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Aune X1s GT Review (DAC & Amp)

Rate this product:

  • Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 7 4.0%
  • Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 42 24.1%
  • Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 109 62.6%
  • Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 16 9.2%

  • Total voters
    174

LTig

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No, he found exactly the right place to get all this BS revealed as what it is.
 

Doodski

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This guy is one of the most ridiculous subjectivist reviewers around. He hears the difference of all the dacs and amplifiers. If you believe someone like him, you are probably not right at ASR.
He's a flake! :facepalm: I made commentary at one of his videos and it lasted about 25 minutes and he erased it. It was about a Hegel amp review.
 

hidehide

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Jun 26, 2021
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Unfortunately, since visually it beats the Topping DX3 Pro+ by far, it looks gorgeous, alas the headphone amp unbalanced is very weak. What a pity.
Same here. Love the look and the volume knob, unlike the clicky Dx3Pro+ which will skip occasionally. I’m looking at the Aune X8 + X7s.. not sure if Dx3Pro+ is better than that stack or not..
 

PenguinMusic

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Hi everybody,

In a previous post, I realted about problems with quality and especially customer support.
I must say that it turned out that the culprit was the reseller... not the manufacturer.

As soon as the AUNE Team saw my message they got in touch with me.
After finding out where the problem was, they offered SUPERB customer support.

Even if it took a long time (they are in China and it all had to go over a reseller that was not the original one !!!) I finally got a totally functional x8s DAC as a replacement.

So I would like to stress that I am now again enjoying my music over the x8 DAC and x7s HP amp and I would like to say that, to my ears, coupled to a Sony MDR-Z7 HP or an Oppo PM-1 it produces a sound that I really really like :)

Hope to see more products from AUNE in the future :)

So a HUGE THANK YOU to customer support from AUNE for their follow up in this and their superb help.

We complain when things go wrong. We should also tell when we're happy after all :)
 

auneaudio

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Audio Company
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Dec 23, 2019
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Hi everybody,

In a previous post, I realted about problems with quality and especially customer support.
I must say that it turned out that the culprit was the reseller... not the manufacturer.

As soon as the AUNE Team saw my message they got in touch with me.
After finding out where the problem was, they offered SUPERB customer support.

Even if it took a long time (they are in China and it all had to go over a reseller that was not the original one !!!) I finally got a totally functional x8s DAC as a replacement.

So I would like to stress that I am now again enjoying my music over the x8 DAC and x7s HP amp and I would like to say that, to my ears, coupled to a Sony MDR-Z7 HP or an Oppo PM-1 it produces a sound that I really really like :)

Hope to see more products from AUNE in the future :)

So a HUGE THANK YOU to customer support from AUNE for their follow up in this and their superb help.

We complain when things go wrong. We should also tell when we're happy after all :)
Thanks for the update and thanks for your patience and kindness:) It's so great to know that you're satisfied with the result and that you enjoy our products so much. We'll do better, in products, and service:)
 

jackdanyal

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Oct 9, 2021
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Passable, DX3 Pro is a better buy :)
better for what? because it has higher specs which are completely inaudible? :) from another side topping's build quality is absolutely trash, especially potentiometers and internal architecture is very basic. topping every year produces new product with higher and higher specs, it seems they are more care about number than music and sound itself.
 

jackdanyal

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Oct 9, 2021
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I saw the post about it on Head-fi, I knew it won't really measure that well, but will still sound great regardless because distortion figures are well below audibility. Well below audibility enough for people's imagination to run wild and create colorful sentences to describe what they are hearing out of it. Such subjective creatures we are.
exactly. it seems nowadays people rather believing in numbers (especially to those which are below audibility) than to real listening experience.
 

Azathoth

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Oct 18, 2020
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exactly. it seems nowadays people rather believing in numbers (especially to those which are below audibility) than to real listening experience.
better for what? because it has higher specs which are completely inaudible? :) from another side topping's build quality is absolutely trash, especially potentiometers and internal architecture is very basic. topping every year produces new product with higher and higher specs, it seems they are more care about number than music and sound itself.
The listening experience is the numbers, anything you competent you buy nowadays in the amp/DAC market is already audibly transparent, but what I said about the Aune is that in spite of it, people will make up claims about the great sound. I didn't say anything about not caring about numbers bro. Or measurements to be precise. People(outside ASR generally speaking) don't really care about numbers they care about experiences. Their own experiences. Take a look at the recent Chord products, very high price for no difference or even worse performance.
 

jackdanyal

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The listening experience is the numbers, anything you competent you buy nowadays in the amp/DAC market is already audibly transparent, but what I said about the Aune is that in spite of it, people will make up claims about the great sound. I didn't say anything about not caring about numbers bro. Or measurements to be precise. People(outside ASR generally speaking) don't really care about numbers they care about experiences. Their own experiences. Take a look at the recent Chord products, very high price for no difference or even worse performance.
If there was a worse performance from Chord, nobody would buy it anymore, it just as simple as it :) if audiphiles still buy Chord products, that it means something. What I see everyday in forums is that a lot of people compleinig about build quality or other problems with topping, smsl products. they can't just work for a long time, it seems they are more care about number than the real experience, build quality and audio. but I don't see the same bad reviews about build quality related to the Chord or another respectfull company. yes, they are expensive, yes, their numbers can be worse, but somehow they produce better quality and better listening experience. magic!

but what we see with every new topping/smsl products? more power and 120 SINAD instead of 119? people compleining about volume know for many years, but they don't care, they put the same ****** component to every new product. even inside the expensive A90 we have cheap volume knob. on my Liquid Spark that knob fills much more luxuary and expensive. as I always say something wrong with audiophile market nowadays.
 

PenguinMusic

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If there was a worse performance from Chord, nobody would buy it anymore, it just as simple as it :) if audiphiles still buy Chord products, that it means something. What I see everyday in forums is that a lot of people compleinig about build quality or other problems with topping, smsl products. they can't just work for a long time, it seems they are more care about number than the real experience, build quality and audio. but I don't see the same bad reviews about build quality related to the Chord or another respectfull company. yes, they are expensive, yes, their numbers can be worse, but somehow they produce better quality and better listening experience. magic!

but what we see with every new topping/smsl products? more power and 120 SINAD instead of 119? people compleining about volume know for many years, but they don't care, they put the same ****** component to every new product. even inside the expensive A90 we have cheap volume knob. on my Liquid Spark that knob fills much more luxuary and expensive. as I always say something wrong with audiophile market nowadays.
Hi,

The problem is quite s imple about your comment. You have landed on a page about measurements. And the question is ; "Can the sound be good/better if measurements are bad/worse ?".
So me people believe it can be.

Me I would just say : sound can be different, but do not say "Better" or "Worse".

It is also very common to see people say that it sounds good or exceptionnalyt good because it is very expensive. That is the thing with Chord devices. Are they good because they are expensive ? Or can a device that is 10 times cheaper (100 times maybe) sound the same (I would dare to say "As good") ?

There is only one way to decide : double blind test. But even here, the conditions that this test should be done with are so difficult to achieve that no one can really do it :-(

But we're talking about different things :
- sound quality (that can be measured) ;
- build quality (that can not be measured but only percieved and then from statitic POV said).

Me, I have the whole collection of Aune Devices : music player, DAC and HP amp.
I love their looks and I can say that they are build like tanks...
I have them for over a year now (almost 2) and use them on a daily basis.

I have had a problem with the optical out plus on one device. After some time it has been changed by AUNE direcxtly.
And I enjoy the sound and looks of those device each and every day... Will another device sound better/different ? Maybe. Will I like it better ? Not sure...

Regards.
 

Golem

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I am a complete noob and after reading and looking more reviews than i probably should, i jumped into the cold waters of DACs.

All began with buying Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 Ohms) and driving them on my very old USB soundcard. The result was not loud enough at all. I dont have a HiFi set nor loudspeakers, only cheap IEs (30-80€) on my PC and Laptop. So i started taking an interest in a new different USB soundcard on a budget wich can drive more than 80 Ohms. Very fast i saw the Fiio E10K and the FiiO K3 and after looking a few YouTube reviews i bought both. E10 on my Laptop with a cheap but good RHA IE. On my PC the K3, high gain, bass boost on my DTs and for me it was a little revelation, not only for musik, also for gaming with a good awarenes of directions. I rather like it.

But now for my real point: i decided to go for a DT 990 (250 Ohm) just to have a reasonable priced open KH. I work/use my two computers a lot and i wear the KH up to 7-12h each day and after some time my ears getting pretty warm with the closed DTs. So i bought the X1s GT (8th. gen.) yesterday and used them first on my Laptop. I am sure it sounds better but i fear i dont get the point if it was such a leap i thought. I have no clue how those YouTuber with up to 20 DACs can define such subtles, i definetley cant. Today i use the X1 on my PC and the K3 on my Laptop. Any experience how long it takes to tell more of a difference? I feel that the K3 sounds maybe a little tad unsharper now to me.

What i can say it sounds a tad clearer, deeper, a bit more refined. The design is awesome for my taste. The filters make a difference but i have the feeling the "ordinary" filter 1 is the best for me. Maybe i have to get more used to it to tell more of a difference. I lack a lot of experience, but strangely my K3 sounds pretty good.
 
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jackdanyal

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Oct 9, 2021
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I am a complete noob and after reading and looking more reviews than i probably should, i jumped into the cold waters of DACs.

All began with buying Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 Ohms) and driving them on my very old USB soundcard. The result was not loud enough at all. I dont have a HiFi set nor loudspeakers, only cheap IEs (30-80€) on my PC and Laptop. So i started taking an interest in a new different USB soundcard on a budget wich can drive more than 80 Ohms. Very fast i saw the Fiio E10K and the FiiO K3 and after looking a few YouTube reviews i bought both. E10 on my Laptop with a cheap but good RHA IE. On my PC the K3, high gain, bass boost on my DTs and for me it was a little revelation, not only for musik, also for gaming with a good awarenes of directions. I rather like it.

But now for my real point: i decided to go for a DT 990 (250 Ohm) just to have a reasonable priced open KH. I work/use my two computers a lot and i wear the KH up to 7-12h each day and after some time my ears getting pretty warm with the closed DTs. So i bought the X1s GT (8th. gen.) yesterday and used them first on my Laptop. I am sure it sounds better but i fear i dont get the point if it was such a leap i thought. I have no clue how those YouTuber with up to 20 DACs can define such subtles, i definetley cant. Today i use the X1 on my PC and the K3 on my Laptop. Any experience how long it takes to tell more of a difference? I feel that the K3 sounds maybe a little tad unsharper now to me.

What i can say it sounds a tad clearer, deeper, a bit more refined. The design is awesome for my taste. The filters make a difference but i have the feeling the "ordinary" filter 1 is the best for me. Maybe i have to get more used to it to tell more of a difference. I lack a lot of experience, but strangely my K3 sounds pretty good.
Don't expect a huge leap from dac to dac. K3 is clear enough to produce good sound. All new solid state devices a good enough. More expensive doen't mean more sound quality, but rather more features, maybe more power and connectivity. And it's also depends from the music which you are listen. If it's somethink like R&B/Hip-Hop, etc - you will hear less difference than something like instrumental, opera, etc.
 

Golem

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I like Blues & Blues Rock, Gothic, Prog-Rock, very little classic, alternative, folk.
 
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jackdanyal

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I like Blues 6 Blues Rock, Gothic, Prog-Rock, very little classic, alternative, folk.
I understand. But still you can't hear a lot off differences between 2 good solid state devices. Don't believe to that reviewers, main time they also can't hear all that differences, but they also can't just make a video where they say, that there's no a huge difference between $100 and $400 dacs. Othervise nobody will watch them and they can't earn money. Most of them will fail on blind test. Personally I use Fiio K3 + Liquid Spark with Fostex T60rp and I also have Burson Play 5 in my another room. When I do blind test, I can't hear any differences at all.
 

Golem

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Some thoughts about the X1s GT (what a shiny name ""). Use it now for my two Beyerdynamic 80 and 250 Ohm unbalanced. A tad more power could it be for the 250 Ohm, but to be honest its loud and good sounding enough. From the outside it feels very sturdy, the design looks cool for me.

I realy see no downside soundwise but there are other things i havent thought about. I dont need 4,4mm, no pre amp, no optical, no external clock. I have no cd player, no EQ, nada whatsoever. I got a soundbar in my living room and 90% of the time i listen over Notebook and PC via Headphone. No intention to get anything else. I edit some videos, thats it. I never considered the DX3+ but i am sure i would be happy enough with it for less money. I dont reget buying the X1s, but next time i thing more about what i really need.
 
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