xDuoo TA-22 - Versatile All-N-1 Tube Hybrid DAC Balanced Amplifier - Honest Audiophile Impressions

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A BIG thanks to Apos Audio for providing the xDuoo TA-22 for review, much appreciated. The xDuoo TA-22 is a versatile DAC, amp, tube hybrid that offers plenty of power and inputs that should please those looking for a smidge of tubiness in their sound.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction/Specs
02:05 Build/Design/Layout/Filters/Power
06:30 Sonic Impressions
11:35 vs Drop Cavalli Tube Hybrid CTH
12:40 Conclusion
13:05 Exit Stage Right
I am not a professional sound engineer, producer, musician, or vocalist, etc. I have not done any scientific research, measurements, or in-depth testing of any kind; just my own listening, comparing and internet reading/research. I have limited, real-life experience with recording, mixing and mastering gear. I have been involved since my teenage years with various churches as an amateur sound booth technician.
Please take these thoughts, opinions and reasonings as just that, my honest audiophile thoughts, opinions and reasonings.
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[@johnsoriano3812]

glad to see this one being reviewed. I think this is the best tube amp from xduoo

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

It's easily the best xDuoo I've heard and reviewed.

[@carminedesanto6746]

GM ☕️….this looks nice . Still running the Xduoo 604 amp 😎 Listening and Dave have a great weekend 👍

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Awesome 👍 Have a wonderful weekend.

[@FilipinaVegana]

Who is "Listening"?

[@carminedesanto6746]

@@FilipinaVeganame 😆

[@BrianJoergens]

I like mine, bought it on one of Apos’ sales. Also got the Apos tubes for the heck of it and haven’t looked back

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Awesome 💯

[@danieleturrin5625]

Does your balanced out sounds as loud or even less than the single ended? It's the second unit i roll but the balanced connection seems like a scam.

[@BrianJoergens]

@@danieleturrin5625 I had no problems. Make sure you have good tubes that are properly seated.

[@riccitone]

Really great review! Super comprehensive and balanced. I'm on the fence between getting a dedicated head amp like the Schiit Lyr 3 to run with a dac, or something more combined like this. Wondering how this compares? More bang for buck this way, just wondering what will be more worth it 🙏

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sorry haven't heard the Lyr 3.

[@peternagy8767]

Thanks for the review. Great video as always Dave. I found it very informative. Is this combo a step up from a Topping E30 II and L30 II setup? What do you think? Thank you in advance for your reply. 🙏

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I've not heard the E30 and L30 since I reviewed them, here are links. L30 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKuwoJyPnppqf9ksi=ncxZE8On2wxdPgty E30 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJDPl3WCr7Wih6csi=xzRfFJS9kcDwXfXm I wasn't a big fan of them. I do believe the TA-22 is an upgrade to them.

[@peternagy8767]

@@TheHonestAudiophile Many thanks.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@peternagy8767 my pleasure, you're welcome

[@danieleturrin5625]

Ok, I need to share my experience with this amp (bought from HiFiGo). After some minutes the volume knob became loose and it didn't let me to click it correctly. Menu worked at reverse, when I turned the volume knob to the right, the selection went to the left. Then I've tried balanced connection, and here's the big surprise: it sounded quieter and worse than the single ended. Sent it back, still waiting for another unit.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sorry to hear about your experience. Hopefully the replacement will give you enjoyment. The menu and volume knob is not fun no matter what, frustrating to me as well.

[@danieleturrin5625]

@@TheHonestAudiophile oh, so your unit has that reverse menu too? And for curiosity, is your balanced connection louder than the single ended (I mean at the same volume level)?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@danieleturrin5625 The menu is finicky, shouldn't be not reversed. Balanced out is more powerful so yes it is louder; that's normal when comparing single ended and balanced.

[@danieleturrin5625]

@@TheHonestAudiophile thanks, probabily my unit was full of faults.

[@danieleturrin5625]

​​@@TheHonestAudiophilehi, HiFiGo sent me another unit but the issue is still there: balanced is as loud or even a bit quieter on dynamics than the single ended. I saw that many people had this issue. If you still have the unit, could you please check if they sound the same in terms of loundess?

[@MeDroiD]

Hi friend! Any chance you could share which filter / filters do you use and why? Not able to find differences when using one or another! Thanks!

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I don't recall each individual filter that is available but I preferred the apodizing filter as it sounded the least colored and neutral. The differences were subtle, not the most noticeable of filters on a device.

[@miles6795]

Got mine yesterday it my first tube ever my reaction was like goddamn this thing is wonderful. Any recommend replace tube?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Apos Audio sells 2AU7 tubes apos.audio/products/ray-tubes-12au7-core-vacuum-tube?_pos=4&_sid=819bb6f4a&_ss=r apos.audio/products/apos-ray-tube-12au7?_pos=1&_sid=819bb6f4a&_ss=r

[@Ordinalis]

I recently just bought a Moondrop Para along with a 4.4mm balanced cable to swap out the stock one. Would the xDuoo ta-22 be a good choice for a dac/amp for it, or should I look elsewhere? I've seen people say the Para is kind of annoying to work with due to its low impedance and 101db/Vrms

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Ta-22 worked well with the Para while I had it in for review.

[@isadorealire5722]

if a person were to "step up" looking for a different type of sound, purely from a sound perspective, would you get this or the Hifiman EF400?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Really comes down to your preference or what you want to experience. TA-22 for the subtle tubey experience and for the R2R experience the EF400. I prefer the EF600 over the EF400. Also another option to consider is the Aune S9C Pro. All are good choices with different experiences in my opinion.

[@tubefreeeasy]

Adding this DAC has added a substantial increase to my TA30 with black treasure 12au7(s) and Sophia Electric Aqua rectifier tube.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Awesome 😎 Glad you enjoy it.

[@danieleturrin5625]

Does your balanced out sounds as loud or even less than the single ended? It's the second unit i roll but the balanced connection seems like a scam.

[@tdmduc]

Glad to see MQA still on this

[@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.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I didn't use/test it that way I don't see why you couldn't.

[@Rob-Davidson]

@@TheHonestAudiophile I ordered two more optical cables that are more expensive. I really think that it's a cable issue. Thanks for your reply.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@Rob-Davidson my pleasure, you're welcome. Hopefully the issue is resolved for you.

[@Briantwitty]

How do you think this would match up with the Harmonicdyne Zuess Elite?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

That a solid pairing.

[@Briantwitty]

@@TheHonestAudiophile I would love to see you review the TA-10R Dac/Amp from Xduoo to see how it compares to this at a little cheaper price point

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.

[@ksjcoffeee]

Do you think this would be a worth upgrade from Fiio K7 for Focal Celestee? If not, what will you recommend under 1000?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Hmmm I've not heard the Celestee. The TA-22 is an upgrade to the K7 with power, detail retrieval and resolution; it's also a little different presentation being tubes.

[@ksjcoffeee]

. @TheHonestAudiophile Celestee is easy to drive, so power should not be a concern for me. Wondering more about if the audio improvement worth that much. Also considering Cambridge 200M and WA7(2nd gen)...

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sorry haven't heard Cambridge 200m or Woo Audio WA7. I've not heard K7 since I reviewed it so my opinion earlier was off memory.

[@ksjcoffeee]

@@TheHonestAudiophile Thank you anyway! Ta-22 review is really helpful to me

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@ksjcoffeee my pleasure, you're welcome. Glad you found the video helpful.

[@zurgeonzurgeon4720]

How is it compared to fiio k9 akm?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Fiio K9 AKM review coming soon

[@michellesylvia685]

👍

[@juanblanco7898]

7hz Zero 2 incoming, by any chance?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

It's in the house along with 33 other products for review.

[@juanblanco7898]

@@TheHonestAudiophile Oh, wow, I see. Looking forward to that one. And others as well)

[@diana73654]

All my headphones sound so much better from single ended and even directly from phone through 3.5 adapter, than balanced. For me , using the balanced cables and output, is destroying the sound , the clarity impression being fake . Is tightening everything , in the way that a bright headphone will sound even brighter , bass will loose sub frequencies and highs will loose sparkle. There is a reason why headphone producers are adding only a single ended cable, in the box. That headphone was tuned to sound the best with single ended cable . Im running Audeze LCD3 and LCD X, Arya Organic, Meze 100 Pro and 99 Classic. FiiO ft3 and ft5 through Matrix Element X2 or FiiO M17 or iPhone 13mini . Balanced output for headphones is, for me , the biggest snake oil ever ( I am not talking about balanced circuit between dacs and amps ) .

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Not all gear needs to be run balanced as it can alter sound signatures. If a single-end amplifier is built correctly and has good power, good current and impedance then it can drive headphones and IEM accurately. I do find that a lot of headphones, including a lot of planars and high ohm dynamics it varies with the amplifier whether or not se or bal is better. Balanced amps when designed and implemented correctly and paired with the proper gear can enhance the experience but a quality designed and implemented se amp can perform at the same or higher level. So I get what you are saying but I don't agree that balanced is snake-oil. Thank you for your thoughts.

[@invisiblekid99]

You haven’t listened to balanced headphones on the right equipment then. Many do sound better, as long as they are balanced amps and the dac has been made with balanced in mind. Not everything is meant to sound better in balanced, but there is absolute examples where they do. But there is equipment where balanced is an after thought and won’t sound better.

[@zakyfadhlurrohman2825]

I have the same strange experience. Have tried playing with balanced with various headphones and amps (dedicated, combo, even portable, and bluetooth adapter), and I hated it. I think with balanced the dynamic hits even harder and I prefer more laid back sound. It also eliminated the natural decay of my headphones. I just bought a used HD800S, and it comes with only balanced XLR, currently have no balanced amp, wondering if I should take another risk.

[@PeterTeng-ps6fl]

Has anybody compared the SE and balanced outputs of this amplifier. They sound exactly the same in terms of volume. The balanced output has supposedly twice the power, but the volume level is exactly the same as the SE one. Tried it with dynamics and planar headphones. Is this normal?

[@TOM7952]

But can you tell any of this apart in a blind test? It's a great combo unit regardless.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

If you come for a visit and setup a blind ABX test for us to do together, we'll find out if we can or not. Thanks for watching, commenting and subscribing.

[@TOM7952]

@@TheHonestAudiophile There should be a way to ABX with some type of randomized mediary box. The tech is available.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@TOM7952 There are other channels that do that sort of testing and reviewing. Since the first video of my channel it has been subjective impressions only. I trust my ears, my music, my gear and my experiences and voice my impressions to the public. Thanks for watching, commenting and subscribing.

[@tubefreeeasy]

AB testing gets tiring after a while. It becomes irritating. Plus, each time I turn my unit on and off, my tubes filament wears down. It’s a wearing process that takes time. If your into that kind of thing, go for it.

[@Karma_-l]

cover your chest

[@Coffeeandacigarette]

I own the hifiman he-1000 stealth. Currently using the ifi zen coupled with the Zen can amp. Is this a worth while upgrade?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I've not heard HE1000 Stealth. I've not heard iFi Zen DAC and amps since I reviewed them and I don't recall enough to fairly compare.

[@Coffeeandacigarette]

Thank you for an open and honest response. ​@@TheHonestAudiophile

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

My pleasure, you're welcome