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Loxjie A30 Amplifier Review

Neddy

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I ordered mine from amazon (US) via "Hifi Booster Store" - I see it's still available at that approx price.
 

kniff

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I wanted to come back and confirm that my "garbled sound / extreme volume"-issue is gone since i switched from USB to BT.

Cabling or USB issue? Not sure. I will swap to Toslink/Optical once i get a switch (my Sennheiser RS-185s is occupying the single one i use from my PC currently..)
 

VintageFlanker

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And I'm curious, it has bluetooth 5.0 & AptX "only". Is the support for AptX HD "FW upgradeable" or is it rather HW limited?
I am testing the A30 right now and it does support Apt-X HD:
Screenshot_20210714-080924.png
 

kernelpanic

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I just got mine today. I have noticed an issue with the AUX IN when connected to a DAC. All sorts of high pitched digital noises can be heard through the speakers when I turned the volume up to 25 and higher. When paired with my old amplifier I can't hear any of these noises. When I used the A30's internal DAC via USB it doesn't make these sounds either. I'm really not sure what's going on. Has anyone else experienced these noises when using the RCA inputs?

I just got this in with the recent restock and I have the same issue with the analog inputs, lots of high pitched digital noise. This noise was not present when using my Emotiva A-100 and the same cables.

I contacted the seller and they sent a replacement power supply from China, but there was no change. Short of replacing the whole unit not sure what else to do. It doesn't sound like this should be the norm based on Amir's measurements.

Did you ever figure this out?
 

ctakim

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I just got this in with the recent restock and I have the same issue with the analog inputs, lots of high pitched digital noise. This noise was not present when using my Emotiva A-100 and the same cables.

I contacted the seller and they sent a replacement power supply from China, but there was no change. Short of replacing the whole unit not sure what else to do. It doesn't sound like this should be the norm based on Amir's measurements.

Did you ever figure this out?
I am using the AUX input on my A30 which is connected to a miniDSP 2x4HD that is then connected via USB to my MacMini as a source. I don't have any digital noise issues so I can't help you on this. Hope you can figure this out and correct this.
 

Toku

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I just got this in with the recent restock and I have the same issue with the analog inputs, lots of high pitched digital noise. This noise was not present when using my Emotiva A-100 and the same cables.

I contacted the seller and they sent a replacement power supply from China, but there was no change. Short of replacing the whole unit not sure what else to do. It doesn't sound like this should be the norm based on Amir's measurements.

Did you ever figure this out?
I am interested in the symptom.
The noise starts to appear when the volume is raised to 25, and the noise increases as the volume is raised further, but isn't it a symptomatology that the noise decreases after passing a certain point?
 

NOROB

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Just got one of these for my office setup. With my Grado SR60 headphones (99.8db@1mw, 32 ohm impedance) there is no problem with the headphone output level and feeds from my Mac mini through the Toslink output sound great. Now I need to upgrade the rest of my office setup.

I've been using it with my Grado SR60's as well, and get some hiss when using the USB port (no noise when in speaker mode). I don't have a toslink on my pc, so I've had to unplug the USB and use Bluetooth if I want to use the headphones. A little bit of an inconvenience, but the bluetooth sounds good to my ears. If there is a drop-off in sound quality, I haven't noticed it, but I'm never listening at a volume level above about 30 or 40 (on the A-30's volume indicator).

Really happy with this little amp overall though - perfect for my desk.
 

kniff

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I wonder if the hissing/noise mentioned is similar to the USB-issue i had intermittently, prompting me to try Bluetooth. Sadly i got some other issues over BT (audio dropouts, audio delay - lip not synced if watching videos eventhough loxjie and BT-antenna is placed less than 15cm apart..)

Switched to S/PDIF Optical yesterday - no problems at all.
 

JoostE

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What is the hypothesis these kind of problems are really widespread in users, but not picked up with testing by Amir?
I mean, some very much recommended devices had serious problems past year. Topping L30, smsl SU9 and M400 and now this unit seemingly having a lot of issues.


Some hypothesis from myself:

- Amir only uses a single input for some of these problems to occur
- Amir uses these devices for a short time and therefore some of these problems go unnoticed
- Amir gets a lot of hand picked units by these Chinese manufacturers
- These manufacturers have horrible quality control

Is there any way to mitigate these problems or make them occur less frequently? Seems like the value of recommendation/testing on here is going down the drain. Who cares about 140 vs 110 SINAD if you have a 50/50 chance of other serious malfunctions. This is a serious problem for audiosciencereview imho.
 

RoA

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Sorry for taking so long to make this video. Now it is posted on Youtube. A disassembly video of Loxjie A30.


Thanks, good work.

Mostly cheap Chinese 'no name' components but it looks tidy.
 

kernelpanic

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I am interested in the symptom.
The noise starts to appear when the volume is raised to 25, and the noise increases as the volume is raised further, but isn't it a symptomatology that the noise decreases after passing a certain point?

If I put my ear to the speakers, the noise starts around 20, but when using IEM's I actually get the digital noise over 10 and both get worse as I go higher in volume. The interesting thing is there is no noise when using a digital input only analog and the noise doesn't exist if there is no input connected at all. Also, the noise actually feeds back from the A30 into my L30 headphone amp (which is connected upstream after my DAC and is normally dead silent), something definitely weird going on.

Update: If I take the L30 out of the mix and go directly from my SU-8 DAC RCA to the A30, there is no noise on analog inputs. Could this really be the L30? I don't see how since this has been my setup for a while with no noise whatsoever (SU-8 -> L30 -> Emotiva A100).

@Jack what was your experience?
 

szmkpl

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Hello everyone, new member here. Do you think this little gem's DAC is better than the one in Chromecast Audio? In other words - should one use Spotify Connect via Chromecast Audio through optical input or through analog-in (RCA)? I guess Spotify from PC through USB input would have inferior sound quality?
 
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Den

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Hello!
Have anyone compared loxjie a30 against smsl da-9 or yamaha wxa-50? I have the loxjie a30 but it would be interesting to know any comparision against them. Main source would be via bluetooth for me.
Thanks in advance!
 

fluxcapacitor

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Hello!
Have anyone compared loxjie a30 against smsl da-9 or yamaha wxa-50? I have the loxjie a30 but it would be interesting to know any comparision against them. Main source would be via bluetooth for me.
Thanks in advance!
DA9 has serious issues as well. Many people including me returned their units due to freezing at smsl logo during boot up.Also other common problem is high DC on speaker outputs causing pop noise on L or R channel.
 

Den

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DA9 has serious issues as well. Many people including me returned their units due to freezing at smsl logo during boot up.Also other common problem is high DC on speaker outputs causing pop noise on L or R channel.
Yeah ive heard of it. Probably the loxije a30 was the better choice here, because of that.

anyone of you think it lacks abit in the vocal area? It seems some songs lack vocals and highs/lows taking over abit. Your thoughts on this?
 

Kuppenbender

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anyone of you think it lacks abit in the vocal area? It seems some songs lack vocals and highs/lows taking over abit. Your thoughts on this?
Nope. Sounds fine to me.

If you’re noticing audible midrange deficiency, I would imagine either the source component, speakers/speaker placement, room treatment etc… are the culprit, or you have a broken Loxjie A30.

Do you have access to REW and a Umik-1 to see if the measurements corroborate your impressions?
 

Den

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Nope. Sounds fine to me.

If you’re noticing audible midrange deficiency, I would imagine either the source component, speakers/speaker placement, room treatment etc… are the culprit, or you have a broken Loxjie A30.

Do you have access to REW and a Umik-1 to see if the measurements corroborate your impressions?
Thank you for your helpfull reply! I havnt access to it. It might be the source, due to its not all songs. Streaming bluetooth from spotify is probably not optimal. Maybe ill try with cables/Another amp to see any differents.
 
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