Luxsin X9 Smart Stereo DAC & Preamp

[daniboun]

Even the most staunch of subjectivists sing its praises (read at your cognitive dissonance peril):

X9

6moons.com

6moons is to audiophile praise what Charles Baudelaire is to French poetry lol

 

[PristineSound]

Preamp section is meh.

 

[F1Fan72]

It seems they’ve raided the good bits from the A8 / Z8 parts bin .. I might be tempted to buy one now I’ve looked more into it ..

 

[Steven Holt]

even though it's not something for which have any use whatsoever.

Oh hell man ya can't let that stop ya! Where's the fun in that??

 

[daniboun]

It seems they’ve raided the good bits from the A8 / Z8 parts bin .. I might be tempted to buy one now I’ve looked more into it ..

Personally, I would go for the Topping DX5 II, which at less than $400 is likely to really hurt the competition.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Oh hell man ya can't let that stop ya! Where's the fun in that??

 

[RickS]

A suggestion for a couple of extra measurements: Physical size and weight.

See specs in second post. These were not posted until much later as Amir posted the review while I was asleep.

 

[F1Fan72]

Shame there is no PEQ ..

 

[amirm]

Shame there is no PEQ ..

There is.

 

[F1Fan72]

There is.

Oh ..is there?

 

[NTK]

Luxman wanna be?

Isn't this (circled green) also unwanted and thus, a type of distorsions?

Why is it there?

View attachment 457445

//

Looks like there is a few mV of DC offset in the output.

 

[OldManMatt]

I think this device is fantastic. Especially as say a digital only preamp..streamer/TV/CD player. HDMI measurements are great.

The touch screen & pretty cool looking phone app. Various screen displays (VU Meters!) You could run 2 subs & a balanced power amplifier. Plus a balanced headphone unit. Oh & the most important thing..PEQ. I would like to know if there is filter/cutoff for mains/subwoofers. That would be magnificent.

I see that people are unhappy about the price but it's about what a new RME ADI-2 FS goes for these days. I still own one & feel it's an outstanding device. But it doesn't have HDMI, separate sub outputs, touchscreen, balanced headphone, phone app, analog input, or VU meters lol. RME has their cool volume control & loudness features though.

I personally like the aesthetics. As much as I enjoy the RME I would love to try this device out..as a TV/Streamer preamp with PEQ. I need to see if it has a HP filter for mains/subs.

I think the device is cool & has a lot to offer for being a DAC. Smart Dac. Lots of bells & whistles that can be taken advantage of it you need or want these things. Really diggin' the HDMI feature.

 

[Highvolt60]

I don't understand why the analog in/out performance drops so much ?
Is it not using the same output stage. should be as good as the D-A output.
Maybe they have an analog to digital converter on the front end for the EQ and that stays engaged (or needs to be turned off) ??
Usually the ASR crowd would piss all over something with a SINAD of 87dB.

What about all the D-A tests, were they with DSP On or Off (aside from the jitter) ?

I'm interested in this product but it would be good to know why there is so much degradation on analog input.

Edit:
Looks like they used this DSP chip https://www.akm.com/global/en/products/audio-voice-dsp/lineup-audio-voice-processor/ak7739vq/
Seems mid grade performance at best ?

 

[Robbo99999]

Tough crowd.
Keith

There's so many good DAC/amps, it just comes down to price/aesthetics & functionality offered.

 

[PristineSound]

See specs in second post. These were not posted until much later as Amir posted the review while I was asleep.

Have you ever thought maybe you go to bed a little to early?

J/K

 

[amirm]

Oh ..is there?

Yes, that is how it is able to equalize headphones. And there is a custom mode where you can put in your own filters for whatever application. I didn't get to test that as my earlier version of the software didn't work well. But it is there.

 

[amirm]

Have you ever thought maybe you go to bed a little to early?

J/K

Nah. I work until 2 to 3 am so hard to stay up when I am up. Rick did post his place holder then though so he tried to keep up with me.

 

[F1Fan72]

Yes, that is how it is able to equalize headphones. And there is a custom mode where you can put in your own filters for whatever application. I didn't get to test that as my earlier version of the software didn't work well. But it is there.

Thank you for you’re reply

 

[amirm]

Preamp section is meh.

So are the sources you connect to it. But yes, I like to see 100 dB SINAD on that front.

 

[Sokel]

I'm curious to see the impact of automotive's AKM7739 DSP.
And how they manage 32/768 after it, given that it's 32/192 capable (if I'm not mistaken) .
Big plus though as a dedicated DSP chip adds the horsepower needed for hopefully low degradation when doing DSP (asking for no miracles of course, keeping the resolution sane) .

It's gain structure and the general one is interesting to say the least.
Really strong point its analog VC and judging by the charts USB isolation.

But, no black???
Instant deal-breaker.

Thanks Amir!