Soncoz LA-QXD1 Balanced DAC Review

[Stephen]

I bought one on that assumption too and found out I was wrong. Don't bother testing with coax in, doesn't work. Only USB comes out again.

There are no details about these 'not abilities' on the web site nor in the user manual. There is just this design:

 

[kukocz]

@MechEngVic I could not try with the Coax In because I have only one Coax cable now at hand....

You can use for testing every short RCA cable you have at hand. It will be working, I assure you
Yes, there will be no impedance match but if source spdif signal is good enough, the dac will be able to lock on the signal without any problems.

 

[Jimbob54]

There are no details about these 'not abilities' on the web site nor in the user manual. There is just this design:
View attachment 91579

Not that I noticed when I looked into it either. But, see https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...la-qxd1-balanced-dac-review.13459/post-559892

 

[Stephen]

Not that I noticed when I looked into it either. But, see https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...la-qxd1-balanced-dac-review.13459/post-559892

Ok, it's not in the user manual, but it should be clear: Support ONLY usb input, no Tos or Coax in....

 

[Jimbob54]

Ok, it's not in the user manual, but it should be clear: Support ONLY usb input, no Tos or Coax in....

I dont disagree.

 

[Stephen]

I dont disagree.

Otherwise I am very satisfied with the DAC: set it and forget it... stay 'on' all the time, don't heat much, low power consumption...

 

[svenz]

Just got this DAC and hooked it up. Indeed, coax out is driven directly off of USB. Setting the input doesn't affect it at all - it only affects the analogue out.

However it at least let's me replace two devices, and it much better matches my THX AAA 789 AMP. It's a really good looking DAC in a nice compact size. There is also no front logo on mine.

Only thing I noticed was the very low volume, which is now fixed after I flashed the max volume firmware. It is bundled with a USB-C to USB-A cable, which I just plugged into my anker hub under my desk, which has 3 2.1amp ports. I actually prefer I don't need to waste a power outlet on it. So far so good! This seems like the perfect USB DAC with XLR and digital out. If only it had full digital passthrough, then it would be my end game DAC .

 

[svenz]

Well, the left channel died after less than an hour of use. Same thing as reported in prior posts on here. Low humming noise is all that comes out of it. So much for that!

 

[porotikos]

I am amazed at the failure rate reported. Could it have anything to do with a power supply? I feel extremely lucky that mine performs well so far
But i am starting to worry

 

[kukocz]

Well, the left channel died after less than an hour of use. Same thing as reported in prior posts on here. Low humming noise is all that comes out of it. So much for that!

Try to re-flash

 

[svenz]

Try to re-flash

Reflashed, tried both firmwares, unplugged and replugged. No change unfortunately. Back to the SMSL life I suppose.

I am amazed at the failure rate reported. Could it have anything to do with a power supply? I feel extremely lucky that mine performs well so far
But i am starting to worry

If you have a USB spec power supply it should not be frying the DAC, unless the DAC itself has a hardware issue trying to draw too much current or something like that.

 

[porotikos]

Reflashed, tried both firmwares, unplugged and replugged. No change unfortunately. Back to the SMSL life I suppose.



If you have a USB spec power supply it should not be frying the DAC, unless the DAC itself has a hardware issue trying to draw too much current or something like that.

i dont argue that you did everything correctly. i wonder if some of these failure cases were due to bad power supplies. otherwise, as a customer i indeed would like to know what the problem is. noone wants a potentially "waiting to fail" dac. that is for sure

and i would like to know, if people send the failed ones back to ben, what was the diagnosis. what was the problem...

 

[svenz]

It's hard to see how the power supply has anything to do with it. Even if the USB-C cable is faulty (wrong resistor leading to incorrect power negotiation), it is still the requesting device which determines the current draw. If it is something power related, that means the device is asking for too much current. Perhaps they only tested with USB-A ports on a PC, which I believe are limited to 1A generally. Pretty much any phone charger will do up to 2A.

I agree it would be good to get some info on what's going wrong.

 

[Ben1987]

Every is working so far except that the DSD playback reverses the channels.
All software and the DAC firmware are up to date. I also created a topic on the Roon forum as it's perhaps not a hardware issue.
Do you have the same problem? Could you please take a look at it @Ben1987 ?

Thanks @uryupinsk , We fixed DSD playback reverses problem.

Download DFU files from HERE and after unzipping, you'll find two files“LA-QXD1 Maximum Volume with Hardware Control DFU_V502.bin” and “LA-QXD1 Minimum Volume DFU_V501.bin”.

Change log：2020-11-11
Fixed DSD playback reverses problem.
Notice:
1. "LA-QXD1 Minimum Volume DFU_V501.bin" is default factory firmware version and without hardware volume control；
2. “LA-QXD1 Maximum Volume with Hardware Control DFU_V502.bin” is max volume output firmware with hardware volume control；

 

[porotikos]

Thank you Ben for all the support

 

[0xgrm]

Thanks a lot @Ben1987! All is good and working perfectly now.

The value of this DAC is incredible. No bullshit and high performance.

Well done again!

 

[turbotuff]

@Ben1987 any luck with the LG optical issue?

 

[svenz]

I really want this DAC . Since the one I ordered last week died almost immediately, I'm hesitant to order another one. Is this just a defective part that happens to fail in some percentage of the DACs? Did I just get unlucky? Please let us know! @Ben1987 any insight is appreciated.

 

[MpNormy]

I really want this DAC . Since the one I ordered last week died almost immediately, I'm hesitant to order another one. Is this just a defective part that happens to fail in some percentage of the DACs? Did I just get unlucky? Please let us know! @Ben1987 any insight is appreciated.

I've bought one on July.
Never had a problem.

 

[pl_svn]

Fixed DSD playback reverses problem

... does SGD1 suffer the same issue?