Soncoz LA-QXD1 Balanced DAC Review

[MechEngVic]

In the volume icon on the bottom bar of the windows display, does clicking on it show "Speakers (LA-QXD1)"

 

[MechEngVic]

Also, if you right click on the volume icon, then click on open sound settings, you can choose your output device, set master volume, troubleshoot, manage sound devices and at the bottom, under "advanced sound options", you can change some default settings. All worth looking at and messing with.

 

[seano]

I went through and made sure all of those were maxed, then reseated all the cables, etc, and now I can very faintly hear sound when I crank my amp up to max volume. It's super tinny and kind of distorted, but it's there.

That pretty much seals the deal, I think. I probably bricked it by using that Samsung fast charger in the beginning. Either that or the XLR inputs of my 789 are defective. I'll try to test it's RCA output in the next couple of days (I may have to order a cable), but I doubt that will change anything.

For now, to anyone planning to buy this: DO NOT USE A FAST CHARGER TO POWER THIS DAC. This should be fairly obvious, the correct voltage/amperage is marked on the unit. Don't be an idiot like I was.

 

[Jimbob54]

I went through and made sure all of those were maxed, then reseated all the cables, etc, and now I can very faintly hear sound when I crank my amp up to max volume. It's super tinny and kind of distorted, but it's there.

That pretty much seals the deal, I think. I probably bricked it by using that Samsung fast charger in the beginning. Either that or the XLR inputs of my 789 are defective. I'll try to test it's RCA output in the next couple of days (I may have to order a cable), but I doubt that will change anything.

For now, to anyone planning to buy this: DO NOT USE A FAST CHARGER TO POWER THIS DAC. The correct voltage/amperage is marked on the unit.

At the risk of asking a really daft question, you've toggled the input selector on the 789?

 

[seano]

At the risk of asking a really daft question, you've toggled the input selector on the 789?

Yup, there's noticeable buzzing/humming when maxing the volume on the XLR channel, while there's none on the RCA channel. This combined with how distorted the sound is probably means I destroyed it.

 

[Jimbob54]

Yup, there's noticeable buzzing/humming when maxing the volume on the XLR channel, while there's none on the RCA channel. This combined with how distorted the sound is probably means I destroyed it.

It's not looking good. Mine does occasionally get stuck and I have to cycle the power but you've done that. You've tried multiple inputs and turned the volume up as high as it will go on dac (until light doesn't blink when you push +)?

 

[MechEngVic]

Yup, there's noticeable buzzing/humming when maxing the volume on the XLR channel, while there's none on the RCA channel. This combined with how distorted the sound is probably means I destroyed it.

If everything else is working: led's, buttons... I'd be surprised if it's burnt.

 

[seano]

It's not looking good. Mine does occasionally get stuck and I have to cycle the power but you've done that. You've tried multiple inputs and turned the volume up as high as it will go on dac (until light doesn't blink when you push +)?

Same case with optical, don't have anything to test coax with. And yes, the DAC is at it's highest volume setting.

 

[seano]

If everything else is working: led's, buttons... I'd be surprised if it's burnt.

All of the buttons and LEDs still work, but those may have been a little bit more robust than the chip itself. I can also hear some of the left channel's audio in the right channel, which really isn't good.

 

[MechEngVic]

Same case with optical, don't have anything to test coax with. And yes, the DAC is at it's highest volume setting.

If you used optical with a separate source other than your computer, then it probably is the DAC.

 

[MechEngVic]

There was a guy here somewhere that was having no sound issues, he unplugged it overnight and it worked the next day. NO sound issues have been documented with this DAC.

 

[seano]

Well apparently I can't read. It takes 5V 1A power, and I've been using 5V 2A adapters. So yeah it's definitely done. I hope soncoz offers a repair service, if this kind of damage is even repairable. So chalk this one up to me being an idiot and not this DAC having issues. It's a shame, I really liked the look and measurements of this thing.

 

[seano]

As an extra note, I also found a 5V 1A apple wall wart and tried to use that, but when I did the power light started strobing and it would constantly make the clicking sound it always does when you power it on.

 

[Jimbob54]

Well apparently I can't read. It takes 5V 1A power, and I've been using 5V 2A adapters. So yeah it's definitely done. I hope soncoz offers a repair service, if this kind of damage is even repairable. So chalk this one up to me being an idiot and not this DAC having issues. It's a shame, I really liked the look and measurements of this thing.

I've got to say, I'm not a fan of this byo charger trend. I dont use USB input so will always need external power source. This is the result, user error yes possibly, but the uninitiated (myself included) tend to just find something that fits.

Edit, based on comment below, I might flip flop. If any reputable USB phone charger should only output 5v then maybe less of a risk. I still like knowing what's in the box will make the device work though.

 

[MechEngVic]

Using an adapter with higher amps will not damage the DAC, only higher volts will cause damage. The unit will draw only the amps it needs.

 

[seano]

Using an adapter with higher amps will not damage the DAC, only higher volts will cause damage. The unit will draw only the amps it needs.

Really? That changes things. It's possible the first charger I used damaged it, but now there's at least some hope.

I'm also not a fan of this trend, it adds another point of potential failure. I would have thought that the fast charger didn't do any damage, since it had the correct voltage listed as well as a higher one, but it's possible the higher voltage was somehow used instead.

 

[zeze]

Really? That changes things. It's possible the first charger I used damaged it, but now there's at least some hope.

It seems your unit has a similar problem to mine, but in my case it happened with a 5v1a power supply and only one channel died completely.

It seems the problem wasn't the power supply, instead it seems my LA-QXD1 is defective. After I changed the power supply the DAC started to get very hot to the touch which it hadn't done before and when I tried to listen to some music the left channel only had a hissing noise and the right channel had a distorted sound, it was the same noise in both the XLR and RCA outputs. I tested the LA-QXD1 on 2 different headphone amplifiers and with 2 different headphones and the problem persisted.
Since it failed with less than a week of use it seems that the unit is defective. I contacted the seller (hifigo) for the warranty, I hope they won't ask me to ship it back since I already paid 65 USD for shipping.
And it sucks that I won't be able to use my Geshelli Erish until I get a replacement.

In my case I contacted the seller (hifigo) who paid to have the defective unit sent back and sent me a replacement at no extra cost. It arrived yesterday and it's working correctly thus far. It's strange that only part of the device fails. In case it really was some problem with the power supply I hope @Ben1987 can give us an official list of recommended power supplies

 

[somebodyelse]

I'm not sure that a fast charger is good for powering the DAC because it is possible to deliver a voltage higher than 5V.

Unless the charger is defective the only way to get >5V is if the device being charged requests it. The specification is very clear on this because they are intended to be usable with 5V-only devices without there being a risk of damage.

 

[seano]

Unless the charger is defective the only way to get >5V is if the device being charged requests it. The specification is very clear on this because they are intended to be usable with 5V-only devices without there being a risk of damage.

I am certain the charger was not defective, as I used it to charge my phone for many years. When I got the phone's screen replaced, they even validated that the phone's battery was at 99% capacity compared to new. So it's almost certainly not the charger.

Additionally, all of the chargers I tried listed 5V (except for the fast charger, which listed 5V or 9V), so in theory the unit should have only pulled 5V and 1A from the charger. The reason I doubted this at first was because of the heat generated.

It seems your unit has a similar problem to mine, but in my case it happened with a 5v1a power supply and only one channel died completely.

In my case I contacted the seller (hifigo) who paid to have the defective unit sent back and sent me a replacement at no extra cost. It arrived yesterday and it's working correctly thus far. It's strange that only part of the device fails. In case it really was some problem with the power supply I hope @Ben1987 can give us an official list of recommended power supplies

Interesting. I see no reason for it to have requested the extra voltage. And with more people saying that the charger shouldn't have been the problem, I am starting to wonder if the unit was just defective from the start. Especially because of the fact that my PC and the proprietary driver still detect it, as well as the fact that I was still able to do a firmware update.

I honestly have no idea what to think anymore. I don't know too much about electrical engineering beyond some physics classes, and most of what I've been saying is just speculation on my part.

I wonder if Soncoz would be able to determine what happened to it if I sent it to them? However, I don't think I qualify for their warranty or repair service as I ordered from Amazon here. Can @Sophia Ann or @Ben1987 confirm if I do or don't qualify? I have no idea if they're an authorized retailer or not. I'd also be interested to hear if they had heard of anything about my issues from channels other than this forum.

 

[MechEngVic]

You've done everything you can to determine fault, and it seems like a defective unit is the most likely cause. You have the right to return it regardless of where you bought it.