilove6123]

Guys do you checked that with hifiman headphones? Worth trying?

[@no-man_baugh]

Where would anyone recommend buying tubes? I've seen some dedicated tube sites when searching but is there anywhere specific that's known to be trusted/relevant to audiophiles

[@soulfulfool]

why wont you try ebay

[@ryanherrera9171]

What are your computer speakers?

[@BonelessFrenchToast]

So what tubes would be recommended for these?

[@MrFestus01]

The stock tube sound phenomenal on this unit. I honestly doubt this guy even listened to this amp for longer than 2 minutes before he did this review.

[@Ilumeo]

I see that Kato in the background 👀

[@the-mr-paul]

what dac did you use with it?

[@JoeKis]

wow I'm early! got any snacks for the early birds?

[@Uebelkraehe]

Liking a neutral siganture is still a preference...

[@HoveKB]

I have the TA-10R myself.

[@brojohnmcd]

And I thought I was the only person that liked gray!

[@jackson8jackson]

Best headphones to use with this amp?

[@BeeFiftyN8]

I love the Senn. 6xx on my darkvoice!

[@AliArghavan]

Yeah HD6XX series and also ZMF dynamic headphones.

[@HooliganKONVERSE]

HD 6XX, HD 800s basically any high impedance dynamic headphones 👍🏼

[@westernartifact580]

How much you will spend will change the answer. Are you willing to spend 4x the cost of the amp? Might be reasonable or might reasonably be silly to do that. Get Baer DT 1990 PRO (600 ohms, 600 bucks) and you won’t believe how good it sounds.

[@westernartifact580]

This is just my personal opinion but I think my DT 1990 PRO sound better than my S 800s on my OTL amps. My ZMF even better. But YMMV.

[@Elrics_Allenn]

Wait a second, KATO? Already? @4:02

[@donvittoriosierra]

Has anyone tried the ta26 with the Sennheiser HD58x? Is that a good combo?

[@chirpzilla2358]

i tried it and it sounds ok but can be a bit too bright and ear bleeding a bit thats y the hd 6xx was way surperior

[@aceofspades6667]

When I see the name darkvoice... I immediately think of Vader or Mufasa.

[@gmartinezcabrera]

Josh. Big fan. Quick q: in a recent video, yiu made this great metaphor about vastness vs wideness of sound and that it was hard to have both. I’ve been following you for 3 years now and you and Bad seed totally got me into this strange hobby of collecting headphones. So here’s the q; I have a 4xx, a 1060c modded, a 1990 for video production and soon I’m getting a 177x because I love bass. But the sound I’m chasing is actually the first headphone your video inspired me to buy: the shp9500 and in some ways that’s still my fave. It’s light and wide sound. What I want is that kind of width with more vastness. What should I check out. Basically I want light, wife and power (or vastness). Any thoughts?

[@lczp]

HD 800S might suit you, specially if you EQ them to get rid of the treble harshness.

[@hungry6479]

hifiman egg shaped stuffs

[@jman4669]

Hi Josh! Could you do a video about low price dac + linear power supply? I have the new Topping E50 + Topping P50 and the combination is crazy good I mean really crazy good. I can honesly say that the sound is almost as good as 2 000$ dac!

[@FEARmeify]

That is 100% placebo. A linear power supply will not make a difference unless what you were using before was malfunctioning or something.

[@jman4669]

@@FEARmeify My opinion exactly before I tested the P50. I don't know if power supply makes such a huge difference in every DAC, but for Topping USB- powered DAC:s there is a significant noise reduction. Using only your computer USB socket for power is quite noisy but with the power supply the backround is completely black. You can hear the difference immediately. I also know that getting the power supply doesn't automatically make your DAC as good as a 2 000$ DAC but you get quite close regarding the sound.

[@davidmason8212]

I would like to ask you how many hours it take to change the tubes ?

[@sephondranzer]

Should take you less than a minute to do that. The trick is finding the matching tubes, but at that point switching tubes out is slightly easier than switching keycaps (for example).

[@NatasKrad]

I have the DV, and I've had to 'burn-in' tubes up to 48hrs to remove the left channel hum.

[@HooliganKONVERSE]

If you mean how many hours to burn in new tubes then it depends, most people say 48-72 hours is what it takes. I have one that I’m burning in now that has almost 70 hours and still has a small hum. It sounds wayy quieter though so almost there. :-)

[@NatasKrad]

@@HooliganKONVERSE good luck

[@westernartifact580]

MaKe sure to completely cool down the tubes and amp before changing tubes. Make sure to Burn in now tubes (can take a week). Make sure to warm up tubes every time before you listen (20-30 minutes) or you will hate the sound.

[@ammar5400]

Moondrop Kato review soon ? 4:04

[@KindredGh0st]

It's funny. The darkvoice is now cheaper. Pretty sure that's your bad Josh!

[@carlsitler9071]

I'm not sure half a watt will be good with my planar. My 5 watt amp works well.

[@soulfulfool]

planars dont go well with tubes unless you have serious $$ or specific planars maybe those really power hungry could work, never tested he6se, my lcd2c, Arya or T60 Argon distorted or had too much reverb

[@allen6778]

Should I sell my darkvoice and buy a ta-26?

[@HooliganKONVERSE]

No, at that point you’re losing money for a difference you most likely wouldn’t hear

[@XtianApi]

Ta22 or ta26. That's where I am right now

[@antipatik0]

I'm there right now, what did you choose?

[@XtianApi]

​@@antipatik0I am a dear in headlights who did nothing. I have a cheap mt-602, then we moved, so it's all on hold. Plus, movers, I think, stole stuff. Pair of kefs, headphones, etc I am getting over it and will move on soon. Thinking more about replacing my speakers first. So idk. Still don't know.

[@MrFestus01]

Pretty generic sounding review. Sounds like you browsed over a couple reviews on Google, then compared it with the amp you actually have knowledge of (the Dark voice) and then gave us this 10 minutes of swill. Do better bro. Take the time needed to do your own proper research.

[@Hakku1403]

disgusting review

[@AlumarsX]

Can't beat a $150 Darkvoice tho

[@XVisionsProd]

none of your links work!!!!

[@virtuoosi7037]

they use same componets. xduoo build in pcb and dark voice not, and that only make price difference. nothing else

[@HooliganKONVERSE]

Is the TA26 OTL?

[@gabrielsirilan3406]

First comment!