XDUOO TA-22 REVIEW!!! A Masterful Tube/Solid State Hybrid Dac/Amp!

This beautiful work of electronic art took 4 of my most expensive headphones and earphones from "I'm coping" to "I freaking love them", which makes the TA-22 absolutely worth every penny to me. Being that it is the only source that I have in the $500 range, I cannot tell you if it is as good as, or better than its peers. What I can say, is that I have never heard music sound as good as it does through this with a fairly significant number of sets that I own - IEM or Over Ear! It is simply that good. Bravo Xduoo! Bravo!
(Bluetooth 5.1 - AAC, LDAC, APTX-HD, LL, etc. Sample rate via USB up to 32bit/384KHz - more technical specs on websites below)
Links to purchase Xduoo TA-22:
Linsoul Audio (Affiliate)
www.linsoul.co...
Apos Audio (unaffiliated)
apos.audio/pro...
Amazon (Unaffiliated - Shenzhen Audio Store)
www.amazon.com...
Tubes!
JJE Gold Pin High Performance 12AU7 Gain-Matched Pair (Tubedepot.com)
tubedepot.com/...
Tung Sol 6189 12AU7 Gain-Matched Pair (Tonal Tubes via Amazon)
www.amazon.com...
Love Y'all, Nothing but Peace to YOU! See you soon!

[@Jaawaudio]

Great review, I waited excitedly for this, didn't disappoint! Interesting how the tubes apparently helped a lot of gear, to sound nicer. We're a bit funny when we basically do expensive hardware EQ by buying gear, but that is still so much fun :D Good comparison of different audio hobby perspectives and ways, don't worry about it indeed. I am super tempted to buy this product :)

[@bongofury3176]

have had mine for about 6 months. I love it. I tend to use my Chord DAC but the ESS DAC is very good. The amplifier is the star of the show. I highly recommend GE JAN NOS tubes or Genalex Gold Lion reissues - they both sound superb in this amp. My only issue is I cannot get any other USB cable (eg QED Signature, Furutech, Supra) to work apart from the supplied cable..

[@BassDad8]

Hi! Both of those tubes are on my short list to get! Thank you for confirming my thoughts on them! I’ll definitely be ordering them in the near future. I am not familiar with the usb brands you listed, but I did add an audio quest cinnamon to mine with no problem. I haven’t swapped back and forth with the stock cable to see if there’s an audible difference, but I do have a hub, so now I will! I got the cinnamon to match the red knob. lol. Anyway, thank you for the great info and I’m glad you’re enjoying yours too!

[@user-bz5cf8ne7q]

I bought this during the sale. It is still backordered I can hardley wait.

[@Kipacus]

Hey I Found your channel through your review on APOS, Love the content! I love how you can slightly change the sound by changing the tubes on this thing. I am looking for something Bass Heavy and I am very new to the hobby. Right now I am fighting between the Xduoo TA-22, the Burson Playmate 2, The Geshelli J2/E2 or the Topping E70 Velvet/L70 I love Bass and heavy metal music, not sure if Bass Slam is a good thing but I love a crazy punchy bass so if anyone has tried these and has any feedback would love to hear it!

[@enwz96]

Awesome video!

[@BassDad8]

Thank you! It was a lot of fun to do!

[@-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

You gotta do a full review on the SMSL DL200 now.

[@BassDad8]

You’re on!

[@radiofreealbemuth]

17:48 i ordered the xduoo xd05 pro, and so i'm hoping it'll make more than a 5% difference from my apple dongle 😭

[@BassDad8]

Oh you are! It’s going to be like night and day. I still pull my old Apple dongle out once in awhile to remember the darkness I was living in. You’ll see… enjoy!

[@radiofreealbemuth]

@BassDad8 wow, you were right! The xd05 pro arrived today, and I think it's in a completely different category 😳 the apple dongle was good for eliminating hissing, but it pales in comparison. the xd05 pro sounds so dramatic and dynamic. I'm getting depth and richness that I'm not used to. The audio quality makes me feel like i'm in a movie theater 😭

[@BassDad8]

@@radiofreealbemuth that is AWESOME to hear! Enjoy the heck out of it! It makes such a difference when you find something that “flips the switch” for you. I’m happy you found one 🤘

[@radiofreealbemuth]

@BassDad8 ah thanks, this is such a revelation for me. I'm finding new details in my favorite songs, and I'm also appreciating a lot of songs I overlooked before 🥰

[@ImAWSMDanny]

Tooooooobz!

[@Rob-Davidson]

Will this work for 4K movies through optical to my TV? I have a $200 DAC but the audio randomly drops or skips for a fraction of a second. I've bought and tried 4 different optical cables and there were no changes.

[@BassDad8]

Hey. I’m not at home so I can’t do any testing. But when I get home, I will. I’ve got a 2023 4K tv in my office. It will be super easy to get the TA-22 hooked up to it. So I’ll be back in a couple of days and I’ll put it through the paces for you

[@Rob-Davidson]

@BassDad8 , you're the man, brotha. I think it might be the TV though. I have a 55" LG G4, and so far, I've tried five different optical cables and two different DACs. The DACs were each about $200. According to the guy I spoke to at LG, the TV is incompatible with DACs. Which is weird because it's $2,800 for a 55". He said that Optical is only made for a soundbar. lol

[@Coffeeandacigarette]

Bro I just ordered this thing on apos to push my he-1000 stealth as an upgrade from a zen stack. I picked up a pair of tung sol tubes too since I'm an expert at throwing money away 😂

[@BassDad8]

Awesome!!! Please let me know how it goes!!!

[@Coffeeandacigarette]

Still waiting. Apos ran out so they threw me a $15 credit since they won't have more until the 15th​@@BassDad8

[@RealKyurem]

I also have the he1000 stealth but I'm using the rca clear tops with my ta 22 and it sounds amazing!

[@diabolicalangle]

Did you find the balanced output to be equal or lesser in volume compared to the single end? Have heard people say that it doesn't seem to have a true balanced output as it claims

[@BassDad8]

All 3 outs played nice. That’s all I can tell you. From a 9 ohm iem to a 300 ohm headphone, and everything in between, the TA-22 drove them with ease and depth and style. Don’t know why they’d bother putting 2 tube hybrid amps and 2 full on Dac chips in there if it wasn’t “truly” balanced. Not sure, don’t care. It’s freaking fantastic. And it will get louder and stay cleaner on the balanced side than you could possibly endure on even the most demanding headphones. So no. Not a “scam”.

[@diabolicalangle]

@@BassDad8 awesome, that puts the mind at ease

[@BassDad8]

@@diabolicalangle Cool. I have heard that rumor too. I even emailed XDuoo, but never got a reply. None of the other reviewers have mentioned any issues, and just about everyone is more experienced than I am at this point. So yes, rest assured, it is what it says it is. Thank you for the question by the way! ☮