Loxjie D40 Review (DAC & HP Amp)

[192kbps]

D90SE差点被杀了。

 

[ZolaIII]

It's just fine by me. They missed it with this one if you ask me. Direct competition is Tooping EX5 and they share same remote. While D40 is better in DAC measurements (some 4 dB at best) it's hedaphone stage is much worser (some 10 dB @ 50 mV) and has same to twice less gain (6 dB) when EX5 is in high mode. I don't know if D40 supports BT transmission, I know EX5 doesn't. The remote has a narrow IR been and it's a shame they didn't fix it (for both). All things together EX5 is better in my opinion and cost's some 15% less.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Direct competition is Tooping EX5 and they share same remote.

They don't.

I don't know if D40 supports BT transition I know EX5 doesn't.

What are you talking about?! They both do.

 

[Hayabusa]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Loxjie D40 stereo DAC with Bluetooth and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $430.
View attachment 187624

I like the design -- it reminds me of some European brands. Bright white LED display is highly responsive as is the rotary controller. I expect and am happy to see built-in power supply in this price class:

View attachment 187625

Loxjie D40 DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard using USB input and XLR connection:

View attachment 187626

This is stellar performance with distortion at -140 dB and noise floor that is almost falling off the bottom of the chart! No wonder then that the D40 ranks as the forth best DAC I have ever measured:

View attachment 187627

View attachment 187628

RCA output performance is nearly as good:
View attachment 187629

Dynamic range as we could predict is excellent:

View attachment 187630

IMD performance is excellent other than a small indication of "ESS DAC IMD Hump:"

View attachment 187631

Linearity is textbook perfect:

View attachment 187632

Multitone results is superb:
View attachment 187635
Jitter performance over USB is excellent as well:

View attachment 187633

USB and Coax add some low frequency benign jitter:
View attachment 187634

Three filters are provided:
View attachment 187636

Attenuation is quite high which helps when we perform wideband THD+N measurements:

View attachment 187637

Loxjie D40 Headphone Measurements
Let's start with 50 mv and full output SNR:

View attachment 187638

The former is slightly below average:

View attachment 187639

Fortunately there is good amount of power with very low noise and distortion in general:
View attachment 187640
View attachment 187641

Notice lack of clipping. This means any distortion you hear is in the headphone or the content!

Loxjie D40 Listening Tests
I performed my testing with my Sennheiser HD650 and Drop Ether CX which are at different ends of the impedance spectrum. There was plenty of volume driving both with superbly clean sound. Driving my everyday Dan Clark Stealth headphone was also satisfying but due to its lower sensitivity, the D40 could not drive it to its maximum volume.

Conclusions
Playing at this level of performance is not easy: tons of attention needs to be paid to circuit design and layout to stomp any and all sources of noise and distortion. Other than leaving some ESS IMD distortion on the table, the D40 performs superbly in DAC department. The headphone output while not at the same level, still provides excellent performance and volume level.

I like the physical design which sets itself apart from the competition while being very performant to user input.

It is my pleasure to recommend the Loxjie D40 DAC and Headphone Amplifier.

-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Wow! That also needs an extended scale for linearity? How far can the AP measure linearity correctly?

 

[ZolaIII]

They don't.

What are you talking about?! They both do.

Chip is perfectly capable but EX5 works as receiver only. You are right it's a different remote (still remains to be seen how good).

 

[Dzhaughn]

Do we have measurements for this?

Why, yes!

Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

This is a review and detailed measurement of the Minidsp Flex audio signal processor. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $475 for unbalanced and $550 for balanced that I tested. Flex borrows the interface from SHD and puts it in a compact package. Seeing how I really liked that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Snoopy]

Hi,

Just a bit more money ?

Loxje D40 = 430$ on Amazon.

miniDSP Flex with Balanced option = 550$ + Shiit Magni = 100$ = 650$ = 50% more.

Sounds like a little more than just a bit more does it not ?
I'm talking relative and maybe you're talking absolute

Anyways, it looks like this is using ESS9068 DAC. And still that ESS Hump ?
Is there really no way ESS can fix this in the next generations ?

Regards.

The version with Dirac is 799€ and the version with the microphone is 899€
Add a headphone amplifier to that (schiit stuff is not really available in Europe).

Pretty expensive.

The Loxjie in comparison is 429€ at Amazon. (With prime shipping )

 

[Tangband]

The version with Dirac is 799€ and the version with the microphone is 899€
Add a headphone amplifier to that (schiit stuff is not really available in Europe).

Pretty expensive.

The Loxjie in comparison is 429€ at Amazon. (With prime shipping )

But the gains in soundquality is much higher with minidsp flex, for reasons already discussed. ( ability to go fully active with active crossovers, and dsp for eq. ).
This is far more important things than discussing dac SINADs of 100 or 120.

 

[nagster]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Loxjie D40 stereo DAC with Bluetooth and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $430.
View attachment 187624

I like the design -- it reminds me of some European brands. Bright white LED display is highly responsive as is the rotary controller. I expect and am happy to see built-in power supply in this price class:

View attachment 187625

Loxjie D40 DAC Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard using USB input and XLR connection:

View attachment 187626

This is stellar performance with distortion at -140 dB and noise floor that is almost falling off the bottom of the chart! No wonder then that the D40 ranks as the forth best DAC I have ever measured:

View attachment 187627

View attachment 187628

RCA output performance is nearly as good:
View attachment 187629

Dynamic range as we could predict is excellent:

View attachment 187630

IMD performance is excellent other than a small indication of "ESS DAC IMD Hump:"

View attachment 187631

Linearity is textbook perfect:

View attachment 187632

Multitone results is superb:
View attachment 187635
Jitter performance over USB is excellent as well:

View attachment 187633

USB and Coax add some low frequency benign jitter:
View attachment 187634

Three filters are provided:
View attachment 187636

Attenuation is quite high which helps when we perform wideband THD+N measurements:

View attachment 187637

Loxjie D40 Headphone Measurements
Let's start with 50 mv and full output SNR:

View attachment 187638

The former is slightly below average:

View attachment 187639

Fortunately there is good amount of power with very low noise and distortion in general:
View attachment 187640
View attachment 187641

Notice lack of clipping. This means any distortion you hear is in the headphone or the content!

Loxjie D40 Listening Tests
I performed my testing with my Sennheiser HD650 and Drop Ether CX which are at different ends of the impedance spectrum. There was plenty of volume driving both with superbly clean sound. Driving my everyday Dan Clark Stealth headphone was also satisfying but due to its lower sensitivity, the D40 could not drive it to its maximum volume.

Conclusions
Playing at this level of performance is not easy: tons of attention needs to be paid to circuit design and layout to stomp any and all sources of noise and distortion. Other than leaving some ESS IMD distortion on the table, the D40 performs superbly in DAC department. The headphone output while not at the same level, still provides excellent performance and volume level.

I like the physical design which sets itself apart from the competition while being very performant to user input.

It is my pleasure to recommend the Loxjie D40 DAC and Headphone Amplifier.

-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

thank you.

What kind of index does the stuffed animal on the D40 represent?

 

[Dzhaughn]

Hi,

Just a bit more money ?

Loxje D40 = 430$ on Amazon.

miniDSP Flex with Balanced option = 550$ + Shiit Magni = 100$ = 650$ = 50% more.

Sounds like a little more than just a bit more does it not ?
I'm talking relative and maybe you're talking absolute

Anyways, it looks like this is using ESS9068 DAC. And still that ESS Hump ?
Is there really no way ESS can fix this in the next generations ?

Regards.

Well, if you are cheapskate...so am I! There is the rather impeccable Topping A50s for $200. Use a laptop and Equalizer APO for the source, it is fantastic.

Or you can buy the Loxjie D40 at $430, still with he laptop and Equalizer APO.

Of you can spend $650, lose the PC, and have both EQ for the headphones AND also room EQ for a pair of speakers and subwoofers. Plus a great ADC, should one care. (And you could make it all sound like you were in a cathedral if you wanted. Oh.)

So I guess I should say I find the D40 in an uncomfortable middle tier.

 

[Dzhaughn]

The version with Dirac is 799€ and the version with the microphone is 899€
Add a headphone amplifier to that (schiit stuff is not really available in Europe).

Pretty expensive.

The Loxjie in comparison is 429€ at Amazon. (With prime shipping )

Dirac won't help with headphones, will it? Anyway, you don't need Dirac to do headphone EQ or Room EQ either, even if it is nice.

 

[VintageFlanker]

This is far more important things than discussing dac SINADs of 100 or 120.

 

[Ajax]

Now that the "DAC problem" has well and truly been solved at an affordable price it's time for new features to be added such as we have seen with the minidsp flex.

A new product with built in Streamer / Pre Amp / DAC / DSP / Analogue inputs / Remote would be ideal

 

[kopczas]

Does volume regulation affects analog output also?

 

[Bachemar]

Not bad at all. But for just a bit more money, wouldn't you rather have a MiniDSP Flex and a $120 headphone amp (say, the Magni) that performs better?

With the Flex, you can listen LPs with properly EQd headphones with the full 20 bit dynamic range. And then add a tube amp EQ filter when you want to dream about your ancestral hi fi sound. Maybe you can make Joy Division sound like it was intended to: on a cassette player in a car.

Of course, the second paragraph is meant to be cute. But I honestly think the MiniDSP Flex is a game changer. It should completley change the workflow for how Amir tests speakers.

Yes, the functionality and flexibility of the Flex really should be a game changer. They’ve proven that DAC’s can include DSP without giving up too much performance. While I don’t expect other DAC companies to easily match MiniDSP’s DSP chops, it would be great if more companies started including basic bass management and tone control DSP (shelf and peak filters) with their DAC’s

Unfortunately audiofools of the world would immediately scoff at and dismiss such products (with bass management and tone control) for perceived lack of purity (performance) while ignoring objective measurements that might prove otherwise

 

[Nelska]

I am not very comfortable with the measurement curves but I notice that the headphone amplifier part has a lower performance than the DAC part. As I intend to use it only with headphones, I wonder about the relevance of this choice and if this relative underperformance will be audible in real life? Does the marriage with a Hifiman Sundara seem coherent to you compared to Amir's measurements? (sorry for my poor english).
Thank you in advance.

 

[LTig]

I am not very comfortable with the measurement curves but I notice that the headphone amplifier part has a lower performance than the DAC part.

You can't compare measurements of a DAC with headphone amp with those of a headphone amp alone. The combined performance of DAC plus hp amp cannot be better than the DAC alone, it must be worse.

 

[daftcombo]

Now that the "DAC problem" has well and truly been solved at an affordable price

I read that phrase on this very forum like two years ago.

 

[DSJR]

I read that phrase on this very forum like two years ago.

The dac situation was audibly sorted all but decades ago methinks. What we're doing now is rationalising and fine tuning what we have, all the while getting costs lower. My two oldest CD players (a top Philips/Marantz derivative with cast chassis with solid rosewood in the casing from 1998 costing then £2800 and an upper mid level Denon from the mid to late 90's around £750 I think, which is also weighty and with very well stocked circuit board) 'sound' very good indeed, but the complexity inside is staggering and the bench performance I'm sure would be comfortably bettered by a £/$150 dac today in a tiny desktop box...

 

[enricoclaudio]

Hi,

Just a bit more money ?

Loxje D40 = 430$ on Amazon.

miniDSP Flex with Balanced option = 550$ + Shiit Magni = 100$ = 650$ = 50% more.

Sounds like a little more than just a bit more does it not ?
I'm talking relative and maybe you're talking absolute

Anyways, it looks like this is using ESS9068 DAC. And still that ESS Hump ?
Is there really no way ESS can fix this in the next generations ?

Regards.

At a certain degree, It is fixable