Review and Measurements of Aune X1S DAC & Amp

[Bliman]

I heard this as a DAC with JDS atom. It was breathtaking combo. As a bonus you have possibility to change digital filters built-in in 9018k2m "on the fly". As another bonus there is quite nice headamp in it. For dt880 600 & fostex th610 i much preferred atom, there was no question about it. But for instance for something like hd600, liked aune's headamp better.

As a DAC, it's measurements amongst the best ever tested here. Especially THD, low level linearity & Dynamics. Not even mentioning how clean is the jitter. Look at the average level, this is almost impossible (most at -150dB). Don't even mention reliability and years of great reputation of this company. Great USB separation.

Stacking atom on x1s is superb even though x1s is a bit curved on the top. Checked that twice. Rubber on the bottom of atom does great job to keep it in place.

The only thing I missed so much after the review is TOSLINK jitter test by Audio Precision. Then I could have my ultimate DAC if it is immune on optical input.

Have you tested the Aune X8 dac also?
I am so interested how that measures. It could be the ultimate combo with the Atom. So the X8 uses the dac chip that has the ESS hump also?
Does anyone know if the reason it is as expensive as the X1s is because of the opamps? And do those opamps make a difference?
The reason why I ask this is because it would be a waste if I buy the X1s for dac and also the atom amp , because I would be paying two times for a headphone amp. While with the X8 it is only a dac.
I use a Beyerdynamic DT250 250 Ohm by the way. (and the only thing I don't like with it, is that the treble is not 100% refined, the rest is spot on).

 

[tired_guru]

Have you tested the Aune X8 dac also?
I am so interested how that measures. It could be the ultimate combo with the Atom. So the X8 uses the dac chip that has the ESS hump also?
Does anyone know if the reason it is as expensive as the X1s is because of the opamps? And do those opamps make a difference?
The reason why I ask this is because it would be a waste if I buy the X1s for dac and also the atom amp , because I would be paying two times for a headphone amp. While with the X8 it is only a dac.
I use a Beyerdynamic DT250 250 Ohm by the way. (and the only thing I don't like with it, is that the treble is not 100% refined, the rest is spot on).

X8 is so far great unknown. It is not available yet in my country ; / I would not risk to buy it blindly without audition.

 

[Bliman]

X8 is so far great unknown. It is not available yet in my country ; / I would not risk to buy it blindly without audition.

Ok thank you.

 

[frankh]

I just dug out my good ole JDS Labs O2 and paired it to my Aune X1S (10th Anniversary Edition) and noticed that the O2 (low gain) seems to output better highs and mids details (volume matched to X1S headphone amp) but at the cost of a smaller soundstage through my HD600. The Aune X1S amp section sounds a tad veiled but with a larger soundstage. I wonder if the Atom will improve on the details and soundstage of the O2. I'm also interested in the Atom's ability to function as a preamp for my active nearfield monitors.

 

[Bliman]

I've got one of these as well, I'll be comparing it to my EL Dac + Atom here soon, but my X1S also has the upgraded power supply,

Either way It's quite nice! Good to see some hard data 4 it

Can I know what your opinion is? These are the combinations I am looking for at the moment.

 

[Bliman]

Can anyone look at these screens and tell me of these measurement look good?
It is of the new Aune X8
http://en.auneaudio.com/index.php?s=Home/Article/detail/id/158.html

 

[amirm]

Are you still in the possession of the unit ?

No, I returned it a few weeks ago.

 

[amirm]

Can anyone look at these screens and tell me of these measurement look good?
It is of the new Aune X8
http://en.auneaudio.com/index.php?s=Home/Article/detail/id/158.html

It has a SINAD of 105 dB. So decent.

 

[Bliman]

It has a SINAD of 105 dB. So decent.

But am I correct in saying that it is worse then the X1S? And do the other measurements say something, like with the peaks and such (sorry that I am not technical).
And also a big thanks for answering already.

 

[amirm]

But am I correct in saying that it is worse then the X1S? And do the other measurements say something, like with the peaks and such (sorry that I am not technical).
And also a big thanks for answering already.

My pleasure. It is hard to say as they may have used different settings for their measurements versus mine.

 

[Bliman]

Thank you.

 

[mshenay]

Quick question for you guys I am having some difficulty going from a USB input through the coax out into another DAC

I have confirmed that the device is handling the USB input as I can plug a wide variety of devices straight into the unit play and listen to music using the on-board head amp with no problems

But for some reason I just can't seem to get the coax out to feed digital coax into another DAC

and this is of course a problem I am having without a headphone plug into the head amp,

Nonetheless still Gathering my thoughts of this unit should have some relevant subjective impressions of it versus the El DAC and atom plus other units

For now I will say that I have not noticed a huge difference between USB and coax input with this device

Whereas subjectively I find coax to be a bit blacker with the El DAC, now I suspect part of the reason Im getting better coax performance on the El DAC might be related the difficulties I have getting it to just work with USB in general

let me elaborate I just left a headfi meat and while at the meat I just could not get any of my digital audio players to feed digital out direct into the USB input of the El DAC

An I ran into the same issue with a couple of Android based devices as well and these are of course devices running Android 7 or newer

So I had to resort to feeding digital out of these devices into a USB powered USB to coax converter that fed right into the El Dac's coax input with no issues. NDS I tried a variety of USBC to USB B cables as well as some USB C OTG cables which featured a female type a connector so that I could run a standard type a male to USB B male into the El DAC

I'll also say that at one point I do recall being able to feed USB direct from my phone into the El DAC with no problems however I could not replicate that today

That said I had absolutely no problems or difficulties going straight out of a wide variety devices direct into the USB of the x1s anniversary. Which is a feature that I strongly value and appreciate on any digital device

Now if only I could figure out how to get that same USB input to leave the x1s as coax and be fed into something else!!! @amirm you discussed using the device as a USB to spdif bridge any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong that you may have done differently

 

[amirm]

Now if only I could figure out how to get that same USB input to leave the x1s as coax and be fed into something else!!! @amirm you discussed using the device as a USB to spdif bridge any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong that you may have done differently

I test so much that nothing remains in my memory for long. So can't help without playing with the device which I no longer have....

 

[Veri]

Looks like there will be an Aune X1 Pro with 9038PRO chip as successor to the Aune X1S anniversary.
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-...lifier-32bit-384khz-dsd128-black-p-12754.html
vs
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-...lifier-32bit-768khz-dsd512-black-p-13809.html
and then there's the OP-amp swappable Aune X8 DAC-only with 9038PRO chip. Measurements of those latest two is available from Aune:

Aune X1S Pro

Aune X8

 

[Yuno]

The most interesting part for me is that they gave up on the din-5 connector for PSU and went for standard dc. That would mean PSU is no longer linear. I wonder how that is going to affect measurements.
Other than that, for me there is nothing interesting about it. 10th anniversary is already transparent and provides more power than any of my headphones needs. Functionally it is the same as older unit. I wonder if they managed to lower output impedance.

 

[Willem]

What is not clear to me is if it has a variable output so it can be used as a pre amplifier. Some of their earlier units did, but some later ones did not. Also, I have my recurring gripe about an insufficient number of digital input for practical use (I think three optical or coaxial ones is the minimum for a streamer like the CCA, a disc player and TV). In practical terms two optical and two coaxial ones are the minimum, and even then you can be unlucky, as I was with three sources that all have optical outputs and a DAC/preamp that has two optical and two coaxial ones (so I needed to get a little converter for one of the sources).

 

[Jimmy]

The funny thing is that specs are worse, for example SINAD for the old model is 110 dB, and the new one is 101 dB, most other provided measurements are a step back, newer isn't always better, it seems.

However kudos to Aune for being transparent and providing real data and measurements for their products.

The most interesting part for me is that they gave up on the din-5 connector for PSU and went for standard dc. That would mean PSU is no longer linear. I wonder how that is going to affect measurements.
Other than that, for me there is nothing interesting about it. 10th anniversary is already transparent and provides more power than any of my headphones needs. Functionally it is the same as older unit. I wonder if they managed to lower output impedance.

 

[Kanbara]

Hi @amirm , I saw the Aune X1S have a new gen edition. Its the Aune X1S anniversary edition. Instead of 80mw/300ohm it has 200mw/300ohm.

In that case which Amp/DAC should be better for my HD6xxs? The Aune X1S Anniversary Edition or the Topping Dx3 pro?

 

[amirm]

I recommend the original one so if the new one is even more powerful, it would also get my recommendation. You do not need more power than the DX3 Pro produces by the way. The DX3 Pro has a nice display and lower output impedance (which won't matter with your headphones) but it has reliability issues with some units.

 

[Veri]

Hi @amirm , I saw the Aune X1S have a new gen edition. Its the Aune X1S anniversary edition. Instead of 80mw/300ohm it has 200mw/300ohm.

In that case which Amp/DAC should be better for my HD6xxs? The Aune X1S Anniversary Edition or the Topping Dx3 pro?

Hi @Kanbara the dac tested here is the 10th anniversary edition, you can tell because of the '10' in the bottom left corner in the pictures @amirm has taken. The performance in this review is of the anniversary edition, it's the best version to get.

The even newer version is the X1S 'Pro' which actually seems to perform worse than X1S Anniversary.