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Soncoz LA-QXD1 Balanced DAC Review

Veri

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Can we get one issue straight once and for all? Can you simultaneously have connected the balanced and RCA outputs to two seperate but active components?
As I understand it, if you are to drive both at the same time there's a chance you start to saturate the output stage which can cause problems such as distortion or the device shutting down. It could work depending on the load but I don't think it's ideal. (correct me if I'm wrong)
 

MechEngVic

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I should have clarified, I don't mean to drive both peripherals at the same time, but would like to switch between them without having to worry that they might both be powered on for a moment (having all tube gear). Say for instance at night when I switch from my main system to my headphones, I can power up the headphone amp prior to powering down my mains preamp. I'm thinking I should be fine but was wondering how far others had gone, including what you mention about running them simultaneously. Plus I'm just interested in how others are running their LA-QXD1's. How's yours set up?
 

kukocz

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Hi,

When I'm looking at measurements, I found there are three different sets with different results. Differences are not very big, but big enough to place the LA-QXD1 in different position on general classification.
What I noticed is:

SINAD:
amirm: 115/113 dB
WolfX-700: 115/116dB
Soncoz web: 117/117dB

There are also some differences in linearity measurements as well as in multi-tone. Do you know how the current production batch measures?
 

JohnYang1997

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Hi,

When I'm looking at measurements, I found there are three different sets with different results. Differences are not very big, but big enough to place the LA-QXD1 in different position on general classification.
What I noticed is:

SINAD:
amirm: 115/113 dB
WolfX-700: 115/116dB
Soncoz web: 117/117dB

There are also some differences in linearity measurements as well as in multi-tone. Do you know how the current production batch measures?
You need to take into account the condition of the measurements in order to compare measurements. What's the bandwidth? What's the input filtering? Any weighting? What voltage? etc
If you only compare to other devices that are measured Amir use Amir's measurements only.
 

kukocz

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You need to take into account the condition of the measurements in order to compare measurements. What's the bandwidth? What's the input filtering? Any weighting? What voltage? etc
If you only compare to other devices that are measured Amir use Amir's measurements only.
Completely understandable. It looks like amirm's measurements are performed on the latest production batch. It's interesting if all dacs from the latest production have inconsistency in SINAD between channels and strange behavior in filter response.
 

JohnYang1997

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Completely understandable. It looks like amirm's measurements are performed on the latest production batch. It's interesting if all dacs from the latest production have inconsistency in SINAD between channels and strange behavior in filter response.
Some things do look weird on here.
 

JohnYang1997

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Like what, Mr. Competition? ;)
SONCOZ LA-QXD1 USB DAC Filter Response Audio Measurements.png

"I like that it drops at the required 22.05 kHz (most DACs incorrectly go up to 24 kHz) but don't know why it then peaks back up."
SONCOZ LA-QXD1 USB DAC Audio Measurements.png
 

MechEngVic

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Hi,

When I'm looking at measurements, I found there are three different sets with different results. Differences are not very big, but big enough to place the LA-QXD1 in different position on general classification.
What I noticed is:

SINAD:
amirm: 115/113 dB
WolfX-700: 115/116dB
Soncoz web: 117/117dB

There are also some differences in linearity measurements as well as in multi-tone. Do you know how the current production batch measures?
This is the exact reason why Amir himself says not to compare (paraphrasing) single digit differences, but rather, the broader categories in which this, and other DAC's, exist. Variations in voltage, I'm sure, have the most to do with variations in measurements. And don't blame a manufacturer for using the best measurements, it doesn't mean they're lying.
 

MechEngVic

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View attachment 76830
"I like that it drops at the required 22.05 kHz (most DACs incorrectly go up to 24 kHz) but don't know why it then peaks back up."
View attachment 76831

Can you give us a layman's explanation of what you believe is happening here? I assume you mean the broad peaks at the low end of the 1kHz signal and the high end rise in the filter response.
 

Veri

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Can you give us a layman's explanation of what you believe is happening here? I assume you mean the broad peaks at the low end of the 1kHz signal and the high end rise in the filter response.
Filter attenuation goes back up instead of staying low. And in the other image the L/R difference. But probably it's all no audible issue, just "strange" is all. If you need affordable balanced DAC, this is still one of your best bets besides maybe SDAC balanced.
 

MechEngVic

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the LA-QXD1 balanced (XLR) USB DAC. It was kindly sent to me by the company. It costs US $199 and is already shipping in small quantities (I am told they will have a lot for sale in a week or two).

The case on this DAC is quite high-end and not at all proportional to its price:


It is heavy, and very nicely machined. The former is nice because the cords don't pull it around.

The back shows the typical DAC connectors and inputs/outputs:


You need independent power input from USB bus. I tried powering it with a normal USB jack on the computer but it would not power on and Windows complained that too much power was being requested. So I used a Samsung phone charger for the measurements you are about to see. I did try other supplies including my audiophile power supply but it made no difference. So use a branded good quality phone charger and you should be good to go.

Actually, let me modify that: the orientation of the Samsung AC plugs mattered a bit. These chargers try to shunt some of the output emissions to the AC mains. If you plug them in backward, then it is connecting the input to output from the hot terminal which is less optimal.

Anyway, operation of the unit is simple enough. The gear symbol changes inputs. Plus and minus change volume but they do so in the operating system. As such, the granularity is low. Out of box it starts at low volume so be sure to turn up the volume to use it.

DAC Audio Measurements
As usual we start with our dashboard:

View attachment 64250

Company measurements show a SINAD of 117 dB. We are a bit short of that in the "good" channel. The "bad" channel has a bit of noise as I have marked and more distortion. Averaging the two channels still places the LA-QXD1 way up in the ranking of the all DACs tested regardless of price:

View attachment 64253

This is excellent price/performance.

Dynamic range is up there in similar standing as its SINAD rating:

View attachment 64254

Intermodulation+noise performance is very nice as well:

View attachment 64255

Jitter performance for both USB and Coax are the same (and very good):

View attachment 64256

Linearity is superb:

View attachment 64257

Filter response is a bit odd:

View attachment 64258

I like that it drops at the required 22.05 kHz (most DACs incorrectly go up to 24 kHz) but don't know why it then peaks back up.

Conclusions
I really like to have balanced outputs in a DAC given the fact that they connect to a PC and hence, it is very easy to wind up with ground loops. Usually balanced output comes at a cost of higher price as it is considered a premium feature. Not the case here. You get XLR output and importantly, with superbly low noise and distortion for a really budget price. The nice case completes the picture.

Given all of this, I am happy to recommend the Soncoz LA-QXD1 DAC.

-----------
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which channels are 1&2? right or left?
 

seano

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Mine just came in today, only issue is that it isn't detecting any kind of input. I've tried optical and USB so far, can't switch to either of them on the DAC. PC doesn't detect it either, even with their driver installed. I can't even switch inputs. Does anyone have any idea why this could be? Or any similar experiences?

Edit: Wow. Should have read the review again. I'm using the standard Samsung branded fast charger plugged into a power strip, and flipping the orientation of the adapter around solved the problem. Detected by windows and all. Leaving this here just in case anyone else has a similar problem.
 
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Zek

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I'm using the standard Samsung branded fast charger plugged into a power strip
I'm not sure that a fast charger is good for powering the DAC because it is possible to deliver a voltage higher than 5V.
 

seano

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I'm not sure that a fast charger is good for powering the DAC because it is possible to deliver a voltage higher than 5V.

The charger itself says that it will use either 9V 1.67A output or 5V 2A output. Not sure if it will automatically use the 5v 2a option though. I'll try with a different adapter later.

Additionally, I'm having some issues with their firmware upgrade tool. I can't get any sound to play from windows, and whenever I try to upgrade the firmware it gives me this back:
soncoz firmware update failure.jpg


Hopefully I didn't brick it with the fast charger. It's still detecting everything as normal, on windows, so I assume that is not the case.
 

MechEngVic

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The charger itself says that it will use either 9V 1.67A output or 5V 2A output. Not sure if it will automatically use the 5v 2a option though. I'll try with a different adapter later.

Additionally, I'm having some issues with their firmware upgrade tool. I can't get any sound to play from windows, and whenever I try to upgrade the firmware it gives me this back:
View attachment 77633

Hopefully I didn't brick it with the fast charger. It's still detecting everything as normal, on windows, so I assume that is not the case.
Try deleting then reinstalling the driver before trying the firmware upgrade. It's the Thsyecon driver, right? Check device driver for conflicts. Also, try disconnecting the DAC from everything for a while then reconnecting.
 

seano

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Try deleting then reinstalling the driver before trying the firmware upgrade. It's the Thsyecon driver, right? Check device driver for conflicts. Also, try disconnecting the DAC from everything for a while then reconnecting.

Good news: used a different Samsung charger that only outputs 5V 2A, and everything seemed to work. Windows detected it, which it didn't do before, and I was able to install the custom driver and update the firmware without any issues. The unit is also noticeably less warm, so the other charger was probably using the higher voltage mode. After about 30 minutes, the unit and power adapter are now at the same temperature they were before.

Bad news: Still no sound. Volume is maxed in both windows and on the DAC. It's also the default device in Windows and the custom driver detects it. I can hear some hissing/static coming from the right channel when I turn my amp (THX 789) all the way up, and I know this is coming from the DAC as it doesn't happen when I do the same with the amp's RCA input.

I can't think of anything else I could do, anyone else have ideas?
 
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MechEngVic

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Good news: used a different Samsung charger that only outputs 5V 2A, and everything seemed to work. Windows detected it, which it didn't do before, and I was able to install the custom driver and update the firmware without any issues. The unit is also noticeably less warm, so the other charger was probably using the higher voltage mode.

Bad news: Still no sound. Volume is maxed in both windows and on the DAC. It's also the default device in Windows and the custom driver detects it. I can hear some hissing/static coming from the right channel when I turn my amp (THX 789) all the way up, and I know this is coming from the DAC as it doesn't happen when I do the same with the amp's RCA input.

I can't think of anything else I could do, anyone else have ideas?
Did you install the thesycon driver? If you did, you can open it up, it has its own little user interface. It also has a volume section with its own volume controls and a couple of windows with setting and version info. Mine didn't work with the windows driver, but fired right up with the Thesycon driver. The fact that the unit was noticeably hotter with the fast charger is no bueno.
 

seano

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Did you install the thesycon driver? If you did, you can open it up, it has its own little user interface. It also has a volume section with its own volume controls and a couple of windows with setting and version info. Mine didn't work with the windows driver, but fired right up with the Thesycon driver. The fact that the unit was noticeably hotter with the fast charger is no bueno.

Yup, it's the thesycon driver. And its volume is maxed. I'm not totally giving up hope though, as I can still occasionally hear some noise in the right channel from my headphones. This may just be ground noise getting passed through the DAC or something though. I also tried different XLR interconnects and got nothing, so I might just be SOL.
 
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