Loxjie D30 DAC and Headphone Amplifier Review

[anothertran]

Wanted to add a positive data point in for hifi-express since people seem to be having mixed experiences.
I ordered evening of Wednesday, March 24 from the US warehouse ($154.99 after $5 off coupon)
I immediately had an order confirmation, but it sat as confirmed for several days with no update.
To my surprise, without an order status update saying it was shipped, I got an update that it was delivered on Sunday, March 29.
It shipped from Amazon, through USPS from Cleveland to me in Seattle.

The box was just wrapped in a bubble mailer so got beat up a little in shipping, but the device is pristine, looks to be brand new, included a US power plug and is functioning fine.

Need to spend more time with it, but initial tests have it driving my Audeze LCD-2.2 Pre-fazors to sufficient listening volume.

 

[AndreaT]

Just received my D30 and hooked it up w wife’s Apple laptop for BT through old Rotel integrated. Quality, clarity, signal level palpably soooo much better than w old crappy BT box! Thank you Amirm for guiding us through the Mare Magnum of electronics selecting what is best for us!!!

 

[Boris Badinov]

I also recently bought a D30 after reading Amir's review. Wanted the combined dac/amp due to a shortage of space on my desk and I've found that out of the box, run from my desktop via USB, it makes all sound good including my HD6xx 300 ohm headphones. I have run these up to 40-45 on the volume knob which is louder than my normal headphone listening. I have no complaints with this unit.

 

[soilroot]

Does the D30 remember the last active/used input after powering off an on? Is there some kind of standby?

 

[Spiral_Architect]

Yes it remembers the state it was left in. It doesn't have an automatic standby as far as I can tell, but I use the remote to turn it on and off as needed. As a desktop unit it is very convenient and handy to use.

 

[Propheticus]

Does the D30 remember the last active/used input after powering off an on? Is there some kind of standby?

Yes to both. Turning it off using the front button long-press or remote is standby.

 

[soilroot]

Thank you both! Maybe I'll get one then. Currently running a Hifiberry DAC+DSP. Do you think it will be an upgrade soundwise?

 

[AdamG]

Thank you both! Maybe I'll get one then. Currently running a Hifiberry DAC+DSP. Do you think it will be an upgrade soundwise?

Welcome Aboard @soilroot.

 

[soilroot]

I've been reading along for a while now and decided to join in today. As for the Loxjie D30, I am very close to getting one. Currently a bit torn between Khadas Tone 2 and the one mentioned.

 

[Einar]

Does the D30 remember the last active/used input after powering off an on? Is there some kind of standby?

Pitching in with the other two above. I use an external power switch to remove power completely and it retains all settings between sessions. Not sure if that is stored in non volatile memory, but it sticks for at least a week.

 

[Propheticus]

Thank you both! Maybe I'll get one then. Currently running a Hifiberry DAC+DSP. Do you think it will be an upgrade soundwise?

Measurement-wise? yes. Audibly to you? Doubtful / it depends / amplifier is likely limiting factor.
A better reason for buying is needing the functionality, like wanting an integrated headphone amp as well. (and being ok with losing the DSP functionality)

oh, and welcome!

 

[soilroot]

Pitching in with the other two above. I use an external power switch to remove power completely and it retains all settings between sessions. Not sure if that is stored in non volatile memory, but it sticks for at least a week.

This is what I'd like to do too.

 

[soilroot]

Measurement-wise? yes. Audibly to you? Doubtful / it depends / amplifier is likely limiting factor.
A better reason for buying is needing the functionality, like wanting an integrated headphone amp as well. (and being ok with losing the DSP functionality)

oh, and welcome!

Thank you!

The real reason is moode audio recently integrated CamillaDSP, which is why I'm looking for an DAC upgrade, as I'm no longer bound to the hardware DSP
I'm using an XTZ-A2-300 power amp driving a pair of KEF R300.

 

[Ramdi]

Hello, I have been reading you for a long time and I have finally decided to buy it.
Today I received mine. I have also ordered a usb c to usb b cable to connect the phone directly and be able to hear better quality than with bluetooth aptx.

 

[Propheticus]

Be aware not all phones support streaming audio over their USB port. Some others need playing with the usb debugging settings. It would also require an OTG cable (and OTG capable phone) so that the phone can act as usb master. Normally a phone is a slave device, but so is a dac...

 

[Zek]

Question for D30 owners:
- Can DSD files be played when the D30 is in pre-amp mode?

 

[Einar]

Question for D30 owners:
- Can DSD files be played when the D30 is in pre-amp mode?

Sure. It works the same in both modes. Though I found it occasionally buggy and playing the DSD as pcm (I guess) generating a horrible noise.

 

[Propheticus]

@Zek
According to the specs on the website and the manual the pre-amp mode can be set to OFF(DDSD) also called "DSD passthrough".

Note
This mode is DSD bypass, the DSD signal does not pass through the
volume processor part, so the DSD playback performance may be better,
but in this mode, the output level is a little smaller than normal mode.

 

[Zek]

”Note
This mode is DSD bypass, the DSD signal does not pass through the
volume processor part, so the DSD playback performance may be better,
but in this mode, the output level is a little smaller than normal mode.”

This then means that you cannot adjust the volume when listening to DSD.

 

[Jut1972]

”Note
This mode is DSD bypass, the DSD signal does not pass through the
volume processor part, so the DSD playback performance may be better,
but in this mode, the output level is a little smaller than normal mode.”

This then means that you cannot adjust the volume when listening to DSD.

That's for the line out only I believe. If you're using headphones I don't think it makes any difference.