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Eleven XIAudio Broadway Headphone Amp Review

Rate this headphone amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 135 68.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 54 27.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 4 2.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 3 1.5%

  • Total voters
    196
OP
amirm

amirm

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AdamG

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I don't think his intentions are necessarily to "scam" people, etc..
That could be true or more likely proof of what a Great Salesman he is. Ripping off your Customers while making them feel privileged is part of the mythology we are trying to uncover and expose. Not saying that is the case here. People have to make up their own minds. Our job is to give them the scientific evidence that is absent in most sales pitches and brochures.
 
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Even if it was decent it's ugly as sin. Why would you design this with torx screws showing through the front of the XLR out?
 

Tks

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to be fair I think Joshua and some other youtubers are not necessarily snake oil promoters or liars, preference outliers can be really wild, I know some guy who loves Grado more than any other headphones he listened, and at one point he had like 30 headphones in his home. It's best if we can try for ourselves before making a decision.

I used to be like you too, the head-fi crowd cheered for AudioGD products so I tried them and didn't find them special, like not bad but after I purchased JDS Lab Atom stack I feel like I missed nothing from them.

Um, actually, they are. They know all the arguments, Josh for instance has been aware of objective testing since the 789 days and mentions when a device also measures beyond threshold of audibility. He thus knows psychological and run-to-run predispositions can change on a dime. For him to continue to give "his thoughts" would be like me saying "yeah I know science demonstrates this, but... let,me,tell you, guys. This has to be the best thing I've ever heard in my life".

If he were being honest to a respectable degree, he would leave exclaimers about how even time of day can affect your listening experience, your mood, etc..

Let alone being sent products to review that cost thousands sometimes (which in of itself imparts a heavy bias, on top of things like price bias, even if he had to return all the products, access matters).

So yes, they are snake oil promoters, and at worst, willfully keeping themselves ignorant to concepts they should be taking upon themselves to educate themselves about if they want to do a review the justice it deserves for such a large viewership. I don't see the mutual exclusivity of being a snake oil promoter, and being ignorant. I think all three can be present in various quantities all at the same time. And the levels of these labels grows as you become more prolific and are looked upon by viewers in hopes of providing quality information. I don't take it to be the case that people get more idiotic as their fame grows, unless of course they suffer period head trauma that would allow this opposite trajectory to how a human mind usually functions.
 

PeteL

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One of these days, there will be a true Class A amp that will measure well. It will have VU meters, it will be balanced and it will not be $8K. One of these days..
Well, ok... without VUs
 

nyxnyxnyx

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Um, actually, they are. They know all the arguments, Josh for instance has been aware of objective testing since the 789 days and mentions when a device also measures beyond threshold of audibility. He thus knows psychological and run-to-run predispositions can change on a dime. For him to continue to give "his thoughts" would be like me saying "yeah I know science demonstrates this, but... let,me,tell you, guys. This has to be the best thing I've ever heard in my life".

If he were being honest to a respectable degree, he would leave exclaimers about how even time of day can affect your listening experience, your mood, etc..

Let alone being sent products to review that cost thousands sometimes (which in of itself imparts a heavy bias, on top of things like price bias, even if he had to return all the products, access matters).

So yes, they are snake oil promoters, and at worst, willfully keeping themselves ignorant to concepts they should be taking upon themselves to educate themselves about if they want to do a review the justice it deserves for such a large viewership. I don't see the mutual exclusivity of being a snake oil promoter, and being ignorant. I think all three can be present in various quantities all at the same time. And the levels of these labels grows as you become more prolific and are looked upon by viewers in hopes of providing quality information. I don't take it to be the case that people get more idiotic as their fame grows, unless of course they suffer period head trauma that would allow this opposite trajectory to how a human mind usually functions.
I'd agree if you say he should be more clear, throughout and detailed with his reviews, but to say he's a liar for being aware of certain scientific findings but not actually using it as a cornerstone of his audio journey? I think that's a stretch.

As for his recommendation, his list (and to some extent, other reviewer's lists like Crinacle's) is based on his preferences and he mentioned it several times. "He thinks its the best headphones he listened to" sounds pretty reasonable to me, he didn't go out of his way to say it's undoubtedly the greatest headphones ever like it's something set in stone. You can shit on his taste for liking badly designed, overpriced distortion factory and stuff, maybe call him ignorant if you deem so. Additionally, the last time I check, his stance on cables were pretty much alike to what's suggested here as well.

And hey, science does not reflect absolute satisfaction in this hobby, does it? It provides what's objectively the truth, but it does not mean everyone will like it (as in enjoy it), or have the ability to bend their taste to it.
For example you can check the Zero IEMs thread, it passed all objective metrics with flying colors, it's a record-breaker IEMs and yet not everyone who bought it there was happy with it (granted, it is only a minority). Is it their hearing's fault for not being able to like it? Or is it the reviewer's fault for giving it such praises? I don't think either is correct. His listening preference not matching with the scientific findings is not a causal evidence that he's a liar.
 

Mnyb

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agreed, i just think when you have the amount of viewers Joshua does, you should be careful on being very biased towards a specific product. People listen to whatever he says as they see that hes one of the most popular audiophile youtubers. I don't think his intentions are necessarily to "scam" people, etc..
Thats a thing with bias you can’t always know and it’s unavoidable to have bias ( and no you can’t control it by some special mindset ), that’s why most sighted testing are broken even when honest people are involved .

One has to wonder what kind of people are willing to give consumer advice without basic controls and being very careful and thorough ?

You possibly influenced people to bad decisions ( one instance proven in this tread ).
Promote products that are not really worthy of consideration ( also one instance proven in this tread ).
Demote products that are worthy of consideration.

No wonder high end hifi can get toxic , basically food fights over which set of emperors new clothes to wear :)
 

IAtaman

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Well, ok... without VUs
Yeah, I was exited about that amp, almost ordered it as well, especially given its price. But a combination of things put me off. I understand Class A is up to 30mA, 40mA or so, SE implementation felt like an afterthought, you have to lift the amp to change the gain which is not ideal, and most importantly, no VU meter as you said. Objective fail! ;) Waiting for SA-1s to come out.
 

IAtaman

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The high-priced audio bashing continues, I'm all for it! Well ok, it does deserve it, I don't mind high priced audio gear that performs extraordinarily! @IAtaman , sure you don't want to defend this one! :p
Nope, not this time. Measurement provide a much better objective correlation to performance in electronics I understand, plus Amir nailed it when he said not bad if you have it but nothing you need to go and buy in my humble opinion, which tamed the pitchfork and the torch crowd, plus seems like it is using the Class A name in vain and no VU meters, so I am cool with bashing this one :D
 

PeteL

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Yeah, I was exited about that amp, almost ordered it as well, especially given its price. But a combination of things put me off. I understand Class A is up to 30mA, 40mA or so, SE implementation felt like an afterthought, you have to lift the amp to change the gain which is not ideal, and most importantly, no VU meter as you said. Objective fail! ;) Waiting for SA-1s to come out.
30 mA is 1W in 32 ohms, your headphones pull more than that? (Not that it matter that much.)
 

IAtaman

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30 mA is 1W in 32 ohms, your headphones pull more than that? (Not that it matter that much.)
30mA into 32ohm is roughly 30mW is it not? In any case, I am aware its nitpicking.
 

PeteL

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30mA into 32ohm is roughly 30mW is it not? In any case, I am aware its nitpicking.
right sorry, I just took this from their site without calculating: Google translated from one of the Chines language. Where does your figure come from? Anyway it's I think off topic.

Class A mode of SA-1:
balanced 16 ohm load: below 500mw;
balanced 32 ohm load: below 1000mw;
balanced 68 ohm load: below 3000mw;
Balance the load above 68 ohms: almost all the power is Class A;
 
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IAtaman

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right sorry, I just took this from their site without calculating: Google translated from English. Where does your figure come from? Anyway it's I think off topic.
Power = Current x Current x Resistance. 3 to power of 3 would be 27 so rounded up a bit to 30 :) I always get confused with units though so I might be wrong.

Class A mode of SA-1:
balanced 16 ohm load: below 500mw;
balanced 32 ohm load: below 1000mw;
balanced 68 ohm load: below 3000mw;
Balance the load above 68 ohms: almost all the power is Class A;
I think the amp can reach higher power but Topping guy and Solderdude said it goes to AB beyond 30 or 40mA.
 

solderdude

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Class-A max. output and max. output power in class AB are indeed 2 different things.
I have no idea what the idle current is though, could be 200mA. In that case the total power draw (heat that has to be dissipated) is about 20W.
Singxer claims almost all power is class A in 68ohm.
This is about 15V so 220mA.
So 200mA idle current makes sense. to create 15V balanced output you need +/-24V rails so +/-12V rails for balanced amps.
24V x 0.2A = 5W per stage, 4 stages for balanced = 20W in heat.
In a closed cabinet with just some slits in the sides this means the amp runs quite hot.
 
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PeteL

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Power = Current x Current x Resistance. 3 to power of 3 would be 27 so rounded up a bit to 30 :) I always get confused with units though so I might be wrong.


I think the amp can reach higher power but Topping guy and Solderdude said it goes to AB beyond 30 or 40mA.
Your Calculation was correct. It's just the number that differs from their specs, the specs I gave you is not Max Power, It's Power in class A (As I understand Solder Dudes number was just a guess as he makes the precision here). In all cases It's a great measuring Class A. I just don't know if it should be a criteria tough, efficiency is cool too...
 

Orion76

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Bunko Batteries, Inc. is proud to announce the availability of its line of Golden Ear Batteries. Each Golden Ear Battery is cryogenically treated, rhodium plated, specially marked around the edges with a green magic marker, and burned in for 8 hours in a vintage Tice Clock. Battery life is sharply reduced by these processes, but audiophiles rave about the improvements in pacing and emotional impact. AA Golden Ear Batteries are non-rechargeable, and sell for $49.95 each. Order yours today!
Green magic marker? Thanks for the memories.
The Audio Prism CD Stoplight
Putting green around the edge of the CD absorbed stray laser light and made everything sound better. Or something.
 

nagster

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I don't know. There is some leakage current some place. I have to take it apart and troubleshoot. It has caused marginal problems with other gear. I noted it in my review of it: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...me-hp-load-review-headphone-dummy-load.25358/
amirm, thank you as always.

If the HP-LOAD is powered by batteries, there is a possibility that suspects can be reduced.
For example, with usb mobile battery and conversion code, etc.
 

Badunn

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If a company produces a component that measures (ie performs) significantly worse than an alternative costing less than 15 times the price - then you have to seriously ask questions of what that company is trying to achieve. This unit is also devastatingly devoid of design appeal and connectivity. The premise of battery operation to provide flexibility of use...really? What were the design team thinking (or smoking?)

The review demonstrates OK performance. I'd be devastated as an owner if I didn't get SOTA performance.

Amir is really giving manufacturers for free insightful tools to achieve straight wire with gain - but it is ignored.

Having lived with a Chord Mojo - only to have it totally and utterly destroyed on every level by a SMSL C200 - reviews of manufacturers producing stuff like this does make me think they are trying it on.
 
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